Bibliotrek | The Art & Projects of Mark Elton

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Always be curious. Never stop learning.

MARK ELTON

MARK ELTON

Always be curious. Never stop learning.

Gallery

Apr 17

“Master & Student”
🤖 🐸 🧙‍♂️
Tomorrow I’ll be out at @westacresmall for the Spring Cleaning Sale at Aptitude. Swing on by and see what kinds of deals you can find from all the artists out there!
🖼🖼🖼
#starwars #starwarsfan #starwarsfanart #fanart #fanartfriday #grogu #groguthechild #babyyoda #r2d2 #themandalorian #mandalorian #digitalart #digitalartist #digitalillustration #digitalillustrator #digitalpainting #digitalpainter #lukeskywalker #jedi #artist #illustrator #painting #supportlocalart

Apr 9

“Mini Puft”
🔥🔥🔥
Anyone catch the new trailer? I’m a little excited! 😁
👻👻👻
Scroll to see the difference 4 years of practice make.
🖼🖼🖼
#staypuft #staypuftmarshmallowman #minipuft #minipufts #ghostbusters #ghostbustersafterlife #digitalart #digitalartist #digitalillustration #digitalillustrator #digitalpainting #digitalpainter #stickerart #stickerartist #sticker #marshmallow #marshmallows #staypuff #staypuffmarshmallowman #tbt #throwbackthursday #fanart #ghost #ghosts

Apr 7

"Green Thumb"
🌱🌱🌱
Temperatures are bouncing between summer and winter as we settle into the rubber banding period that is known as a Minnesota spring. The forest pathways I have come to love will soon be painted in swatches of green again. For now, I wait with hooded sweatshirts zipped up as these same paths look like autumn just stepping out of the shower. Soon it will feel like spring again. And though it will be brief, it will be welcome - like a breath of fresh air.
😌😌😌
How are you?
🌱🌱🌱
Scroll through for some WIP shots and see if you can spot some choices that were explored but abandoned.
🔍🔍🔍
#greenthumb #gnome #greenhouse #gardening #gardener #garden #mandrake #brusselsprout #brusselprouts #digitalart #digitalartist #digitalartwork #digitalillustration #digitalillustrator #digitalpainting #digitalpainter #plants #planter #plants #spring #springtime #springbreak #newbeginnings #fertilesoil #newgrowth #growth #wip #wipwednesday

Apr 5

“Easter Bunny“
🐰🥚🌈
Today I had the privilege of sending my eldest nephew on an egg hunt - puzzle style!
🧩🧩🧩
It started off with a letter from the Easter Bunny sending him off to find 18 colored eggs. He then counted how many of each colored egg was in his basket in order to unlock a box that gave him a map to the location of three chicks and the bunny himself. After finding them all and placing the chickens in order of tallest to shortest, he was able to open the final cache - a box filled with candy and toys for him and his brother.
🍭🧸🍬
For the record - he rocked it!
😁😁😁
#easter #easterbasket #easterbunny #springchicken #easteregghunt #digitalart #digitalartist #digitalillustration #digitalillustrator #digitalpainting #digitalpainter #bunny #bunnyrabbit #rabbit #sticker #stickerart #eastereggs #easteregg

Mar 24

Been a awhile! Here’s a #workinprogress shot of a piece I’m working on. Scroll on through for backwards progress, and leave comments below for what else this befuddled gnome may be growing!
🪴🪴🪴
#wip #wipart #wipartwork #wipwednesday #gnome #greenhouse #mandrake #brusselsprouts

Feb 26

"Arnold Schwarzenexeggutor"
😬😬😬
This one has been living rent free in my mind for a while now. Finally had to give him the boot. Scroll for a closer look at the faces as well as a couple of the other monstrosities I've birthed over the years.
💪🌴🥚
#arnoldscharzenegger #exeggutor #alolanexeggutor #pokemon #dannydevito #pikachu #willemdafoe #slowpoke #pokemon #pokemonday #pokemonart #digitalart #digitalartist #digitalillustration #digitalillustrator #digitalpainting #digitalpainter #sticker #stickerart #pokemonfanart #pokemonfusion #fanartfriday

