I first discovered the work of artist Jonathan Santoro on the website for the Bottleneck Gallery (Brooklyn, NY). I thought his piece “The Orphan and The Daughter” for the “Get A Room” show was a fantastic tribute to Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom. So we asked him to contribute a piece to the site. We were thrilled when Jonathan said yes. He delivered this wonderful Finding Nemo-themed piece that also has the distinction of being our first comic strip featured in this section. Check out Jonathan’s website for more great images. Read on for more about the artist in his own words.
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Name: Jonathan Santoro
Website/Blog/Portfolio:
I currently live in… New York, NY
I consider my hometown to be… Ridgefield, CT
My Favorite Pixar Movie is…
I think Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Finding Nemo, Up, Wall-E and The Incredibles are all tied for “favorite” haha. Though I will say that I think A Bug’s Life is wildly underrated.
My Favorite Pixar character is…
Oh man, this is even harder than the last question. Impossible to choose just one. In no particular order I would say my favorites are Crush from Finding Nemo, both Carl and Russell from Up, then from Toy Story Mr. Potato Head, because, I mean come on, it’s Don Rickles! I’m actually a pretty big fan of Sid, that misunderstood little devil. I think Wayne Knight was hilarious as Al the Toy Collector and, also from Toy Story 2, I love Geri the Cleaner. But now that I am really putting thought into this, I think my all-time favorite character may just be Slinky Dog.
Tell us about your piece:
Well, I’ve been thinking about taking a stab at a web comic for a while now but have had very little success coming up with what I want to actually do it on. My interests are almost endless so just picking one and running with it has actually been my greatest obstacle. So when I was approached to contribute to The Pixar Times, I figured it was a perfect opportunity to pitch the idea of doing a web comic taking place in one of the many worlds of Pixar. I had a number of ideas spanning all the possible Pixar properties but decided to focus on Dory from Finding Nemo in order to celebrate the announcement of its sequel, Finding Dory. I hope to do many more of these in the future because really what I loved most about making the comic was brainstorming story ideas with my little sister, who is easily the world’s biggest Pixar/Disney fan. So I loved getting to work with her – she’s the best.
Who/What inspires you?
I’d say Jacques-Yves Cousteau is pretty much my hero. His life’s legacy is a constant reminder that the only kind of work anyone should be doing is work they love so much and are so passionate about that they’d be willing to spend every waking moment in an effort to advance and improve upon it. Mr. Cousteau risked life and limb every day in order to test his inventions and discoveries. His passion for his work was unparalleled, and in my mind, the importance of doing what you love and what you truly believe in can never be overstated.
Recommend something, anything to our readers:
Books:
Light Reading: The Silent World by Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Moderate Reading (albeit very long form): 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
Heavy Reading: Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
Also, anything by David Sedaris and anything by Sarah Vowell
Movies:
David Lynch’s most under rated film, Wild at Heart.
Also, two of the funniest cult-classic movies ever, Wet Hot American Summer and Best In Show.
TV:
If you aren’t watching Adventure Time, then you should be watching Adventure Time.
Shameless self-promotion:
I made a poster for my favorite Adventure Time episode, ‘BMO Noire’. It can be purchased via Bottleneck Gallery’s web store here.
Via the same gallery I made an art print inspired by Moonrise Kingdom, which you can view here.
Also, an art print for the movie Drive here.
Our thanks to Jonathan for his contribution. If you’d like to be considered for a PixArt feature here send us a link to your portfolio for consideration. Contact Us today!
View all previous PixArt pieces here.
