Connect with me:
Hey you, my name is Mariano, but you can call me Mars.
I’ve been sculpting characters and creatures for almost 20 years, working everywhere from small advertising studios in Brazil to Rockstar Games and VFX for film and TV.
I grew up in São Paulo obsessed with action figures, movies, and video games. I was always the kid sketching in class instead of paying attention. Back then, I never imagined any of those interests could become a career.
That changed when a friend in design school showed me a character he was building in a 3D program. I was instantly hooked. Within a few months I switched courses, and I’ve been sculpting ever since.
I started out in Brazil, working in small advertising studios where the deadlines were brutal and the projects ranged from tiny product mascots to commercial characters. Those years taught me how to work fast, solve problems, and keep improving.
In 2015, I moved to Toronto to join Rockstar Games, where I sculpted characters for Red Dead Redemption 2. After that, I spent nearly six years at Spin VFX as a Senior Character and Creature Artist, eventually leading the creature department and contributing to projects including In the Tall Grass and other film and television productions.
These days I’m a Senior Creature Artist at MR.X, coming off several years leading the creature department at Spin VFX. I still make room for personal sculpture and the occasional outside project when the right one comes along, teaching a bit, running a small community on Patreon and Discord, and putting some of my own weird personality into everything I make.
The biggest influence on how I sculpt, though, didn’t come from a tutorial or a course. Years ago, while walking through Las Vegas with my dad, I came across one of Richard MacDonald’s bronze sculptures. It completely changed the way I looked at form and gesture. I still chase that feeling today, the visible tool marks, the sense of movement, and the impression that a real hand shaped the piece, even when the “clay” is nothing more than polygons.
If you’re here, thanks for stopping by. Whether you want to talk sculpture, characters, movies, or just share what you’re working on, I’d love to hear from you.