Feb 12

"Special Delivery"
🐱🐦🐶
Going to be at the @theartspartnership Art Market today and tomorrow. Thought I should take that as the opportunity to make a new piece. I'll be taking every precaution available to me, so put on a mask, come on out and pick up a book or cards if you feel suitably hale, hearty, and adventurous.
💜💜💜
#puppy #pupper #kitten #kitty #specialdelivery #valentines #happyvalentines #artmarket #supportlocalart #supportlocalartists #digitalart #digitalartist #digitalillustration #digitalillustrator #digitalpainting #digitalpainter #valentine

Jan 12

(9/9) A Child’s Wonder
🥚🐸🥚
This piece was pure candy. Since season one, new episodes of The Mandalorian have been warm beacons of comfort while the weather gets colder. Painted by the light of twinkling Christmas lights and the glow of the TV while credits passed by, “Wonder” was probably the truest form of fan art I’ve done in years.
🐻 ⛄️ 🐰
HONORABLE MENTION: No real name for this one, but while previous years have been busy trying to juggle commissions, holiday markets, and family gatherings, 2020 provided the sort of free time I have not had in years. So I decided to try something new and experiment with pop-up cards. Overall, I had a lot of fun!
🐧❄️🦊
#top9of2020 #bestnine2020 #topnine #top9 #bestnine #best9 #honorablemention #digitalart #digitalartist #digitalillustration #digitalillustrator #digitalpainting #digitalpainter #babyyoda #mandalorian #themandalorian #eggs #starwars #starwarsart #speedpaint #starwarsnerd #disney #disneyplus #popupcard #winter #critters

Jan 11

(8/9) Festive Mischief
🐿 🐈🐿
In case you can’t tell from looking at prior year illustrations, I have a very “Disneyfied” view of Christmas. So doing this was the artistic equivalent of coming home for the holiday. On top of that, it was brought to life though a combination of thumbnail composition studies, a custom 3D model for reference, and custom brushes. Fun fact – the cat hair was made with brushes I had created to paint grass and hedgehog needles.
❄️ 🎅🏼 ⛄️
HONORABLE MENTION: A Walk Through the Woods – A difference sort of “return home” for me, insomuch that it was predominately made in Illustrator, then painted over in Photoshop. And though it also uses custom built brushes and composition studies while being arguably more popular than my other 2020 holiday piece, it loses out to “Mischief” for a few reasons, including how it diverges from most of my other work. Bonus! I included a color variant that was asked for as a special request.
🌲🐁🌲
#top9of2020 #bestnine2020 #topnine #top9 #bestnine #best9 #honorablemention #digitalart #digitalartist #digitalillustration #digitalillustrator #digitalpainting #digitalpainter #cat #kitten #chipmunk #wreath #festive #mischief #yule #holiday #christmascard #holidaycard #holidaycards #holidayart #mouse #woods #forest #walkthroughthewoods

Jan 10

(7/9) Big-Eyed Thresher Shark
🦈🦈🦈
Before painting up this dood, I was getting bogged down and bored with painting animals. However, this guy helped be break through that art block by allowing me to mix in a bit more whimsy with realism than I had in previous animal portrait endeavors.
🦈🦈🦈
HONORABLE MENTION: Cat Shark – Since Shark Week is a thing, I thought I might do a full week of sharks. Ultimately, this was the only extra shark I was able complete in time, and though I was also able to include it with the previously mentioned Thresher Shark, and old painting of the Great White, and a very artistic rendition of the Weasel Shark, I ultimately fell short of a full Shark Week.
🦈🦈🦈
#top9of2020 #bestnine2020 #topnine #top9 #bestnine #best9 #honorablemention #digitalart #digitalartist #digitalillustration #digitalillustrator #digitalpainting #digitalpainter #threshershark #sharklover #sharksofinstagram #sharklove #deepseacreatures #sharkweek #shark #catshark #animalart #animalartist #nature #animals #animalportraits

