My fiancee Conrad turned a whopping 29 this year, and I had no idea what to get him. We typically don't spend too much on each other in gifts, preferring instead to buy things for both of us at random times of the year. While at the local toy store recently, Red Hot Robot, I found this amazing print of Where the Wild Things Are and had to buy it for him. He already has the entire plush collection and it's always been his favorite book as a child. While looking at the print and the Munnys I was also buying at the time, the proportions were perfect to create the pair and present this childish gift to someone getting older (hee).

In order to make the pair I would need to modify the monster with a pair of horns and a tail. I briefly considered attempting to make a little fur outfit for Max (and I may do so in the future) but at the very least he needed ears and a tail as well. I picked up some sculpy which was always a favorite medium as a kid (I made all the fruit in the book), and went out looking for something to fill in the cracks when attached to the Munny.

Another nice local store, Arizona Art Supply, helped me find an interesting medium that causes cancer in California (no joke! yikes!). Made by the same company as the paints I was using, this little jar is Golden Heavy Gel (Matte). The consistency is sort of like a paste-gel, and you can either mix it with your paint to add color and consistency or use it to fill in cracks, make raised bumps, etc. It can also be sanded and dries translucent. I also picked up a bottle of Primary Cyan Golden Fluid Acrylics to round out my primary color collection.

Taking the Munny apart is obviously the best way to do it. I sketched the details with pencil first and then painted the rough coat to figure out where the color was going. All Sculpy was placed on with Gorilla Super Glue and sanded. Here's a photo of beginning progress and the print:



I wanted to get the look of the book with the somewhat muted colors, but also achieve a simplistic version utilizing outlines and simplified/cuter eyes, etc. Obviously the monster is not nearly as scary. I also quickly sculpted a scepter for Max and cut him a paper crown. I want to eventually get better quality gold paper and get him a better outfit. When finished they're sprayed with a matte finish. Here's the duo and the print completed:



And lastly, the two of them having fun:



Hope you enjoyed this!