Introduction: Danny Brito

There are different classes of cute. Fluffy cute (puppies, kittens, etc.), the drooly cute (babies), the that’s-a-nice-top-but-not-really-cute, and Danny Brito cute. Yes, Danny has his own league of cute. I’ve followed his work for some time. Overtime I’ve grown to love it more, and watched him work with beehives, Margo Tenenbaum, Polaroid projects, lots of color, all with a bit of enigma to his work. Danny took a few minutes from his busy schedule last month to answer some questions. Read on!

Being an artist is more a fate, then a decision, but when did you decide this is what you wanted to do?
I think while in high school I realized drawing was the only thing I wanted to do. I wasn’t necessarily bad at other subjects, I had a 4.0 GPA but I just hated studying and doing homework. I literally didn’t study a single day in high school. Which I don’t suggest to anyone, ha ha, I don’t know how I got the grades I got. I knew I wanted to do something art related, I didn’t realize what I would be doing with my drawing until maybe late 2007. I drifted in and out of art schools trying different things like graphic design and motion graphics but I didn’t enjoy doing that. So I dropped out, and fast forward 2 years and here I am.

What’s your favorite project/drawing?
I definitely think my drawings of Margot Tenenbaum and Ghost World, I did those last year. They were supposed to be a large set of drawings featuring my favorite ladies from my favorite movies, I hope to pick that up again this year. Maybe even draw Margot and Enid in different outfits and stuff.

What’s your philosophy on art?
I’m really not sure, I’m not too big on purposefully deep, meaningful art. Sometimes it could be really forced when you start out a drawing saying, “oh this is going to be about world hunger,” or something like that. My drawings are always open for interpretation. I’ve had different people tell me the same piece means different things to them. I really like drawing things that will make people happy but not by drawing puppies and clouds, I’ve always wanted my art to be cheerful but have a dark twist to it. I like to focus on peoples imperfections like gap teeth, freckles, rosy joints, and crazy hair but not drawing them in an ugly way. I find things like that really interesting.

I’ve stalked looked through your flickr, and you have an amazing eye for analog photography as well. Have you ever thought of dabbling in the photo biz?
I have actually, I was thinking of opening a shop in the new year to sell prints for my toy camera photos. Just as a hobby though because I’ve always felt photography to be a pass time for me. My friends and I love just taking days to explore south Florida with bags of cameras. I also have a top secret idea for a photo book I want to do in the new year.

What inspires you?
Honestly if you saw me in the streets you wouldn’t assume that I love girly things, but all things girly and kitsch are the best. I love 1960′s painters, the kind of paintings that you’ll stumble upon in thrift stores. Kind of mopey kids with big eyes that look really gloomy, I’ve had a few people at craft fairs say that my work reminds me of that, which is perfect! Films really inspire me as well, I love watching movies and jotting down notes for ideas and stuff like that.

Who inspires you?
Everyone in my life, my friends are some of the quirkiest people I know, and they just constantly inspire me to be weird and out of the norm.

Ok, so since you are doing an interview with an unemployed librarian, this question must come up. Favorite book?
This is typical but Harry Potter, I honestly don’t read often. I recently downloaded and listened to all the Harry Potter books on audio books and that was just magical. I need to get more audio books, I love it because I can still do things like draw or sew while I’m basically “reading” a book or having it read to me rather. I think books are great, but I don’t like that I can’t do anything while I’m reading so half the time I end up falling asleep!

Thank you, Danny! Check out his twitter (he is one of my favorite people on twitter, fyi), his website and his shop! All photos belong to Danny Brito.