Jan 9

(6/9) Carving the Witch Elm
🎃🎃🎃
Overall, this may be my favorite piece from 2020. Within it are examples of tricks I picked up from “The Unsung Hero”, “Family Portrait”, and “April Showers”, as well creating my most complex 3D reference model to date.
🎃🎃🎃
HONORABLE MENTION: Teared Cake – There were many iterations of this leading up to the finished piece. Most of them didn’t make sense from a narrative point of view, as it swapped the kids and the cake and faced them all head on. And though I am happy with the composition of this piece, the finishing details were ultimately rushed to get this done on deadline.
🎃💀🙀
#top9of2020 #bestnine2020 #topnine #top9 #bestnine #best9 #honorablemention #digitalart #digitalartist #digitalillustration #digitalillustrator #digitalpainting #digitalpainter #halloweenart #mothman #cabin #autumnactivity #werewolf #witch #halloweenartist #blackcat #pumpkin #ghost #cake #midnight #candles

Jan 8

(5/9) Family Portrait
🌴 🏠 🦝
Done for a friend in the style of the new Animal Crossing game, this piece pushed me to create a series of custom brushes that I have continued to use for many purposes beyond what they were created for originally.
🌴 🏠 🦝
HONORABLE MENTION: Campfire Stories – There is something familiar about those leaves…
🐺 👽 🎃
#top9of2020 #bestnine2020 #topnine #top9 #bestnine #best9 #honorablemention #digitalart #digitalartist #digitalillustration #digitalillustrator #digitalpainting #digitalpainter #animalcrossingnewhorizons #acnh #familyportraits #scarystories #hauntedwoods #urbanlegend #folklore #willowisp #alien #costume #werewolf #mothman #fullmoon #campfire #campfirestories

Jan 7

(4/9) Thought and Memory at the Edge of Ragnarok
👻🐺🌛
Despite the Halloween-ish vibes, this piece was finished early in 2020 for the Crow Show hosted at the Spirit Room. It probably took me just as long to plan the composition as it did to paint it – but using perspective grids during the planning itself is what had major implications on future pieces.
👻🐺🌛
HONORABLE MENTION: A Real Turkey – Painted in 2019 for the Midwestern at the Rourke, this piece was almost called “The Binding of Thought and Memory” and is a direct ancestor to “Thought and Memory at the Edge of Ragnarok.”
🦃🦃🦃
#top9of2020 #bestnine2020 #topnine #top9 #bestnine #best9 #honorablemention #digitalart #digitalartist #digitalillustration #digitalillustrator #digitalpainting #digitalpainter #hugin #huginnandmuninn #muninn #halloween #trickortreat #cute #cuteanimals #crows #ravens #corvids #fenris #ragnarok #gilded #turkey

Jan 6

(3/9) Bountiful Harvest
🍎🌽🍏
This piece was done for The Arts Partnership as part of their Community Supported Arts program. In addition to painting the image, I hand cut, scored, and stuffed hundreds of greeting cards that were stamped and bundled with a short note for each of the CSA recipients. Overall, it was an enjoyable experience to not only paint what is essentially a still life, but to hand craft so many individual cards.
🍎🌽🍏
HONORABLE MENTION: Assorted Fruit – Painted in the midst of the initial madness that was Animal Crossing, done less for a purpose, and more for practice. I can still feel the breeze flowing in through the window as I made these. This series of piece could be considered a prelude to what eventually became "Bountiful Harvest".
🍎 🍊 🍑 🍒 🍐
#top9of2020 #bestnine2020 #topnine #top9 #bestnine #best9 #honorablemention #digitalart #digitalartist #digitalillustration #digitalillustrator #digitalpainting #digitalpainter #thankful #thankfulness #givingthanks #arts #artists #supportlocalart #supportlocalartists #harvest #bountifulharvest #hornofplenty #cornucopia #apple #pear #cherry #orange #fruit

Jan 5

(2/9) April Showers
🐭🍄🦆
This piece was originally planned to have a counterpart named “May Flowers”, but laying the entire piece out in a perspective grid wound up delaying the piece into June.
📖🦝🌳
HONORABLE MENTION: Summer Read – This piece was based on photos I had taken while hiking this summer. It encapsulates a strong feel I have for summer, and a lot of people seemed to like it. But in the end, April Showers pushed me more.
🐭🍄🦆
#rain #rainyday #aprilshowers #rainshowers #mouse #duckling #duck #gnome #gnomehome #forestlife #art #fantasyart #cuteart #digitalart #fantasyartist #top9of2020 #bestnine2020 #topnine #top9 #bestnine #best9 #honorablemention #digitalart #digitalartist #digitalillustration #digitalillustrator #digitalpainting #digitalpainter

