Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Ward Heap.
Mark, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be an artist. My parents said I’d never make a living at something like that, and I believed them, so I spent most of my life working office jobs and wishing things were different.
Several years ago, my wife suggested if I really wanted to be an artist, I’d better get to it – time was wasting.
So, I quit my job and got to it. It was a scary leap and it’s been lean, but I’m pretty sure I couldn’t go back to an office – even if I wanted to.
Now I do digital painting commissions for people as well as my own projects. I use the same techniques I’d use with oils, but I’m sold on digital painting. It’s every bit as challenging as oil-on-canvas, but I work more quickly, with no smells or messes, and I don’t need a big studio.
It took me a while, but becoming an artist was the best thing I ever did.
Has it been a smooth road?
Not so smooth, but the really important and meaningful stuff usually isn’t.
I tried several times to become an artist who actually made a living, but was never quite able to make it happen, so I’d head back to the ‘safe’ office work.
By the time I turned sixty, I was pretty depressed, couldn’t sleep, getting kind of grouchy. My job was stressing me out and I started to worry I’d have a heart attack or a stroke if I didn’t change some things.
Finally I quit my job, but less than a week later, it was my wife who had the stroke.
It was a tense year as she recuperated – not so much from the stroke, which, it turns out, she overcame in spectacular fashion after just a few weeks (doctors actually called it a miracle), but more from the cancer they found when they treated the stroke.
Eventually, once she was doing well (she’s perfectly healthy now), I turned back to painting. I love the work. It is what I was meant to do. I work 6 or 7 days a week. By the end of the day, I’m punch drunk from the focus, but it’s all worth it.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with your art – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
I am a one-person operation. I do digital paintings of people. I’m hired to do portraits and have found a market for painting family histories as well – sort of like a movie poster with the special scenes from a couple or a family’s life incorporated into a single painting.
I also do my own work – it’s always people.
Though I’ve painted oil-on-canvas, once I discovered digital painting, I never looked back. Digital painting, at least the way I do it, is nearly identical to oil-on-canvas. I sketch references (no photo manipulation), then paint using layers, focusing on values, color, design, artistry, precision, subtlety, etc.
When the piece is complete, it can be displayed on any screen or printed on museum quality paper, or canvas. When it’s printed as a Giclee print, it’s virtually indistinguishable from an original painting – and with proper care, the piece will last 100 years or longer.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about Chicago– what do you like the most and least?
I love that Chicago has so much creativity and art. Walk down almost any city street and you’ll see it on walls, in windows, in our personal style. Not to mention the galleries and museums. If an artist can’t find inspiration in Chicago – they’re just not looking hard enough.
My least favorite thing about Chicago is the summer. I don’t do well in heat and I do even worse in humidity. Give me winter any day. Actually, give me fall any day… Chicago has a great fall.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://markwardheap.com/
- Phone: 847-525-3856
- Email: markwardheap@gmail.com
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