Mai Hiro’s Susan Lee at Redefine Arts Gallery

I recently had the opportunity to attend Mai Hiro’s first gallery event of 2013. The event was held at Orlando’s very fine City Arts building, inside of the Redefine Arts Gallery, and showcased a character called Mr. Smiling, created by Mai Hiro artist, Susan Lee.

The art showcased by Susan Lee featured her character Mr. Smiling and all of his imaginative adventures. Through thick ink and bright colors, the character appeared in each one of her paintings and drawings. Lee also designed pop art of France’s Eiffel Tower, which was very appealing to the eye. With free boba tea given by Chewy Boba Company, toy designer Nakanari in attendance, and Bluemotion Production filming and providing camera work, the opening reception to the event was a big success.

Memo Randoms by Jason Franzen

Jason Franzen of More Simple has successfully launched his funded Kickstarter campaign to print some vital information for your everyday life. The 18x24 prints use Heroic and Gotham typefaces. Coincidence, or Batman?!

Mai Hiro Presents: Mr. Smiling by Susan Lee

In Orlando, Florida, Thursday, May 16, 2013, Mai Hiro will feature their first gallery event of the year, focusing on the team’s newest member, Susan Lee, and her character, Mr. Smiling. The event will take place at Redefine Art Gallery in downtown Orlando. The exhibition will feature Mr. Smiling and his expansive universe explored within fine watercolor, sketches, and digital print illustrations, as well as large wall-mounted installation piece in the gallery.

Susan Lee’s limited edition, 9x12 Eiffel Tower prints, along with an event keychain produced by Urban Forest Jewelry will be available to guests during the exhibition opening.

Opening reception is on Thursday, May 16, from 6pm-10pm.

Redefine Art Gallery
29 South Orange Ave 
Orlando, FL 32801

The Secret Life of Action Figures

We’ve all seen clever action figure  photography floating around the internet at some point, but this series, titled 1:1 Toys, by Daniel Picard is some top tier God Mode level craziness.

Check out more in the embedded gallery below.

(Source: mymodernmet.com)

This Isn’t a Painting

Nope. It’s a room. Full of stuff. Arranged to look like a collage or painting. Trippy stuff.

Kickstart This Shizz: Battle City - A Pokémon Inspired Art Show

Our friends over at PKMNCast.com have launched a Kickstarter campaign for a follow-up to their popular 649 Monsters art show. This new show, Battle City, will feature over 100 artists from around the world and the backer incentives include sweet deals like art prints, and even a hardcover book featuring every piece from the show complete with artist bios.

Campaign video below:

They’ve already murdered their $2,000 goal by pulling in over $7,000, but there’s still 24 days left to unlock some of the stretch goals. Kickstart this shizz here.

Daily Graffiti

This crazy Super Mario Bros. 8-bit street art was added to our Geek Graffiti Flickr pool by Starman Super. It transforms electrical boxes into question mark blocks and other familiar objects from Mushroom Kingdom. Neat!

Check it: The Daily Graffiti Archives

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Dr. Light Capsule Replica Complete With Futuristic Hologram Effect

And this one-of-a-kind custom-made piece of awesomeness will only set you back $3,000! This was made by Andrew Butterworth for the Mega Man Boss Battle art show at San Francisco’s Gauntlet Gallery.

Check out a video of the beast in action below.

(Source: technabob.com)

8-bit variant cover to Avengers AI #1 by Matthew Waite

Oh, hey. Look what I’ll be pre-ordering a gazillion copies of at my local comic shop.

(via marvelentertainment)

If Disney Princesses Were Jedi Knights

Ariel dual-wields a pair of blue lightsabers under the sea, Rapunzel rocks short hair with an exceptionally long Padawan braid, and Snow White makes one hell of a bad-ass Sith in these illustrations by Ralph Sevelius.

(Source: nerdapproved.com)

Action Figures Made Entirely From Twisty Ties

I’ve paid actual money for action figures that aren’t nearly as cool as these.

Cobra Commander Custom Air Jordan VI’s

One of the greatest 80’s cartoon bad guys gets a custom sneaker homage courtesy of Mache.

Check it: More custom sneakers on Albotas
Buy: G.I. Joe Complete Series Collectors Set

(Source: freshnessmag.com)

Minimalist Pop Culture Posters from Andrew Heath

Andrew Heath is my type of a designer. He’s got an eye for minimalism and bold colors and a fierce pop culture addiction. Check out more of his Saturday morning and movie-inspired work here.

Check it: More posters on Albotas

Buy: Minimalist Graphics Hardcover Book

This Is What All Your Dead Marios Look Like When You Lose A Life

Our friend and designer toy artist extraordinaire RSIN sent us these pics of his custom Mario figure for the Game On art show being hosted by 1AM Gallery during this year’s Game Developers Conference. This custom 8” Mario piece features a sculpted base, gold accents, and Mario’s grill has been sculpted into a Mexican sugar skull with gold teeth.

Kind of makes me wish there was some sort of evil power-up item that made Mario look like this in the games.

Check it: More custom toy posts on Albotas
Buy: Super Mario 5" Vinyl Figure Set of 5

A Little Bit on Josh Taylor

Josh Taylor is a multi-talented artist who paints and illustrates beautiful pictures of destruction, creation, and warped perceptions of pop culture. Really enjoy his style and his use of colors, especially what he can do on wood with acrylic and ink. Check out Josh Taylor’s website here, along with a gallery of his work. Buy prints from the artist here at his online shop.

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