JIMMY DANKO | artist | Gorilla Empire » wood

PAINTING | Annie

jimmy — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 14:14:33 +0000

ANNIE
28″ x 34″ (71cm x 86cm)
Oil & acrylic on wood
2010

The last painting of 2010…

COMMISSION PAINTING | Ape Flyer

jimmy — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 16:40:16 +0000

APE FLYER
15″ x 15″ (38cm x 38cm)
Acrylic and Argentine newsprint on wood panel
2010

Above: A recent commission piece for a pilot friend of mine over at Jet Blue. This painting is based loosely off of one of my previous paintings, Big World, the first painting I completed after moving to Argentina.

PAINTING | Boombox Pilot

jimmy — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 14:26:15 +0000

BOOMBOX PILOT
28″ x 37″ (71cm x 94cm)
Acrylic and Argentine newsprint on wood panel
2010

He started as drawing a couple of months ago in my sketch book. He then lived on in a time-lapse video set to music by Harlem Shakes. In his latest incarnation he is 400% bigger and completely hand painted. Once again, I present to you…The Boombox Pilot.

Above is the original Boombox Pilot sketch. Click to enlarge.
Check out the time-lapse video of the drawing here.

PAINTING | “Madly”

jimmy — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 20:34:21 +0000

MADLY
14″ x 19″ (36cm x 48cm)
Acrylic and Argentine newsprint on wood panel
2010

This piece started as a commission based off of the original Orange Gorilla painting I did earlier in the year. The commission fell through but still thought it was a piece worth finishing.

Click on the image above to see the original Orange Gorilla painting.

Scissors | 13″ x 24″ (33cm x 61cm) | acrylic

jimmy — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 16:13:13 +0000

Scissors | 13" x 24" (33cm x 61cm) | acrylic on wood | 2010

Click on above images to enlarge. Use arrow keys or mouse to navigate between them.

First Self-Portriat in over 10 Years

jimmy — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:41:29 +0000

Click on above images to enlarge. Use arrow keys or mouse to navigate between them.

I’ve only painted two self-portraits in my lifetime and both were done over 10 years ago. In early 2006 I had an idea for a new one. At the time my studio was a garage in San Diego and in the corner of it sat planks of wood I had collected for use in future paintings. I snatched four of the planks and hammered them together. Over the years that followed I would periodically apply with a palette knife the leftover paint from other paintings onto this wooden panel.

The idea was that the background would consist of a random/chaotic conglomeration of colors from my other visual explorations and over the top of that would be juxtaposed an image of myself in grayscale. A few months ago, 4 years after beginning the background, I began working on that grayscale image, and finally finished it earlier this week.

To me, the finished piece represents a visual journey, and an amalgamation of intertwined, contrasting ideas: Color versus black & white, chaos versus order, and the movement of time versus a moment of it. The piece is called Self-Portrait (Somewhere).

Work in Progress | Self-Portrait – 50% Complete

jimmy — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 13:02:35 +0000

The first and only self-portrait I ever painted I did over 10 years ago in college, in an Intro to Painting class. I’m not sure why I’ve waited so long to do another, but I figure it’s time I knock one out. Below are the work in progress pics of a new one coming to fruition.

Pencil outline and first layers of paint.

Gessoed over the area to be painted.

New size = approximately 26″ x 31″ (66cm x 79)

When I started the background years ago I didn’t know what the composition of the self-portrait was going to be. I always try to keep in mind the words of one of my professors, “Try not to let the canvas size drive the composition of the painting.” In this case it meant cutting down the background to the size I needed.

For 4 years I’ve had this wood panel, made of 4 planks of wood, sitting inside my studio. Periodically while working on other paintings, I would apply the leftover paint from a session on the panel with a palette knife with the idea that it would one day serve as the background of a self-portrait.