Mark and Mary, best-selling authors of the Absolute Beginner
series, have been working as a team in the publishing industry for decades.
Sharing the fundamentals of art in understandable terms, they enjoy encouraging
others to pursue their creative potential. Mark is also a fine artist and
teaches art classes and workshops. Mary is an author and a home school mom.
Mark and Mary live with their family, a loyal border collie and two mischievous
cats in West Chester, Ohio.
Location: West Chester, Ohio
Website: www.shadowblaze.com
On the Drawing Table: We are working
on the next Absolute Beginner book
Coming out soon: Name TBA; coming out in 2017 Look for a future announcement!
How did you get your start as a professional artist?
During the
latter days of high school, where I was finishing my commercial art program at
Scarlet Oaks, I worked at a co-op through the summer at Korb Check Printers.
The work involved paste-up, industrial camera work, typography and printing
plate making. This job also educated me in off-set printing.
From there, I
went on to Central Academy of Commercial Art. After graduating art school I
started in advertising, doing paste-up, layout, design and illustration. (This
was before computers).
When
computers were becoming common in the commercial art world, I decided to go
freelance, exclusively doing illustration work. After interviewing to publish
my artwork in Watercolor Magic Magazine, Mary and I started writing and
illustrating articles for the magazine. These articles became the springboard
for our first book, Watercolor for the Absolute Beginner. We are now working on
our seventh in the Absolute Beginner series.
Mary has her
Bachelor’s in Education from Eastern Kentucky University and her Masters in
Counseling, starting at Cincinnati Christian University and graduating from
Xavier University.
Describe your
work.
Mary and I create
art instruction books for North Light Books. I develop the concept, write an
outline and plan out the material, page by page, for the entire book. Next I
write the text, with Mary’s help, and produce all of the line art and
illustrations, which I then photograph. Mary works with the planning and
editing of the written material, as well as the data entry, which includes the
text and cataloging thousands (yes, thousands!) of visual images.
I also teach
drawing and watercolor classes and workshops and Mary homeschools our youngest
daughter.
Tell about your workspace.
Our home has
both a living room and family room. Mary and I use the living room space for
their office/studio. It has large picture windows so we can watch the squirrels
chase each other through the trees in our front yard.
I work on a
3’x5’ drafting board, complete with attached T square arm. This is especially
useful for producing print-ready art.
What are your
favorite materials digital and traditional?
I work in
traditional mediums, mostly pencil and watercolor, but I also enjoy oils,
acrylics and pastels. When Mary writes, she loves Ticonderoga pencils, her
“special” pens and, of course, the computer.
What’s your
typical workday/work session like?
I typically
work 8-5 Monday through Friday. Because family time is so important, Mary and I
try not to work through the weekends.
What do you
do to keep yourself motivated as you work?
Though we
love working at home, sometimes it can be difficult to stay motivated. Meeting
with other artists can help with motivation so we try to attend the
illustrator’s lunch as often as we can.
Also, our
book projects have far off deadlines which can make it difficult to stay motivated.
I schedule myself so that I know how much I am to produce per week. This gives
me clear, obtainable goals that provide a sense of accomplishment. Developing
the concepts for future projects is another way to get motivated and keep the creative
juice flowing.
What is your dream job?
This is my
dream job. I do what I like, crafting books, where I like, at home and with my
favorite person, Mary.
What do you
listen to while you work?
We both are
eclectic with our music. We especially enjoy Henry Mancini, Mozart, Schubert
and Tchaikovsky. I enjoy listening to the old radio programs aired on WMKV and
Mary especially likes listening to songs from Switchfoot, Toby Mac and House of
Heroes. But while we are writing, we prefer the more relaxed atmosphere of
music without words.
Who are your
artistic influences?
In some way,
I believe we are influenced by everything we are exposed to. With so many
talented artists to choose from, it’s difficult to narrow the list. These are
some of the artists that I admire and who have influenced me the most. Big
Daddy Ed Roth, Peter Helck, Winold Reiss, Grant Wood, John Constable, John
Singer Sargent, Andrew Wyeth, MC Escher and Norman Rockwell. Besides regarding
each of these artists as very talented and able to communicate effectively, I
find their art appealing because of the subject matter and the technique used.
What do you do that is not art related that inspires you?
I’m inspired
by the world around us. I love nature and the beauty of the outdoors, and I
also enjoy buildings and architecture. I enjoy learning about science and
physics. With all of these interests, there is an order and purpose to it which
I find fascinating.
Mary loves to
spend time with family and friends, doing anything from sitting quietly
together, playing games, laughing or talking about serious life issues. Mary
always has several books available to read and she loves to write. She also
likes to learn strange facts. An example, she just found out that we are both pluviophiles,
which means we love rainy days. We also enjoy the way the clouds contrast with
each other, watching thunderstorms and the fresh smell after a spring rain.
These things lift our spirits.
What was the
best advice you got in your career so far?
“Trust in
the Lord with all your heart
and lean not
on your own understanding;
in all your
ways acknowledge Him,
and He will
make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6
With this
scripture and others like it, we glean that we are to keep focused on God and
to be true to ourselves.
Defining one’s
identity can be a struggle. As an artist your art can become your identity. Am
I just my art? Is an actor just the role they play? God has gifted me with
artistic talent but that is just one facet of my life, and it is only a portion
of my identity. I want to be open to the possibilities God has for my life as I
learn to understand myself better each day.
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| Japanese and Chinese translations! |
What is your
favorite color?
Mary’s
favorite colors are yellow and orange because they are energizing. I like the
calm feeling of blues and greens. Colors are not isolated. Their use involves
their relationship with other colors. In that sense, it’s a matter of how
effectively they are used. I think any color can be appealing if it is in the
right setting.
How can we best follow your art online/on social media?
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| Missy |
