Mark's Art Resource takes on projects of all sorts of forms. Whether it's a mural, or a logo, or some sort of branding or signage, or even just a fun print to gift to a friend and/or loved one. Mark specializes in oil paintings and acrylic murals, but loves to do marker panels as well. As noted on the home page, Mark prefers to work murals at an hourly rate with materials covered, but like all projects, we're willing to negotiate. A key understanding that all customers must have is that we are humans that work full time. Give us a deadline and we'll get it done by then, but you need to be patient as we have lives too! Please feel free to reach out to us via email to acquire about getting a project knocked out. Our availability depends on several factors - most importantly, if travel is required, we would need to negotiate lodging expenses. All projects can be currently worked on in the local Martinsburg, WV area.
Check out our Completed Projects!
Mamba Collectibles MTG Mural
Acrylic on Wall Mural
For over a month, Mark worked on a Magic the Gathering (MTG) Mural at Mamba Collectibles. This is the first of three to showcase the main trading card games the store carries.
This is the completed product; however, you can see its progress from day 0 by waiting patiently, or clicking the right arrow.
Day 0
Here's a picture of a blank wall! This was the untouched wall that Mark began the mural on.
The mural is located at halfway point of a staircase, so that those that trek up the stairs and take a break have a nice scenery to gaze at (there are a ton of stairs). But it also serves as a nice logo to introduce the TCG floor of the store.
Day "1"
So, this isn't actually day 1. We had to put a primer layer down first, but it's the most notable first step with some progress on it.
At this point, we knew what the owner wanted as far as the logo went, but, we didn't know what was going to go in the background. A ton of measuring and placement was performed to make sure the centerpiece looked dope before we could continue.
Day 2
We got the logo down, now it was time to get the MTG portion of the mural started. Mark spoke with the owner and vines seemed like a good idea to divide sections of the background.
We talked with him and the manager and solidified that we were going to do the backgrounds of MTG's basic lands with some intricit combinations and detailing.
Day 3
Woohoo! We got the words down!
Mark decided to make the "S" into a snake to give it some extra pizazz. At this point, we'll mention that Mark was working this mural on Saturdays and Sundays, so some of the pictures in-between were left out to only show major milestones. In total, this project took around 10 sessions with a few rest days inbetween.
Day 4
The landscapes were drafted!
When Mark paints murals, he uses layering to get the basic colors and placement before going into the detail. He likes to call this "children painting" because it is very rough and colorful. Sometimes, he lets kids paint a little because there's wiggle room, and anybody can be an artist with some motivation and patience.
Prior to this step, he touched up the vines a little and added shading to the MTG symbols.
Day 5
Let there be mountains and plains!
Woohoo! We took it a step further than children's painting. We were going to go for some more intricit detail on the mountains, but happy mistakes were made - and we were very pleased with the result.
Day 6
Let there be islands, wastes, and half a swamp!
Day 7
Let there be forest and a full swamp!
Day 8
Let there be vines and a nearly-completed mural!
At this point, we were almost done with the mural! Mark worked to get the vines completed (took an entire session), and did the details of the Mamba logo with a slight twist to the original design (purple instead of gold secondary colors).
The only steps left were to add some finishing touches, touch up some white paint areas, and add some hidden planeswalkers in the mural. Unfortunately, the planeswalkers are too tiny and too well hidden to be seen from the final image. You'll just have to stop by and find em' yourself!
So, this was one of Mark's favorite projects. Mark was hired in Morgantown, WV by a local burrito place called Chico's Fat Burritos. He worked for a few months to give them a one-of-a-kind mural that demonstrated and emphasized their culture! It's hard to tell from the picture, but see if you can find the Looney Tunes characters, the Greatful Dead Bears, and the Panda wearing a Sombrero... Unfortunately, due to a Chipotle opening up across the street - they went out of business :( So, for those who saw it in time, congratz! You may be the only ones to have seen this gem. It closed so quickly that Mark never got to take a picture of the completed mural (all that's missing are the clouds - they were redone).
RIP Chico's Fat. Their Mexican Poutine will always be missed by Mark.
Marker on Panel
This was a commission completed by Mark in Dewey Beach, DE. The design was to show the Forza Group riding the tidal wave hitting the competition in Dewey. He worked on this for around a month, while handling other things, and gave the completed version to the owner.
Oil on Canvas
After Mark's grandpa passed away before the COVID-19 Pandemic, Mark worked in secrecy for a few months to complete a portrait of him. He worked from a black and white reference photo secretly taken while visiting to try and capture his grandpa's personality. If you look closely, you can see him thinking "Loreto! It's cold! Hurry up and take the photo!" The portrait was given to his grandma on Christmas and she proudly has it hung up on her wall to this day - apparently, her friends love to talk about it.
We love you Meme!
Acrylic on Wall Mural
So, Mark was pretty bummed about Chico's Fat closing. His mural that he put hard hours in would never see the light of day outside of the owner's, we're assuming, house (if it still is in existence). So naturally he began working on a personal mural to help fill the void. Fortunately (and Un), he lived in the Morgantown equivalent of a Bodego, so he put this beauty up in his house - and still kept his security deposit when he left (thanks black mold and collapsed ceiling from water damage!).
Marker on Panel
This was a quick commission for his friend to make a GMU signage for what Mark assumes was a Frat house at the time.
Created using Pixelmator with mouse and keyboard
This was during Mark's High School days where he designed an iron-on patch for his friend's tie-dye business. The image is reversed so that it can be ironed onto shirts.
Created using Pixelmator with mouse and keyboard
This was a quick logo for a Minecraft server! None of that new console stuff - an old school Technic Pack running modded Minecraft on Java - Mark and Erin are getting old!
Created using Pixelmator with mouse and keyboard
Another quick logo for a Minecraft server! Also none of that new console stuff - an old school Bukkit server running a modified version of Minecraft on Java.
