Thinking Pink

It’s odd, that by chance I came across this artist. I was originally trying to find information on a different image I found online and stumbled upon this guy and just had to write about him (also the other image lead to a dead end). The artists name is Buff Monster ( real name said by him), he was born in Hawaii, and moved to LA in 1997 now currently living in Hollywood. Heavy metal is one of his inspirations, something he listens to when painting. Another thing that’s highly inspirational to him is in his style, as he embraces the Japanese culture and it’s more cute style in the culture. And apparently ice cream is yet another major influence, tasty. “To me, they are all the same: timeless, bold, unforgiving and awesome. I can't get enough.” Something that really stands out is his consistency of color, mostly pinks and grays but other bright colors do fall into the mix. I think it’s cool how he sees the color pink as a symbol that shows “confidence, individuality and happiness” something present in all of his work. His step into the art world started on the streets, from painting on old found spray cans to posters, paintings on walls, and so on. Today his heart is in fine art painting, painting on wood (as well as collectible toys and selected design projects.) His art has been published in a variety of magazines, websites, newspapers and books, etc. His art has been getting around fast and will continue to spread like wildfire I hope. Though I hate painting with all of my being, I must admit it is fun once in a blue moon to just get lost in what you are doing, but my heart will always be in digital work as his is in painting. What drew me into his art was this image above, this is how I found him. My mind at first couldn’t even comprehend that. Most of his current art is done on wood (but his art still travels onto other surfaces). With this painting above, I like how he did the background to look like marble, from a distance it looks like the real thing to me. I really like the control that he has with acrylics as well, and the style/life he gives his little characters. Looking at his other work, I just love how he does creepy things but still keeps them looking just as cute, a trend that has been showing up in my own art over the years never too scary but always too cute. I also like how he keeps the characters simple, really makes them pop against a detailed background. . Pink has been a color I’ve been slowly trying to fall back in love with and I feel that his art has boosted my love for the color. Over all, his work just makes me want to come up with more cute creators in the far future and maybe I’ll even embrace the pink side a little more. Oh, and on a sudden realization, now I know why ice cream is one of his inspirations, not just because he draws ice cream, but for his monsters too, I think that’s why some of his monsters have a dripping look to them. (could be wrong)
Found interview
Video like interview: part 1 part 2