Sally Williams: 17-Year-Old Builds Awesome Professional Monster Suit With Kickstarter

Saturday, January 1, 2011

17-Year-Old Builds Awesome Professional Monster Suit With Kickstarter

derek tonks age 17 building a monster head

17-year-old monster builder Derek Tonks is already accomplished at sculpting masks from all kinds of materials, and he recently turned to Kickstarter to fund his most ambitious project yet. Tonks' new monster, which he designed himself, will have a fully-articulated animatronic face, mechanical hands, a human-sized wearable suit, and special stilts that add a foot of terrifying height.

Tonks is a senior in high school, and he's submitting his monster as part of senior art portfolio, but it's also likely to land him pro monster-building jobs in the future. Derek! You're already in California! Hollywood is right over there!

Anyway, you've got to respect a kid who seeks crowd funding for his awesome project instead of hitting up his parents for cash, and you especially have to respect any 17-year-old with as much talent as the young Mr. Tonks.