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

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

Nov 28

"A Walk Through the Woods"
🌲🐁🌲
There is a calm silence that accompanies long winter nights. That sound, or more specifically, the absence of sound, can be alluring.
❄️❄️❄️
Stand outside on a long winter's night, and I like to imagine the feeling of auditory freedom one experiences is akin to the call of the heavens. Deep space, dark and cold, must sound very similar to the muffled stillness of midnight in an empty field, standing alone amidst countless fallen stars of ice.
❄️❄️❄️
Visit the link in my bio if you would like to grab a version of this image in greeting card format. Plus, I have many other pieces of holiday and non-holiday related items available in my shop. As a bonus, each purchase between now and January receives a surprise gift.
🎁🎁🎁
#mouse #woods #forest #snow #holidaycard #holidaycards #christmas #christmascard #christmascards #holiday #digitalillustration #digitalillustrator #digitalpainting #digitalpainter #digitalart #digitalartist #christmas2020 #holidayart #christmasart #xmas #xmasart #xmas2020 #yule #walkthroughthewoods

Nov 26

"A Bountiful Harvest"
🍎🦃🌽
As a bountiful harvest nourishes the body, friendship and fellowship nourishes the spirit.
🍁🍁🍁
I encourage you to send warm notes of goodwill and appreciation to your kith and kin. Tell the people you love what they mean to you. Share your favorite memory of them. Support these others in something they love.
🍁🍁🍁
This is your bountiful harvest. Share it with those you love so that they may do the same.
🍁🍁🍁
❤️❤️❤️
🍁🍁🍁
This piece was made possible by the generous support of @theartspartnership and their Community Supported Arts program. I am enormously thankful for the opportunities they have provided me and countless other artists in the community, especially during these difficult times. If you're feeling grateful for the diversity of arts and arts programs in the #fargomoorhead community, then you can thank in part The Arts Partnership and their tireless support for arts and artists in the community. I encourage you to visit their site, view the various arts opportunities they have available for the community, and maybe show them some financial support if you're feeling generous.
💝💝💝
#thankful #thankfulness #givingthanks #arts #artists #supportlocalart #supportlocalartists #digitalart #digitalartist #digitalillustration #digitalillustrator #digitalpainting #digitalpainter #harvest #bountifulharvest #hornofplenty #cornucopia

Nov 24

"A Child's Wonder"
🥚🥚🥚
"Mandalorian Mondays" have become a welcome introduction to my week. Catching up with the news of the day while eating a warm dinner leads into lowering the lights and enjoying serial adventures in a galaxy far, far away via a comforting cinematic experience at home. And this week, I added a bit of fun painting practice.
🥚🥚🥚
Though the scene is question is arguably horrifying in its implications, it is also visually stunning. Enough so that....I may revisit it from a different angle in the future?
🥚🥚🐸
What about you? What comforting routines have you introduced recently or overall? And if you too are watching the Mandalorian, what are your favorite scenes?
🌟🌟🌟
#babyyoda #mandalorian #themandalorian #eggs #starwars #thechild #digitalart #digitalartist #digitalartwork #digitalillustrator #digitalillustration #digitalpainting #digitalpainter #starwarsart #speedpaint #starwarsnerd #disney #disneyplus

Nov 22

"Festive Mischief"
🐿 🐈🐿
It's that time of year again. And with months of seclusion looming, it is more important than ever for us to reach out to those we love and help those who need it.
🎄🐿🐈
If you are looking for novel and unique cards to send your people this season, hit up the link in my bio or check out the Gallery Store at @rourkemuseum - I'll have some exclusive items there for their Holiday Market.
❄️ 🎅🏼 ⛄️
Heartfelt, handwritten messages can be cherished. But however you choose to do it, make sure to reach out to those you care for and let them know they are loved.
❤️💜💙
#cat #kitten #christmas #chipmunk #wreath #festive #mischief #yule #holiday #digitalart #digitalartist #digitalpainting #digitalpainter #digitalillustration #digitalillustrator #christmascard #holidaycard #holidaycards #holidays #christmas2020 #holidayart #christmasart #xmas #xmasart #xmas2020

Oct 23

"Casting Spells"
😈🧙🏽‍♀️👻
When planning this piece, I started thinking of casting runes and Quija. Then I remembered one of my favorite parts of Joe Hill's "NOS42" where one of the characters predicts the future by drawing Scrabble tiles. Everything fell into place after that.
🕯🔮 🍬
Prompts used:
@drawtober - #drawtoberancientrituals
🎃🎃🎃
#drawtober #drawtober2020 #ancientrituals #witch #ritual #scrabble #summoning #ghost #demon #digitalart #digitalartist #digitalillustration #digitalillustrator #digitalpainting #digitalpainter #halloween2020 #halloween #halloweenart #spiritboard #fortunetelling #runes #spells #jackolantern #candycorn

Oct 16

“Campfire Stories"
🌲🔥🌲
Not much to say about this drawing, other than swipe for a few more #wip shots. But I did write a little rhyme about those will-o-wisp kids:
✨🔥✨
Willy, Willow, Whisper
Fiery little tricksters
Staying up past midnight
Exiles of the fae.
🔥🔥🔥
Willy, Willow, Whisper
Fiery little tricksters
Running through the forest
Leading kids astray.
🔥🔥🔥
Willy, Willow, Whisper
Fiery little tricksters
Calling for their mother
Changing night to day
🔥🔥🔥
Prompts used:
@drawtober - #drawtoberfolklore
@mabgraves - #fur
@littlespookystudio - #aliens
🐺 👽 🎃
#halloween #halloween2020 #drawtober2020 #mabsdrawlloweenclub #drawtober #drawlloween #folklore #willowisp #alien #costume #werewolf #mothman #fullmoon #campfire #campfirestories #digitalillustration #digitalillustrator #digitalpainting #digitalpainter #digitalart #digitalartist #scarystories #hauntedwoods #urbanlegend

Oct 12

"Teared Cake"
🎂👁💦
Swipe for the rare #wip progress shots!
🎃💀🙀
Filling the "Midnight Feast" prompt was one that I thought would be simple. Borrowing from multiple prompts again, I was able to recycle the concept and characters from a project that was shelved earlier. I thought I had the composition planned out from the start, but halfway through, I realized the layout emphasized the wrong characters and conveyed the wrong message. So I scrapped the original composition, came up with a new one, only to realize that the Teared Cake, though "monstrous" by design, couldn't be vicious, as that threat would deter from the target I was aiming for. Furthermore, the "jelly arms" were a late, last minute addition, as wiping away a tear conveyed the intended emotion more clearly, and cleared up the haunting, uncanny confusion created by their absence.
🎃🎃🎃
Prompts used:
@drawtober - #drawtobermidnightfeast
@mabgraves - #skeleton
@littlespookystudio - #carnivalcreep
🧡🖤🧡
#drawtober #drawtober2020 #mabsdrawlloweenclub #drawlloween #littlespookydrawlloween #halloween #halloweenart #digitalart #digitalpainting #digitalillustration #digitalillustrator #digitalpainter #digitalartist #halloweenartist #blackcat #pumpkin #ghost #cake #midnight #candles

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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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