We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Matteson Pino. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Matteson below.
Matteson, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I live by the words “just a little bit everyday.” So no matter what I accomplish before going to sleep, I know it is going towards one of my larger goals.
This way of thinking began at the same time in which I started passionately building with LEGO. I have found that LEGO building is the only art medium that feels complete with clear checkpoints and definite ends – whereas the other art mediums can always be flourished. I can take 10 minutes in a day to build an arm, head, tongue or whatever… just a little bit, everyday.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
My name is Matt Pino and I am a LEGO artist that has created my own business that produces custom LEGO builds.
What started as a gag gift for my office mates in 2016 has turned into a professional artistic practice using LEGO bricks. Outside of my studio, I organize LEGO themed events for both public and private clients including the USO, Girl Scouts of the USA, KB Studio Chicago, museums and children’s birthday parties.
I love crafting various types of LEGO creations, which can take the form of portable gaming consoles, action figures, cartoony monsters and even human body parts. Although creating monsters is my favorite to build, I am always looking for a new challenges from my social media followers and friends. On average one model will take 20 hours to complete. After creating a build, I design the instructions and animate the building process. All builds are photographed in staged settings and published on my social media accounts
Currently, I have been challenging myself to digitally illustrate the backgrounds. Which adds another layer of complexity, as I have to mesh the documentation photo with two-dimensional drawing.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Skills that have impacted my artistic journey all fall under the category of technology. There are so many digital applications available to the world these days that can open creative doors and allow you to tell the story you want. I was very hesitant to animation programs and opted for hand-drawn animation at first. No doubt that this method results in beautiful animations, but for those like me that are impatient and want to develop many different stories, images, and styles. I find myself flourishing in digital creation tools that can render what I have imagined quicker. It took me a long time to learn that the future is not always terrifying!
As for any advice that I can offer for finding success in the art world, is to find your specific community. I simply thought that if I surround myself with artists, I would be successful? Instead I felt alone in my own creative universe. The LEGO community welcomed me with open arms and has offered many opportunities for collaboration.
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
My parents who are both professional artists and teachers ingrained in me an endless sense of creativity. Both my brother and I always had our sketchbooks on us to keep us entertained. Wether we were waiting at the doctor’s office or at grandma’s house, we were filling up pages with our favorite superheroes, monsters and cartoons. Before long flights we would even make each other coloring books with word searches and simple image puzzles.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.flickr.com/photos/154195440@N05/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pino_creations/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088514012487
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/pino_creations
- Other: https://rebrickable.com/users/pino_creations/mocs/ The link above is where I offer my building instructions to the public.
