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I arrive at
the gate of marks house, his spacious backyard in full bloom under one of few
days of the summer so far where the sun sits high in the sky and finally warms
what has been a torrid few weeks of almost constant rain. Sat on a sunbed with
a book about semiotics in his hand a bunch of papers and several pencils sit on
the floor beside him. I go to open the gate and Mark peers above his book before
his little black terrier peanut comes flying out the open hallway door. Bounding
towards me as I tentatively open the gate he jumps up excitedly “PEANUT” yells
mark as he lifts himself out of the sunbed and approaches tapping me on the
shoulder and asking in his typical friendly “Alright man”. I follow him into the house and into the
kitchen where he starts to fill the kettle with water. “Brew?” he asks and I nod
in approval. We stand a chat for a while as the kettle rattles and bubbles away
in the corner. It clicks off and Mark prepares himself a strong cup of black
coffee and me a cup of tea and we head upstairs into a back room. The back room
has become his drawing and study area in which sits a full professional drawing
desk, a large shelving unit packed to the brim with comics, graphic novels and
art books. In the corner sits a thick pillowed green chair which he uses to
read in and the other corner a computer and desk. I make my way towards the
comfy looking green chair taking with me some of his recent work and starting
to flick through it as we chat. Mark cuts a completely different figure to the
one of only several months’ back, struggling with the frustrations of his
university course he chose to leave to work on his drawing skills and
understanding of all things art. His work reflects this hugely and the progress
made from the early days after he quit and to now is remarkable. Without the
burden of university which he felt was stifling his progress. His work is
unique, intriguing and wonderfully done, with the same oddness and jovialness
that he has always drawn with returning to him. Allowing him the freedom to study
his passion in his own way has in no doubt paid off. Yet as he acknowledges it
is a risk to find your feet in such a demanding business without a degree but
like me he believes ability should speak for itself. Mark sits down with me to
answer such questions in his typically and almost brutally honest but always
humorous manner.
1. ME: So we’ve talked about how you
almost teaching yourself instead of going through a university, what was your
reasoning for this?
Mark: well basically I was there previously but dropped out the first
time because I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to do it. And then when I
returned the second time I felt that, especially from talking to people and
starting to realise for myself that people don’t really care (in regard to the
tutors) so I thought I’m not going to spend 3 years of life and however many
thousands of pounds it is to be taught by a load of apathetic people (when
speaking to mark previously I had always felt that he struggled to get what are
clearly unique ideas across to his tutors which he clearly found
frustrating)-he continues; so I thought if I’m going to learn anything I’m
going to have to teach myself that’s how I’ve always done it from school and
right up to university. And I feel that everything I have ever really learnt is
from teaching myself and I feel if I had the same drive I do now as I did when
I was younger I would already be in a company or a good job because (he
mentions the pictures of two self-portraits he has done. One which he did after
he just left university for the second time and one more recently and the
difference in terms of quality, all through what he has taught himself about
everything about drawing and art and general practise is clear to see)
2. ME: So you went through the
university process but it wasn’t for you what didn’t you like about it?-about
being restricted by briefs and not feeling like you were learning?
Mark: Erm basically I didn’t think I was learning anything
even though I was only there 5 months but I started to look at the work of
people who’ve been there 3 years and there seemed to be a lack of development
and I think my progress like other people there would be shit.
3. ME: And do you think it in anyway
disadvantages you by going that way or as you having the opportunity to develop
your skills and your understanding without the burden of things like briefs out
way that?
Mark: Don’t get me wrong I know how much of a detriment it
could be not having a degree initially, like people with degrees may find it
easier to get their foot in the door. But I think if you build up a bit of a
reputation then they (companies) can’t really say anything and it’s not just
like I am drawing things that I see or I like I have forced myself to do things
I know are difficult and I’ve been setting myself briefs and put time limits on
to do things and it’s kind of the same thing. And I’ve read a lot from artists
that if you know the right people and your work speaks for itself then you can
do things. And like there had been a lot of people who have taught themselves
(he names people like van gough and the famous illustrator Adam Hughes as
examples, he also names people like Jimi Hendrix who also taught himself) and I
think that if you have the drive and the passion then keep doing it because I
think eventually you will get there. If you sidestep or be lazy then you’re
never going to get anywhere
ME: (I interrupt) I think regardless of whether or not you go
to university its more about how you apply yourself.
