A Christmas story...sort of

I drew this originally as part of a friends magazine art project but dates got pushed back and I thought I could still use it somehow in time for Christmas. Here's a little story, albeit a weird one, about Christmas and well zombies sort of. enjoy and Happy Xmas- Mauro

Christmas or Bust!

this was a fun one. I love motorcycles and I'd be the 3rd elf riding the Ducati for sure. I thought it's be neat to do a biker gang style with santa and a few of his biker elves. Drew all the styles of motorcycles that I love. This is like a Christmas style "Wild Hogs". lol happy Holidays and hope you enjoyed it as much as i did - M

My Tiny Tina

I tried my hand at sculpting, molding and casting for the first time and had a blast making these litle Tina figures from the Bob's burgers television show. I love the character and my friends do as well. I thought it would be neat to make a figure of her that doesn't do anything, but also gave her a her 1 fan fiction book and a post it note that said "Tina" lol.

hopefully il try to make linda next one day. :-) - M

9 to 5 till i die!

Really digging this Bansky book i got at a store the other day. I connected with the visual pop his images had and each one conveyed a message.

I want to do that with my art and in my head i painted this image i just felt i wanted to share. Don't we all feel like that sometimes? I know some of my friends especially feel it for sure and I wanted this to be a High Five of sorts to all of you hard working people. so for all of us riff rafts slaving about i salute you!

think of it as a badge of honor or a coat of arms for all the hard work you do. carry on!

hope you guys dig it as much as i did drawing it.  - M

There is only one Robocop...MURPHY!!!!

"What's your name son?"........."Murphy!"

I've been thinking a lot lately about the movies I loved watching as a kid. There's a joy i get when reminiscing about my favorite character, costume, quote in a film. I've read a lot of about the new Robocop film and I honestly don't know what to think or feel about it. Will it work? Could it possibly be any better then the original?...

The movie being currently shot has an amazing cast, actors I'd never expect to see in a Robocop franchise; Sam Jackson, Michael Keaton, that just blows my mind. I'm excited that Robocop is coming back to theaters and the social conscious. in 87, the film hit all the right notes about what was happening to the US and it all felt gritty and real even tho there was a giant cyborg walking around. I miss the 80's when I think of films like Robocop.

With this new iteration, one of the major faults I have with the film is the design of the titular character. time and time again with superhero movies, never fails to use the standard muscle suit or the similarly abused "iron man" armor. just look at it, its all black, flat, a boring swat uniform on steroids. There's no love, no soul in it, it's void of any personality and more importantly lacking in Robotic appeal.

 I have no doubt the acting in this film will be great if not good, but for me, I just don't see this version of Robocop having the magic or presence waking into a crime scene. Even as I type this, I'm looking at my Robocop 18" figure from Neca, standing terrifyingly stoic holding his auto-9. The figure itself doesn't look comfortable, he looks so robotic, but then again isn't that the point?

I ended up drawing this photo above just out of pure disappointment and just a little sadness of having a childhood memory raped by a designer's poor imagination. However, I will always take pleasure knowing that my favorite version of Robo has had a long and healthy life in movies and tv show (so not so good) that I can always go back and enjoy. Regardless how the new film turns out, I will go on Believing that the real Robocop, the original Murphy, will still kick ass.

I hate you Freddy Krueger

never been much of a fan of the asshat you call "Freddy Krueger". Mostly because he caused me many a sleepless night terrified his gross face would come and get me and because my cousins are asswipes and tortured me. so in a way to get over my fear, drew this and thought it would help. hope you horror fans dig it, i actually had fun making the metal parts of his claw shiny and what not.

Calling Dixon Hill come in Picard

Always on the case is Dixon Hill, the holodecks very own gum shoe. I LOVE detective stories like sam spade or philip marlowe and when our captain Picard first donned his fedora i was psyched. Here I'm paying homage to both the star trek character but also dick tracy, another great noir character.

Manos!! the Hands of Fate a Rifftrax event for the ages!

Oh My last night my best friend bought me tickets to go see the Rifftrax team of MST3K doing "Manos: the hands of fate" live at the AMC theater. well it was awesome, the movie was terrible and the Riff team just made it so damn enjoyable I had to go home and celebrate this terrible movie with a great lil poster to 1 of it's main stars!! (i'll get to you one day Torgo!). do yourself a favor and catch the MST3K episode where they riff on this great shitty movie!! its not one to be missed. thanks to Jeffy Jugbutt for buying me tickets.

Jean Luc Picard as Locutus Borg

this one's a tear jerker, my Picard as Locutus when captured by the Borg. this one almost made me a little sad when they show the scene of him being transformed and he has a tear running down his cheek. the Picard doesn't cry damn it!!! Hope you guys dig it.

Geordi La Forge's Visor

OK I'm having a lot of fun doing these!! Here's my tribute Geordi La Forge and his Visor in star trek. Always loved this character and the actor, Levar Burton, is one of my childhood heroes as a kid (thanks reading rainbow!). Always loved the way Geordi described the way he saw things differently through his Visor and I always wanted to do a blueprint style layout for him. hope you guys dig it.

Q the Omnipotent by Mauro Balcazar

this one was a lot of fun. I am a huge Q fan and John De Lancie's performance always makes it really enjoyable on Star Trek. Here I imagine him embedding himself onto our currency just to show us how all knowing, all encompassing, and omnipotent Q is. mischievous bastard! lol

Worf's Klingon Prune Juice!!

this one was a fun one to draw. <--- tongue twister much? lol. here is Mr Worf enjoying his warriors ale prune juice. never drew a Klingon before and had a lot of fun with this one.

Commander Riker, #1 ladies man making it so.

I've been watching all of Star Trek TNG thanks to netflix and i love re watching the series i use to see as a kid. now in my 20's i definitely can relate more to the characters and enjoy the entire series. One of my favorite characters is Commander Riker, played by awesome Jonathan Frakes, who hooked up with a girl in almost every other episode. it always makes me laugh when i watch an episode and you can see him smirk as a girl walks by, it's like you can almost time it. I drew this to pay homage to the man, the myth, and the legend that is William Riker, 1st officer of the U.S.S Enterprise. Boldy go sir!! hopefully one day i'll get a chance to meet some of the cast. that would be really great.