MACHINE: "Science + Love = Robots"

"Science + Love = Robots"

dan pinto

Acrylic on Canvas

5 2" x 2"

2011

I tried to get really creative with the "machine" theme. I had several ideas that revolved around different themes. In the end however, I just kept coming back to "robots" as a sort of pinnacle examples of machines. After a failed start at a much more serious piece, I found these small canvases on sale at my art store. I like paintings that are stretched over a few frames and originally started work on a vertical piece. That got scrapped in favor of this idea. I'm a fan of science and I think robotics is a uniquely interesting field. It combines an intense mathematical worldview with a very humane one, as robotics, it seems, are mostly used to help humans accomplish otherwise difficult or impossible tasks. Thus the equation: Science + Love = Robots.

LOST: "lost & found"

"lost & found"

Dan Pinto

Acrylic, India Ink & Spray Fixative on Wood

I fought with a lot of different ideas for this months theme before settling on the above. I found that my other plans for this painting didn't work as well as I had hoped.

As a child, we had a dog that, at any opportunity, would attempt to escape our backyard into the streets. It was frustrating. Not only because of the hassle of finding her but, more so because it could be quite dangerous for her, running around the streets of Queens. When she was found, however, the sense of relief was overwhelming. Juxtaposing the feeling of fear and relief (lost and found) is what I tried to convey in this painting. We never lived in or near the woods but, I felt that it worked better in the context of the theme. Also, depicting the world as a dark grey on black means a good portion of the painting is, itself, lost. You have to search the painting to really see the environment surrounding the characters.

HORSE: "Steed"

Acrylic & Pencil on Wood Panel

Three 4" x 4" Panels

I don't like drawing horses. So, this was an exercise in re-imagining the theme. I played with a few ideas before coming up to what I consider the modern idea of a steed: a bike. My bike is an old silver spray painted, dirty Schwinn from the 80's. It looks like it's been through a lot. I tried to reinforce the antique feeling of both the bike and the horse as transport vehicle. To attempt to accomplish this, I decided to leave the bike as untreated wood only painting the negative space around the object. I had to use fixative to prevent the pencil from smudging and had the accidental effect of adding a sheen to the wood, like a finish, making look almost golden. I like that effect as it seems to give more worth to this beat up object.

MAPS: "Get Lost"

"Get Lost"

Acrylic on Vinyl

2011

I got a blank Munny doll some time ago and I've been meaning to paint it. Once the theme came up, I had planned several other ideas before I remembered the Munny. I love the look of the fantasy maps of Tolkien and similar artists. The way they simplify topographic features into symbolic representations, along with the variations in earth tones used, appealed to me. I made a conscious choice to not have the topographic features mimic the features on a human body and instead act as a map superimposed onto the doll. Overall, I'm quite happy with it.