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I believe that no matter what the toy’s age is, it will always bring happiness to a child. That’s why when I read about the Lopez Museum holding a toy workshop, I grabbed the opportunity to attend and learn from it.
True enough, I had the best time!
As a disclaimer, I would want to say that I am not artistic! I have creative ideas but not creative enough to actually make an art out of something.
So, the toy workshop was given to us by three of the most awesome street artists from Pilipinas Street Plan (PSP)- Sir Wes, Sir Epjey and Sir Whoop. The Lopez Museum takes a whole new perspective on museum exhibits and galleries, they willingly agreed to showcase the unconventional art created by the artists from PSP. Their agreed concept was perfect! The PSP artists got their inspiration from a Murillo Velarde Philippine map from the year, 1734 and mapped out the places all over the country where notable graffiti was made.
During the toy workshop, we were ask to choose toys that we like to customize and were given painting materials like latex paints (water based latex and acrylic are the best types of paint to use), brushes (all kinds of bristles), water and cups (to hold and mix the paint).
I chose the seemingly innocent Mickey Mouse toy:
Second step was painting the whole toy with white which is its base coat.
Use as little paint as possible to reduce the appearance of brush strokes and wait for the paint to dry before applying the next layer until you get the desired “whiteness”.
Tip: wipe the entire toy with an alcohol before starting to make the paint adhere more.
Next step is to paint the toy with whatever paint you want as your main color.
Mine was green or something:
The same technique applies, use as little paint as you can and wait for it to dry and then apply several (upto 4) layers to attain the perfect color.
The final step is to put customized art on your toy. I told you I’m not an artist but I do have a nice concept to start with but didn’t have the skill to apply it. My concept was to show how Mickey Mouse is wronged at so many levels on the Internet. I have seen horrible edited Mickey Mouse videos that are not suitable for kids, Mickey Mouse videos that are vulgar and racist, Mickey Mouse videos that are plain distasteful and outright disrespectful. And we all know that Mickey Mouse is the apple of the eye for most kids and to have those videos open for viewing in the Internet is very scary. That is why my toy is titled, THE WRONG MICKEY.
Others created a nicer toy:
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| Toy customized by the street artists |
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| Toy by Sir Whoop |
I had the chance to talk with Sir Whoop who often leaves his trademark on the streets
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| Sir Whoop and his creations |
According to Sir Whoop they fell blessed that the Lopez Museum had accommodated them as part of the museum’s exhibit despite of being dubbed as an unconventional art. PSP aims to change the common notion that graffiti or street art is always tagged with violence, drugs and gangs. According to Sir Whoop, street art is a form of expression that often describes what the artist is feeling and thinking. They also aim to entertain commoners (meaning people walking on the streets, people driving by the walls, etc) and mainly to unite all street artists in the country and perhaps “educate” them with what the street art is all about.
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Thank you also to Ms. Mary Ann Josette Pernia (Consultant, Education of the Lopez Museum) for accommodating us!
