QLTY PEOPLE : Eduardo Delacruz

Mad skills straight from New York...

Meet Eduardo Delacruz who runs MAD Artistry Airbrush and Paint out his 30x30 home shop where he custom paints motorcycles, cars and creates art in many different mediums such as airbrushing, pin-striping, hand lettering, digital designs and more.

It all started back in 2009 when he was working for the City of New York Sewer department.  He broke his leg and had to go through months of rehab and therapy.  At the time, he was building a 1951 Plymouth Custom and was just getting ready to start bodywork and paint.

While in recovery, he was introduced to a woman who was selling some of her late husband’s tools, who just so happened to be into painting and building motorcycles.  So Eduardo bought a bunch of body tools and paint guns that he still owns to this day!  The tool that made the difference was a Badger 150 airbrush.  He wasn’t able to move around much with a broken leg, so he began airbrushing as a way to keep himself busy during recovery.  Art became therapy, and as more and more people started seeing and liking his art, he quickly realized it was what he meant to do in the world.

Along with being interested in cars, Eduardo spent his childhood around motorcycles and moto people.  Two of his uncles were in the bike scene; one was actually friends with Indian Larry when he was with Psycho Cycles.  Delacruz remembers seeing his uncle with his friends and all their bikes lined up outside his old neighborhood in Hell’s Kitchen and thinking it was the coolest.  It was love, at first sight, the day he went to International Motorcycle Show and saw all the classic choppers and pro street bikes being displayed.  Soon after, he began drawing his own bike designs.

His first paid client was only a year after he started in 2010. He was commissioned to paint a mural on the glove box door for a Dodge D100.  In 2014, he airbrushed his first Harley Street Glide with stacks of skulls and evil eyes.  On the top of the fairing was a demon style skull with long fangs and big goat horns.  The whole piece was done in blacks and whites with some browns for a classic, clean look.  Since then, the majority of his work has been motorcycles and cars.

Eduardo’s inspiration to continue creating such fantastic art is his family, and more specifically, his children.  He is the father of 4, 3 boys and one girl, and all boys have autism.  Something he has learned raising them is that children with autism see things in a very different way.  Delacruz works to create art from a perspective that not only represents him but his experiences and what he’s drawn to. It should also be noted that he has an Associates degree in Mechanical Engineering and is entirely self-taught as an artist.

Eduardo uses airbrushing, painting, and pinstriping techniques to create his masterpieces, each for their own qualities.  Airbrushing for the realism it brings to a piece, painting for the full realization of a project, and pinstriping for the classic and elegant touch it brings to a paint job.  Those techniques are a part of what he feels sets him apart as an artist. He also incorporates a West Coast tattoo style into his art, using heavy black and grey work mixed with fantasy elements.  He is also known for realism in his pieces.

Despite being his own worst critic, he’s still able to see how much progress he has made over the years and how far he has come as an artist.  His company, MAD Artistry Airbrush and Paint LLC, is starting to grow, and he’s now sponsored by Lime Line Precision Tape.  He was fortunate enough to be chosen as a guest artist in the New Gen Customs booth at the Jacob Javits Center Auto Show three years in a row.

Moving forward, Eduardo hopes to upgrade his shop’s size where he can eventually begin building and customizing motorcycles and create full custom paint jobs.  If you want to see more of his fantastic work or reach out to commission a piece for yourself, you can find him on Instagram @ madartistry_airbrushnpaint_llc.

Courtesy of Cycle Source Magazine