Jan 4

(1/9) The Unsung Hero
🤖🤖🤖
Originally commissioned in 2019, this R2-D2 fan piece forced me to refamiliarize myself with Illustrator to capture the details inherent in the droid, while allowing me the time and space to learn a few new tricks that aided me with all my other work this year.
🐸🐸🐸
HONORABLE MENTION: The Child (Repaint) – Have to consider this an honorable mention because I just repainted a previous piece – Baby Yo-Ho-Ho-da – and because I cannot remember if I did this in 2019 or 2020.
👽👽👽
#r2d2 #astromech #astromechdroid #starwars #droid #thechild #babyyoda #grogu #StarWarsArt #StarWarsFanart #top9of2020 #bestnine2020 #topnine #top9 #bestnine #best9 #honorablemention #digitalart #digitalartist #digitalillustration #digitalillustrator #digitalpainting #digitalpainter

Jan 4

Hey here it is! I did the thing! It's my #TopNine2020 - sort of...
🙃🙃🙃
Last year, I posted a Top Nine and a Favorite Nine..but after reviewing them this year, there was enough overlap to make one of each redundant. So instead, I'm just going to post my Favorite 9 from last year, and then repost each of them individually with a specific explanation as to "Why" it made the list. If you want to read up on what each of these nine pieces means to me and/or what went into making it - as well as runner-ups for each piece - then definitely check back later.
🤖🤖🤖
🐭🍄🦆
🍎🌽🍏
👻🐺🌛
🧔👶🧒👩‍🦰
🐺🧙‍♀️🌳
🦈🦈🦈
🐿🐱🐿
👽🐸🥚
#top9of2020 #bestnine2020 #topnine #top9 #bestnine #best9 #digitalart #digitalartist #digitalillustrator #digitalillustration #digitalpainting #digitalpainter #r2d2 #rainyday #bountifulharvest #fenris #animalcrossing #witch #shark #cat #babyyoda #grogu #chipmunks #wolf #familyportrait #crows #cornucópia #duckling #starwars

Dec 26

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Glad Yule! Whatever you're celebrating, I wish you health, wealth, and warmth! Also, I come bearing the gift of a puzzle.
🎄🎄🎄
Four critters met up at the frozen pond to exchange gifts with each other. Despite sparking joy, none of them gave or received the one gift they all wanted. What did they all want?
❄️☃️❄️
If you think you have it figured out, leave a comment down below!
❓❓❓
#puzzle #puzzleart #holidaypuzzle #winter #merrychristmas #gladyule #happyholidays #critters #animalart #stickers #animalstickers #digitalart #digitalartist #digitalpainting #digitalpainter #digitalillustration #digitalillustrator #puzzleartist #holidayart #holidayartwork

Dec 19

"Capybara"
🐁🐁🐁
A couple years ago, I made this winterized capybara as part of a board game puzzle for a room at @puzzledescaperoomsfargo . It was an assignment I most thoroughly enjoyed. This year, they have another holiday-themed escape room that is sure to delight its players. Can you guess the theme?
🤑👻👻👻😍
I'll hop on the Top 9 bandwagon later - closer to New Years. For now, I'm going to try and post some more holiday content while I have the chance.
🎅🎅🎅
#capybara #sticker #christmas #holiday #puzzle #escaperoom #winter #digitalart #digitalartist #digitalpainting #digitalpainter #digitalillustration #digitalillustrator #animalart #animalartist #animalillustration #puzzleart #puzzleartist

Dec 6

Happy Krampusnacht y’all!
🎅🏼👹🎅🏼
Gotta throw back to this awesome commission by @puzzledescaperoomsfargo - can you solve the hidden puzzle?
👹🎅🏼👹
#krampus #krampusnacht #krampusart #krampuslauf #digitalart #digitalillustration #digitaldrawing #digitalpainting #digitalartist #digitalillustrator #digitalpainter #holidayseason #holidayspirit #steganography #puzzle #puzzledescaperooms

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All of Mark’s existing work is available to buy as art prints.
For any inquiries regarding private commissions or prices and sizes for existing art, contact Mark directly.

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