Throughout his life, John Raya's two passions have been
sculpting and cartooning. As a child, John spent long hours
mastering the great works ... from the "Sunday funnies,
" his favorite comic books, or the all-time classic
"Mad Magazine." Any piece of paper was a potential
sketch pad for John to practice drawing his childhood heroes and
heroines..." I mastered anatomy and life drawing skills by
the age of ten through long hours laboring over the finer points
of proportion and structure ... by sketching the likes of
"Wonder Woman" " (J. R.)
In 1975, mustering his
entrepreneurial spirit and with his accumulated professional
experience (and a prayer), John embarked on his own business
venture. Developing the "Beasties of the Kingdom"
collection along the way, John fulfilled a lifelong dream and
created a vehicle for his personal style and sense of humor.
Starting with just six designs in his collection, John soon
directed his talents to creating new and better
"Beasties" to keep up with the ever-growing demand.
Since then, John has increased his collection to include over
sixty new "Beasties of the Kingdom" that has attracted
a global family of collectors.
Volumes of illustrations of Superman, The Flash, "Big
Daddy" Ed Roth's Rat Fink and others filled his dressers
and closets to overflowing. "Finding your way through his
room was like plowing your way through a mine field ... you
didn't know what was lurking in there from day to day ... it was
quite an amusing experience."
(John's mother)
John's talents soon found their way to Universal Studios in
California where he worked summers as a cartoonist between
stints at Cal State at Fullerton where he studied the
"3D's"--dating, dancing, and design. With a knack for
quick-sketch caricature, John's art drew him to Disneyland where
he would sometimes sketch up to 400 people in a single day. John
eventually found his way to Walt Disney WorldŽ in Florida,
where as an art director, he was responsible for artists
operations in the theme park.
"Thank you for your encouragement by selecting one of my
"Beasties." I am honored to have my art included
within your collection, or to have it selected as a gift for a
special someone in your life.
"I am proud to say that the "Beasties of the
Kingdom" are created with nature in the "good ol'U.S.A."
using only the finest American made materials and skills
available. Sometimes the imports can try to beat us down in the
marketplace ... but they can't beat our good old-fashioned
American originality! Thank you.
Throughout his life, John Raya's two passions have been
sculpting and cartooning. As a child, John spent long hours
mastering the great works ... from the "Sunday funnies,
" his favorite comic books, or the all-time classic
"Mad Magazine." Any piece of paper was a potential
sketch pad for John to practice drawing his childhood heroes and
heroines..." I mastered anatomy and life drawing skills by
the age of ten through long hours laboring over the finer points
of proportion and structure ... by sketching the likes of
"Wonder Woman" " (J. R.)
