Tell us a little bit about yourself.     

My Name is Joseph John Mauricio, I am a Self-taught Artist from Southern California, who has always had a fascination with all things Dark and Artistic. As long as I can remember
I loved Skulls and Creepy things of that nature and would bug my parents to try and get me these things.
My art could be described as a Mixture of the Artists I admire along with my strange imagination tossed in for
good  measure.
 

When did you begin creating art?       

Since I was very young, I used to draw all kinds of things,
 but I wasn't serious about it until 10 years ago.
 
What mediums, software, or equipment do you use?      

I started in Acrylics and painted mostly, but
when I got a computer, everything changed and now I mostly work in Digital, with Photoshop and Photos
that I shoot myself.

What's been the biggest highlight of your artistic career to date?    

Selling one of my Paintings
at the San Diego Comic-con International.

Do you create other styles of art, other than dark art?    

Some Sci-Fi, but I mostly focus on a
Dark Surreal type of Art.

Have you had any formal artistic training?    

No, but I attended some one day classes to learn certain
techniques and I also look at on-line tutorials like mad.

Who are your artistic inspirations?   

 H.R. Giger, Wayne Barlowe, Beksinski and Brom. There are many others I could name, but they are my top four.

When you're not creating art, what are you spending your time on?   

My full time job as a Hazardous Materials
Inspector, photography and Hiking.

What do you say to the people who say that dark art is nothing more than shock value and will never be found in a credible gallery or art collection?       

I say, ever heard of  H.R. Giger, The Artist who received an Oscar for his Design work on Alien? Dark Art has been Validated and is Not going away.
 
Any plans for the future?   

To create Dark Art until my dying day.