These are just a few pictures that I have collected over the years.

Enjoy! - Mark
 
Peter Caras and Norman Rockwell   Mark (center) with Tim Hildebrandt (left) and Greg Hildebrandt (right), trying to figure out the meaning of life.
 
Peter Caras and Mark   Mark and Greg Hildebrandt
at the opening of Spiderwebart Gallery.
 
Mark posing as Aragorn for the cover illustration of "Greg and Tim Hildebrandt, The Tolkien Years."  Greg mans the camera, Tim works the lights and Alex Horley helps with the cloak.   Mark's W.W.F. illustration posted in Times Square in 2001.  Click here for another view of the illustration.
 
Tim Hildebrandt and Mark Pose as Darth Maul and Qui-Gon for a 1999 Stars Wars Episode 1 illustration.   Close-up of Royal Rumble Illustration pictured above.  Mark inserted himself into the finished artwork (the shadowy figure in the second row on the left, to the back and left of Triple H).
 

In the fall of 2002, Mark was commissioned by Kean University to do their first painted cover for the University Magazine. The assignment was for Mark to place himself in a fantasy environment.

In order to make the unbelievable believable you have to base it in reality.  Once the concept sketch was approved, reference material was gathered.  The photo is a means to the end, and not an end in itself, and is not copied exactly.  If you compare the finished illustration to the photo reference, you can see how Mark enhanced it to match the fantasy concept. "It's always a question of what to leave in and what to leave out."

Color Sketches      
 

Being an illustrator is a lot like being director making a movie.  The artist is in charge of the camera angle, the cast, the background, props, costume design and everything that goes into a picture.  The only difference is, instead of having two hours to tell a story, an illustrator only has a single frame.  It is one of the most creative and difficult things to do.  Everything in the picture is there for a reason, and nothing is left to chance.

A color sketch is a small version of a painting that is sometimes as small as 2x3 inches.   Artists use color sketches to help determine the overall color scheme, the value plan and how to technically finish a painting.

     

     

Many of Mark's original works are for sale.  Please contact Mark for more information, or visit here.

Contact Mark for information on custom artwork, portraits and murals.