Congratulations to the Winners of my FREE SONIC PRINT GIVEAWAY!

As promised the winners of my free Sonic the Hedgehog "Underhog" print giveaway were selected today. Thank you to all who entered, and especially to my friends who helped make the selection of the winners even more random. If you find yourself one of the lucky winners, you'll be contacted by email directly for your information. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

All Work and No Play Makes Spidey a Sad Boy

I suppose this is what happens when you cross fan art with social commentary. I came up with the idea for this gag illustration after watching “The Amazing Spiderman 2″ on opening weekend, but only just now got around to finishing it. It pretty much summarizes how I felt about the new franchise, the larger Marvel cinematic universe and the realities of binding contracts.

For the unaware, Spiderman is currently being distributed by Sony Pictures, who acquired the rights from Marvel back when Marvel was almost going bankrupt and needed the money. Because of this, and a legal clause mandating Sony to release a new Spiderman film every other year in order to maintain the rights indefinitely, our favorite web-head will never be able to be a part of the larger Marvel cinematic universe barring some unforeseen legal arrangement between Sony and Disney (who owns the rights to the Avengers and most other Marvel properties).

Seeing as how the internet moves on to the next hot topic while still chewing on the one it has, I wish I would’ve posted this before “ASM 2″ came out, but as they say ‘better late than never.’ Who knows? Maybe someone will re-post this next year when the “Avengers: Age of Ultron” comes out.

Sonic the Hedgehog "Underhog" Exclusive Print Giveaway

When I first started sketching what would become my Sonic the Hedgehog themed piece, "Always Root for the Underhog," I never would've imagined the positive reaction it would end up having with so many people. So as a thank you for all the kind words expressed to me about it, and even a few arguments as to whether or not he could beat the Flash or Superman, I decided to GIVEAWAY a few of my limited edition signed prints for FREE  (as I'm known to do from time to time).

How to Enter

If you already follow me through my mailing list, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger or Tumblr, then you're already signed up. If not, you can follow me on any one or all of those sites. The more you do, the greater your chance to win.

How to Win

1. Link, Share, Reblog, and/or Retweet (each method counts as ONE entry, up to FOUR entries per person)

- If you have your own individual blog, mention this contest with a LINK back to this page.

- If you prefer Facebook,  SHARE this post to your own wall and mention my Facebook page MauricioAbrilArt

- If you're on Twitter, look out for my contest tweet and retweet it.

- If you're on Tumblr, look out for my contest post and reblog it.

2. Email me at mauricioabrilart@gmail.com with 1. your name 2. hometown (not your address, I'm just curious to see how far this contest reaches) and 3. proof of your entry/entries by providing either screenshots or links.

3. Each email received will be assigned a number for each entry completed, and the winners will be chosen by selecting at random from a pool of numbers.

3. Keep a lookout on my Facebook and/or Twitter as I announce the winners May 30th.

Thanks for looking and good luck!

"POPcade" Show a Success! Pt 1

Popzilla Gallery’s 5th art show entitled “POPcade” opened this past Saturday to a HUGE crowd, and I was privileged enough to have had two pieces in the show. Popzilla’s hook is to take a specific theme and combine it with pop culture, and this time was no different. With over 70 artists and more than 120 pieces, “POPcade” mashed video games both old and new with elements from television, movies, and books like I had never seen before.

The show had everything from a painting depicting Link lost in Bikini Bottom to a drugged out Mario in a painting inspired by the movie poster for “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” It was a fantastic turnout, and I am happy to share that both of my pieces were sold halfway through the night.

If I can be honest, when I first agreed to participate in the event I had no idea what to do. I was excited by the theme, but I was petrified by the endless options at my disposal. Then I remembered that I used to LOVE playing Sonic the Hedgehog and thought about what I could do with the character. He runs really fast and collects rings along the way, so I started to think  if there were any famous rings from pop culture and what could Sonic do with those.

That wasn’t really inspiring me either, so then I focused back on his speed and it automatically hit me. What if Sonic was racing somebody? And not just anybody but somebody incredibly fast? And then I asked myself what character in pop culture is incredibly fast? The Flash! And Superman! And in fact there was even a big event in comic book history where Superman raced the Flash. So I thought it’d be funny to see this little blue-haired hedgehog inserting himself into this famous race determined to prove he’s the fastest of them all!

My second contribution to the show was an entry for the “Video Game Vixens” Pinup series. Since I wasn’t early in registering for the event, almost all of my favorite female characters from video game lore had already been reserved (each artist could only do one and each character could only be done once). Luckily nobody had asked for Harley Quinn from the Rocksteady Arkham games so I chose to go with the version from “Arkham City.”

The show will be open for 4 weeks so all of the great art can still be viewed at the Rothick Art Haus (170 S. Harbor Blvd, Anaheim, CA) during their normal operating hours.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and a special Mother’s Day if you’re in the U.S! I’ll be posting a more in-depth look at my process for each of the two pieces next for those that are interested so stay tuned. Until the next time!

"POPcade" A Video Game Tribute Show at the Rothick Art Haus

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be a part of POPzilla’s upcoming gallery show “POPcade” which will be a pop art tribute to video games old and new! The show opens this Saturday May 10 at 6pm (till 10 pm) and will run for 4 weeks. It will be held down in Anaheim, CA at the Rothic Art Haus where I’ll be exhibiting two brand new pieces that I did specifically for this show.

The first is a tribute to one of my favorite video game characters from when I was a kid. Here’s a thumbnail preview of my painting showcasing everyone’s favorite blue-haired hedgehog  I’ll post the full image after this 
weekend.

The second is my contribution to the “Video Game Vixen” pinup series that the gallery is holding. Since all of my favorite female characters from video game lore were already taken by the time I had signed up, I asked if I could illustrate someone from the Rocksteady Batman “Arkham” games, and they said yes! So I chose to go with one of my favorite comic characters in general – Harley Quinn from the “Batman: Arkham City” game. Sneak preview now, full image after this weekend so stay tuned 

Hope you can make it out!

170 S. Harbor Blvd, Anaheim, California 92805

Saturday, May 10

6 pm – 10 pm