Mark: I think the thing is John in creative industries people
like Stanley Kubrick didn’t go to film school Ernest Hemmingway didn’t go to
university he became a journalist and forced himself into the real world to
experience things and learn stuff about himself (this is something we had
spoken about often before how much life experiences can shape ideas and
creativity, he goes on to quote the significance of the works of Mozart and
Kubrick in terms of the influence they have had in their retrospective fields of
work and say about how often quotes are clichéd because they are used so much
because they are the truth. He uses the quote “genius is 1% inspiration and 99%
perspiration” he says about how the will and determination to do something is
just as important or maybe more important than the skill and needing the drive
to push yourself.
4. ME: And what do you feel your gaining
by doing this? We spoke about how you can study the areas you are interested in
which must be easier than being forced to do something you don’t have an interest in an issue I know
many people have with university?
Mark: To be honest I enjoyed the projects I thought they were fun but I
didn’t feel they were practical
ME: “You didn’t think you were gaining anything from them”?
Mark: I thought they was childish to be honest I suppose they have to
cover a large area of interests but the things is a lot of the time you trying
to curry favour from people that unless you’ve got them on your side (the
tutors) or your trying to mates with them or them with you, which some people
did and got good grades but in my opinion didn’t have very good work then your
chasing people who don’t really give a shit because you’re bound to fail
because you’re not licking their arse basically. (We both laugh)
5. ME: So how long do you want to keep
doing this?
Well I’ve paid my rent off until next September (his little black terrier
dog who rarely leaves his side comes and starts sneezing and trying to attack
the flies that have flown through the window on this muggy July day) So at the
point I’m going to either get a part time job or become one of the dole scum
that populate this area, but to be honest I’m going to just keep doing it until
I become a professional at it. And I have friends who have just come out of
university who are worrying about getting a job because they want to see
something coming from the 3 years they have studied at university for. I think
if you’re a creative person you’ve gotta be creative (it’s at this point that I
realise how much Mark has settled into the interview and really started to
speak openly and perhaps even brutally honestly which is something I admire
greatly.) he continues with. “ Even if you write a comic or whatever just to do
work, like Damien Hirst wasn’t given a studio really he just went out there and
started working.
ME: Do you think it puts extra pressure on you going to university
knowing you’ve done it all and spent all that money, to do something maybe more
with it?
Mark: Yeah probably (the
dog starts to sneeze uncontrollably and Mark looks down in distain at it) Will
you shut up dog (we both chuckle) There was a book I was reading not so long
ago (another strategically placed sneeze from the dog starts us both laughing
again) I’m gonna break your tiny jaw if you do that again you motherfucker (he
says jokingly, and begins to tell me how the dog had ate a bee earlier and how
it was probably sneezing up its wings.)
I started reading a book which was talking about how people get a degree and
then never do anything with it as the degree itself was their mountain to
climb. You know you only have a small time to do something in life and if you
don’t you’re fucked. It’s like I look at people in my family who have never
achieved anything because their lazy or they’ve been too frightened to go for
it and I don’t wana be that person I think I’ve been spurred on by other
peoples failures. But I wana do something with my life I don’t wana look back
when I’m middle aged and say what a fucking waste of time that was. Like a lot
of people I know are like that.
6. ME: Is it hard to keep motivated
without working to deadlines like you would at university or is that an
advantage in itself? And how would a normal day go?
Mark: Well a normal day, I would get up at 8 then do some sort of
exercise like go take the dog for a walk or something. But I guess I’m like
every other person I wake up sometimes just want to play with myself and watch
telly (we both laugh in acknowledgment as much as anything) Or I will check Facebook
or watch the news or whatever but then get straight up and get breakfast get a
shower and then maybe just put some music on for a bit just to get me into it
and then get to the desk and start working. But like the things is now
throughout the month I will do 3 weeks practical work so working on my skills
then a week theory like reading about things like semiotics and the history of
art things like that. I will take breaks for dinner and tea but will always
have a book going to keep myself stimulated.
ME: it’s like you’ve regulated yourself.
Mark: Yeah like I will give myself deadlines a lot like reading a book in
a certain time or drawing something every single day for a month. (he talks
about how he talks to in keeps in touch with many famous artists such as Joe
Cooper, John Arcudi writer of the mask comics, Guy Davis who works on Hellboy,
and how a lot of them say about keeping the determination to do something it
and practising regularly will eventually reaps its rewards.
7. ME: And what after this? Where do you
hope to move onto?
Mark: In terms of work, I think maybe in 2 and a half years I would like
to get my foot in the door of a company or be in an internship. Or go it alone
and self—publish my own books or artwork. Or doing commissions and living of
that so you don’t have to do something else and compromise that time working on
things. Because I think if you’re doing something or working constantly and not
putting your full interest into something you can’t expect it to be 100% your
best work.
