Mark is known for amazing lifelike detailed drawings.
“I’ve always like how taking a pencil and shutting out the world can create a new world in itself. I draw my interests, my past, my loves, whether it be people, places or nature and animals. To represent it in all its detail.”
Mark mainly loves to work in graphite and charcoal, but sometimes he wants to show the beauty and color of nature. Growing up in Arizona, his influences are mainly southwest.
Using the many resources available, Mark is self-taught, with only a class here or there. Photography and art are intertwined. Capturing the moment and drawing it.
My Artistic Process
My drawings are very time consuming for me. Some drawings can take anywhere from 50 to 200 hours, depending on size and detail of the subject matter. When drawings are this time consuming, I limit my time drawing to 2 hours or 2 square inches. This keeps me from getting burned out. Detail work can be fatiguing.
I draw from photographs that I take or from pictures that I see and like.
My process goes mostly like this: Pick my photo for my drawing. Make a grid on clear plastic that I can place over my photo. Draw a grid, very lightly, on my drawing surface. If I want to enlarge my drawing over the photo size, I make my grid on my drawing surface bigger. I like mainly drawing on illustration boards. Once my grids are in place, I start drawing the outline of my subject and the major points, like eyes, mouth, etc. I used to draw free-hand, but I was always adjusting and erasing. You don’t want to do too much erasing with detail work. It messes up the board, or paper and that changes shading. So, if I am to erase, it might as well be the lightly drawn grid lines. Next comes the details and shading. I usually start at the upper left and work towards the lower right. This keeps my hand out of my finished work. I also lay down a piece of paper or a magazine to keep my drawing hand off the board. This keeps oils from my skin off the board. Shading is done with a number of stumps (tortillons) and small, fine bristle paint brushes. When working with charcoal to do detail drawings, it is important to keep everything clean. Sometimes I work with workable fixatives.
