Those close to me know I screw around with a paint brush on canvas. I also play around with other media. I DEFINITELY wouldn’t call myself an artist…but I do enjoy art and just having fun with it! One of my most recent disasters (I mean creations) is an NES controller inspired painting. Like most stuff I paint, the idea came to me accidentally.
One evening I was getting ready to paint something for a client and I was walking through the house holding a blank pre-stretched canvas. My son, who was playing Gears of War 2 at the time, asked me to watch something he was doing on screen as I was passing through the room. As I stood there holding that plain white rectangle and staring at the TV I had a flashback to my youth and the great times I had playing NES. The shape of the canvas reminded me of that iconic boxy and rectangular NES controller and I joked with my son for a moment pretending it was an actual game controller. (Don’t worry, he didn’t appreciate the humor in it either.) He was equally unimpressed with how deftly and efficiently I entered the Konami code on my giant make-believe controller.
It didn’t take me long to put two and two together and start getting curious about what my version of an NES controller painting might look like. So I created a NES controller inspired painting just to see how it would turn out. The photos above are the result. While it’s far from perfect I still think it’s pretty darn cool and definitely close to what I had hoped to create.
That being said, I realize the haters are going to hate and the NES purists are going to feel the need to point out all of the obvious flaws. In an effort to save a bunch of flaming and to avoid the need to constantly explain myself I’d like to point out a few things. This is NOT supposed to be an exact copy of every last detail of an NES controller. Instead it is a painting inspired by my love for the NES and that grey rectangle controller I spent countless hours mashing as a kid.
I’m fully aware the painting has no “SELECT” or “START” button labels and it was done intentionally. I was going for a sort of minimalistic, cartoony, modern look. I was actually starting to label the “select ” and “start” buttons and I decided I liked the clean and uncluttered look without them. Likewise with the missing arrows on the D-pad. I was going to paint them in a very dark grey a few shades off of black and I decided to just leave them off. There is something I like more about the painting being a little abstract.
I’ll be the first to agree that the scaling and dimensions are off but that’s sort of what I was going for. I wanted something abstract, fun and modern inspired by the basic geometric shapes and arrangement of the classic NES controller. It’s not intended to be a detailed portrait of one.
You probably noticed the phrase “OLD SCHOOL” appears in the painting where the Nintendo logo appears on the actual NES controller. One of the main reasons is legal issues. Nintendo is a registered trademark and I can’t just use their logo. I also wanted something to keep the painting abstract so I chose instead to paint the phrase “OLD SCHOOL” in a font very similar to the one used on the actual old school NES controller.
The painting is done mostly in acrylic with a little oil and is done on a 24″ wide x 12″ tall x about 1″ thick stretched canvas. When completed I sprayed the entire painting with a clear gloss top coat to seal it and help protect against dirt, moisture and UV light.
You can use the form below to order one of this disasters yourself. 😉
Those ordering can choose to customize their paintings with their own text instead of “old shool”. Buyers can also choose whether or not they want the “select/start” labels and D-pad arrows. I’m currently asking $39.99 which includes shipping. Considering the canvas costs me about $10.00 and shipping could be another $10.00, I’m definitely not going to get rich. If you want one you might want to order one now before I realize I’m not charging enough! 😉
**********************************************************************************
Ordering Information:
Payments are processed securely through PayPal and I never even see your payment info. Use the drop down menus to choose whether you want select/start labels, D-pad arrows, and what text you want for the logo area. If you want to choose your own custom text please put it in the “Text (up to 12 characters)” box. Remember I can only fit around 12 characters in the logo area or it becomes too small and jumbled to read properly.
Please allow up to 2 weeks for your painting to be completed. You’ll receive an email complete with tracking information when your painting ships out via USPS.