8. ME: I know when speaking to artists
there is often a need to move away especially from places like Hull to places
like London, is this something you’ve considered?
Mark: Yeah definitely like I’m not being funny but Hulls a backwater
shithole. (He laughs) people who’ve come over from places like Afghanistan as
refugees don’t wana stay here cos it’s basically a cess pit of….. shit
basically.
ME: Do you think there’s a shortage of jobs.
Mark: Yeah definitely not just in creative industries. Apparently in Hull
there’s 14 people applying to one job and that’s a not creative job, that’s
just like bar jobs and factory work. As it’s mainly an industrial city there is
no much room for creativity. I mean it changing and people like “Fruit”. I mean
maybe Hull is the perfect place for people to take advantage of that but when
you look at places like London and America, Manchester or France or wherever
basically you go where the work is and that’s what you’ve got to do.
ME: that’s what I was going to ask you to be honest. I know a lot of
people who are looking abroad for places is that something would consider?
Mark: Yeah definitely but I would only go across if I knew I had a
definite job. I wouldn’t go and maybe expect to get a job because people would
think why can’t get a job back home. But I would just go wherever the work is
to be honest with you.
ME: So it’s not about a personal choice of living somewhere?
Mark: no not at all I would go work in Afghanistan if the right work was
there really. (We laugh and he takes a sip of his coffee which has been sat
there for some time and has gone cold he pulls a face that shows that puts it
down and slides it away from himself.
9. ME: And where do you see future where
would you to go with it? Not necessarily just reality wise but maybe dream wise
as well?
Dream wise. Erm (he stops to consider it and comes back with) I don’t know
have my own hareem of Asian prostitutes living on Jupiter (we both start
laughing)
ME: (I laugh and ask sarcastically) Ok reality wise.
Mark: (continues with where he left off, while laughing) I don’t occasionally
firing nuclear missiles at Wales (he laughs and stops to actual consider the
question) what if I could actually do whatever I wanted?
ME: (laughing and sensing an on-going theme of where this could lead to)
Ok then no reality wise?
Mark: (laughing) No I don’t mean superpowers or something like that. (We
both laugh and he stops getting serious again) I don’t know I guess I’m still
trying to find my feet with it I suppose I mean I always knew from being a kid I
had a talent for it and that I liked and it would probably become the thing
that defined me when I got older. I think as a kid I wanted to work on cartoons
as most kids who liked drawing at that age would. I think when I got to about
15 or maybe before that I started reading proper novels and then I started
getting into graphic novels and thought I would want to do that. But then as I’ve
got older I’ve realised that there is so many different things to do
potentially do.
ME: So it’s constantly changing as you’ve got older and more aware and
interested in different types of art?
Mark: It’s not really changing, like I still have the core ideas of what I
want to do. Like I still want to do comic books as its always something I’ve
been interested in and that there a medium that hasn’t been explored into as
much as they can be and I think it’s like video games as well I think there
both things that are being held back by people’s perceptions of them. But I mean
over the last few years I’ve really gotten into “proper art” (he says so using
his fingers as quotation marks) I say proper art but everything is proper art. I
mean I wouldn’t say fine art as that’s a bit of a wankerish term but I mean
what is considered as classic art (I nod in understanding to say I’m on the
same page as him in terms of what he is trying to say) but I mean like Van
Gough and stuff like that and how it can affect lives and countries and society
and that’s kind of fascinating to me. I mean in 2 years I will be 26 and I think
I would like to have something to show for it by then and have found my feet,
Because to be honest I think as I said earlier I think if I have the same drive
when I was younger that I do now I think I would already be a professional and I
don’t mean that to sound like I’m blowing my own trumpet or being arrogant and
just now I know I have the stamina to teach myself and not have the fear of
failing because I think that’s a lot of peoples problem when it comes to art or
whatever else like music or film failing is part of life and that you have to
do it. I suppose university was a failure for me because I didn’t get a degree
out of it. But at the same time I knew I was going to fail anyway, not in terms
of the course but that I wouldn’t have achieved what I wanted to achieve at the
end of it. So (going back to the original question) in general I want to be a
professional or a household name even though I feel that there’s not many
people who are necessarily household names (he mentions people like Banksy,
Damien Hirst and Tracy Emin) but I want to be established I want to be
financially comfortable and like anybody I want to be happy in my life. I want
to do what I enjoy doing and be paid well for it and be happy and suppose that’s
the same for anybody else.
ME: Thank you mate
Mark: it’s alright (he goes for a victorious sip of his coffee before
remembering its cold and putting it back down in disgust.
