Battlemouth

Throughout my life I have had the opportunity to meet many different artists. I think a majority of my closest friends are some type of artist. It seems to me that there is a certain way an artist looks at the world and the things around them that just seems to lead to a more open sense of being. One artist I had the pleasure of meeting briefly, just earlier this year, that reaffirmed by belief that all the nicest people out there are indeed artists was an incredibly nice fellow by the name of Lou Pimentel. I believe it was the last day of the 2009 New York Comic Convention, and I was wondering the aisles debating what to spend the remainder of my money on before heading out for a last night of boozing. It was then that I happened upon My Plastic Heart’s table containing some incredible pieces and a huge smiling face sitting behind the table sketching on a munny. We got to talking for a while about New York (he is a native New Yorker) and how much I enjoyed his work. After our brief encounter I decided that he must be the most genuinely friendly fellow that I had met on the entire trip. After I made the drive home, I spent several days going through assorted business cards and such that I had received at the show and checking out corresponding websites and twitter pages galore. Lou’s portfolio was one of those pages I discovered.

Since then I have spent a great deal of time watching many of these artists grow and produce new work over the year, and the progress has been staggering. Mr. Pementel’s work has been at the top of my list of favorites for this year…and last year for that matter. His Lego scene inspired paintings are mind blowing, and his customs feel incredibly personal. The style in which Lou paints his customs and his designs themselves, in my mind, portray Lou himself in a way that several artists pieces don’t. His friendly, fun loving personality comes through in each and every piece.


If you are thus far, not putting together where you have the name “Lou Pimentel” from, perhaps I should add another name that might help out…Cranston Fellows Jr…ring any bells now? I thought it might. Earlier this year Lou, along with the fine people at MPHS released a fantastic piece that has been selling out within minutes of release! Now on it’s second colorway (and second sell out), Cranston, the flying vampire egg quee, is blowing critics and fans minds across the interwebs and the world! Although he has been terribly busy working on new pieces, Lou found the time for a short interview with me! Be sure to check out Lou on twitter here, for all the latest Cranston and Lou news…as well as his portfolio of incredible work here! Enjoy the interview, and tell Lou you love him!

Aaronthestrong- Who is Lou Pimentel?

LP- Lou Pimentel is a painter, illustrator, toy customizer/designer, yorkie owner, soon to be father, and a huge fan of everything from the 80’s.

ATS- Your Cranston Fellows JR. has been a HUGE success (I haven’t even been able to get one yet)! Recently MPH put out Cranston Dark Night which sold out just as fast! Take our readers through your creative process coming up with Cranston.

LP- I am honored that so many people have connected with Cranston, I know things are tight in this horrible economy, yet they are selling out in minutes. Cranston is a character that I’ve been drawing for years.
There was something about Cranston that always made me smile. I was thinking about taking the leap and bringing one of my characters to life and met with Vince (owner of MyPlasticHeart) and asked for his advice.
He really liked Cranston, and suggested that I follow through with that design. A few days later he sent me an email asking me for a 360 degree drawings of Cranston, and we went into the project together.
I had to make a couple of changes to my original drawings, like making the wings bigger, made the body a little more egg shaped, and have the tongue hang off to one side. All these changes made the figure a bit more dynamic and less static.

ATS- Can we expect more Cranston Fellows Jr. any time soon?
LP-We are expecting to release a new colorway within the next 2-3 weeks. Keep your eyes peeled, these babies go FAST.

ATS- What music would we find on your ipod/cd player while you work?
LP- Hahahah OK, my music collection is very eclectic, and I listen to stuff people would not expect. Here are a few gems, Old school Madonna from the 80’s, Paul Hardcastle, Wu-Tang Clan, and Fela Kuti. The majority of my music is very laid back and relaxing.

ATS- One impressive but not as well publicized fact about Cranston is that each beautiful figure was given a personal touch by you making each one completely unique. How long of a process was adding the personal touch to each one?
LP- I have put so much sweat equity into this project, and that’s why I am happy that each has found a home. I would say that each piece requires well over an hour of one on one TLC time.

ATS- Your Lego Oil Paintings are incredible, have you done any custom pieces with a Lego theme?
LP- My lego paintings were a huge project. I had never work that way before. I felt like God, I had full control of everything. I created the scenes, lit them, and took photo references from many angles till I found the most dynamic.
This is something that has been carrying over into my new work, but I have yet to paint a lego theme on a custom toy. This is something I might do in the near future, but I think it would work best on a bigger figure.

ATS- If you could collaborate on a piece with any artist producing pieces today who would it be?
LP- This is a tough question, since I know a ton of talented artists, but if I really had to pick one or maybe two, it would have to be Jeff Soto and Blaine Fontana. I think the reason I am drawn to these artists is that they bring an element of graphic design into their work. I am a huge fan of simple shapes and intense colors, so I feel that our collabo would vibe well.