INTERVIEW: Sculptors Tony Fowler and Skot York

Working Class Villains strut their stuff...

Tony Fowler and Skot York are Working Class Villains, a sculpture and prototype design company with a background in industrial design. The duo, having worked for such clients as Disney and Barnes and Noble, conceptualize and sculpt action figures, busts, and prototypes and bring not only strong design concepts to the table, but a desire to get their hands dirty. After all, their slogan – “the dirty work is in the design” – says it all…

Recently we had the opportunity to ask the pair some questions regarding what they do and why they do it and, though we weren’t able to keep the two penned up for long, we did capture their answers.

Here’s what they had to say…

Figures.com: What exactly does Working Class Villains do?

Skot: First and foremost, I think we would both consider ourselves sculptors, but that doesn't take into account our design experience or any of the molding and casting or fabrication we do. For the most part, we are a self-sufficient prototype facility and sculpture studio, which allows us to work through a lot of issues in-house…

Tony: And not only are we a hired gun, but we are also taking steps to produce both our own original concepts and licensed properties as well…

Figures.com: How did each of you become involved in the industry?

Skot: After graduating from the same art school at different times…we missed each other by one quarter…it took a few years of sculpture gigs and various creative pursuits before we finally met at the same sign shop where we were sculpting thematic elements for Disneyland Hong Kong. We shared a lot of the same interests and started getting together after work, collaborating on some ideas and getting a good idea of each other's strengths. We found that if one of us had a shortcoming, the other one could usually fill it in.

We started testing the waters by taking private commissions and local work, answering ads for sculptors and/or designers on Craigslist and in papers like Seattle's The Stranger and some word of mouth work too…

Tony: It was a combination of things… When our website went live, networking at Comic-cons, toy shows and websites, and some cold calling… Since then, the work has started to find us and Working Class Villains isn't just Skot and me. Some projects can be a lot for two guys to handle; whether it's because of project scope, tight deadlines (or something else). We have trusted "operatives" we can call on for an assist; a short list of guys we've known for years and worked with on a variety of projects we trust to get it done right. We've had a very busy year so far and we've been using this list more than ever, sharing the spoils as we go. It's a lot of fun working with your buddies…

Figures.com: What type of education do you have and what type of education would you recommend for a person in your position?

Skot: I went to art school with the aspiration of working on movies as a prop or set builder and special effects makeup artist. I got my degree in Industrial Design with a heavy lean towards sculpture.

I think art school is one of the only places you'll find that many people in the same place with similar goals and interests. But when it comes down to it, you can never really get enough practice and I don't think you are ever done learning. You can always get better at what you do…

Tony: Growing up, I wanted to be a story teller of some kind, so I've always written stories. In high school I aspired to be a comic artist and writer, which turned into wanting to be a film writer/director. But over the last 15 years, I never stopped collecting toys, making customs, building garage kits, sculpting and drawing. Then one day I had an epiphany; no matter what I envisioned myself becoming, I always thought "(insert comic book or movie project here) is gonna need its own action figure line.” So it just made sense to concentrate on toys.

My suggestion (for those looking to get into this field) would be if you want to be a toy designer, go to a commercial art school that has a toy design program like Otis or NY FIT. If you want to be a sculptor, go to a fine art school. They really can be different things. And if you want to be both…well...I'm not really sure what to tell you except that school is expensive and you should do your research on all of them. That way you will be more likely to get the education you want and focus on what you want to do…

Figures.com: Tell us about a few of the pieces you've been working on. Which have been your favorites and which have been the most difficult? Why?

Skot: I think the most challenging pieces I've worked on were for a set of miniature baseball stadiums (above). Sculpting architectural detail is much more difficult than organic asymmetrical objects and it took a completely different approach than an action figure…

Tony: The project which gave me the most grief recently has to be The Sectaurs update figure I did last year (below) It didn't so much challenge me from a sculpture aspect but from the angle of designing the articulation. I had never before designed movement from the beginning; it was always something fabricated after the sculpting was finished. I actually designed armature parts with incorporated joints on the computer and had the parts cut on a CNC machine. A lot of trial and error went into that guy before I was satisfied…and like any artist, I'm still not completely satisfied with it, but it was a great learning experience; I know how not to do it now…

Skot: As for current projects, we're really excited about a project we are working on for a company in the UK. And I've always been a fan of The Maxx and have been disappointed that no one has done a complete Maxx line. So I am working on a 8" tall statue of Julie Winters…

Tony: A Maxx line is so on our wish list!

Figures.com: What's your average day consist of and how much time does it take you to sculpt a piece?

Skot: I'm fairly certain most people would answer this the same way – “depends on the piece;” it depends on the amount of detail, scale and subject matter. The stadiums I mentioned took about 3 weeks apiece. As for my average day, I am much more creative in the afternoon and evening, and don't find myself being too productive in the morning…

Tony: My day usually starts pretty early and consists of morning email sessions, phone calls to clients or vendors, and a hearty breakfast. That last one's very important! That's followed by fun time which, depending on the day, could be design, sculpture, molding and casting, or painting…or a great big combination of any or all of the above. It's really varied and that's the way I like it. It's never boring.

Something we never thought about before doing this is that we can be at the mercy of what time zones our clients live in. It can be tough fielding phones calls from the UK and Hong Kong in the same day; that can make for a late night and early morning. As for average sculpting time, including a few sessions of refining concept/control art, I try and have a figure done in 2 to 4 weeks.