Mark Hewatt

Tag: conceptual

  • Evening’s Quiet Unrest

    Evening’s Quiet Unrest

    Today I am sharing a new mixed media piece that explores a specific memory—twilight in a silent meadow. This composition, based on a low-light photograph taken a few years ago, was an exercise in capturing a delicate visual tension. The scene possesses a profound tranquility, yet beneath that stillness lies something subtly unsettling—a feeling I wanted to preserve and amplify.

    While the original photo provided the structure and the quiet posture of the figure, the translation to paper was driven entirely by a need to dictate emotional weight through medium. I build the density and movement in the foreground undergrowth through networks of energetic, scratching lines using Sakura fineliners and Faber-Castell Pitt pens, contrasting against the still, flat fields of color in the sky.

    By utilizing a Post-Impressionist or Synthetist palette—swapping natural colors for a heavy, low-light atmosphere of muted purple, cool blue, and an unnerving yellow-green—I aimed to create a psychological filter. This piece combines the raw texture of graphite and ink from my earlier studies with the bold, non-naturalistic color blocking I’ve been exploring recently. It is a portrait of solitude, suspended in a vibrating, eerie twilight.

    Technical Details:

    • 9×12 140lb cold press
    • Faber-Castell Pitt pens
    • Shuttle Art paint pens
    • Staedtler Pigment Liner
    • Sakura Pigma
    • Evening's Quiet Unrest - Distance
    • 2026_Evening's Quiet Unrest_det1
    • 2026_Evening's Quiet Unrest_det2
    • 2026_Evening's Quiet Unrest_det3
  • Summer Dusk

    Summer Dusk

    Today I am sharing a new 8×10 study that explores the specific atmosphere of late summer. I wanted to capture not just the intense colors of the season, but the underlying mood—a suggestion of the mysterious melancholy that often accompanies the heavy heat before autumn arrives.

    To build this atmosphere, I completely shifted my mark-making, relying on a stippling technique using Pitt pens and acrylic markers on cold press paper. By applying the color in thousands of distinct dots rather than smooth lines or washes, the surface of the piece seems to physically vibrate. The bright yellows, greens, and warm oranges create a visual “heat haze.”

    To introduce that feeling of mystery, I leaned on contrast. The cooler blues in the shadows of the house and the solitary, undefined figure standing in the yard anchor the piece in a quiet, slightly unsettling stillness. It is an exercise in letting the optical mixing of colors dictate both the light and the emotional weight of the scene.

    Technical Detail:

    • Shuttle Art acrylic brush pens
    • India ink
    • Dip pen
    • 9×12 140lb cold press
    • Summer Dusk-Distance View-1
    • Summer Dusk-Detail-1
    • 2603_Summer-Dusk_close-02
    • 2603_Summer-Dusk_close-03
  • Physical: Nunnally Road

    Physical: Nunnally Road

    Here is the first of the physical work for this series.

    I’m excited to introduce the first piece in a new three-part illustrative series. The theme is a blend of seasonal whimsy and the gentle, spooky feeling of unique, isolated structures. Over the years, I’ve collected photographs of fascinating buildings, and this series gives them a new life and a new story.

    I chose a stark, graphic style with strong linework to evoke the feeling of a classic block print or a storybook illustration. While this image was created digitally, I’m currently working on its physical counterpart, exploring the dialogue between the two mediums. This piece, “Nunnally Road,” is the beginning of that exploration.

    Technical Details:

    • Acrylic swipe
    • Sakura Pigma pens
    • 9×12 140lb cold press
  • Physical: Hightower Road

    Physical: Hightower Road

    My physical creation of the original digital piece.

    Continuing my new three-part illustrative series where seasonal whimsy meets eerie Americana. This second piece is titled “Hightower Road,” and it carries forward the theme of bringing old, forgotten structures back to life with a new, illustrative story.

    The style remains graphic and sketch-like, evoking the feel of a classic block print. As with the first piece, this is the digital version, and I’m continuing to develop the physical counterparts. The exploration of bridging these two mediums is at the heart of this series, and “Hightower Road” is the next step in that journey.

    Technical Details:

    • Acrylic swipe
    • Sakura Pigma pens
    • 9×12 140lb cold press

  • Physical: Cemetery Road

    Physical: Cemetery Road

    Physical version of this original digital piece.

    And with that, the series is complete. This three-part digital collection was an exploration of seasonal whimsy and the mysterious vibes of forgotten places. From the first piece to this final one, “Cemetery Road,” my goal was to take real structures I’ve photographed and imbue them with the feeling of a modern folk tale.

    For this final installment, I used a monochromatic green palette and the enchanting glow of fireflies to create a uniquely eerie and magical atmosphere. It’s been a fantastic journey blending photography, memory, and digital illustration. Physical versions of all three are still in the works!

    Technical Details:

    • Acrylic swipe
    • Sakura Pigma pens
    • 9×12 140lb cold press
  • Old Live Oak

    Old Live Oak

    I spotted this shack while driving. It was anchored by an old live oak with heavy, sprawling limbs. The wood was grey and tired. The tree was the opposite—covered in a vibrant green moss that felt alive against the weathered boards.

    What I found most interesting was this dimension of time. You have a structure slowly surrendering to the elements while the tree just keeps reaching. It’s a quiet, roadside dialogue.

    I used a mix of ink and acrylic for this piece. I also made a specific choice: I stopped correcting myself. If the ink bled or a line went wide, I let it stay. Usually, these are called errors. Here, the errors were the effort. They belong in the work, much like the rot belongs on the shack. It’s an honest way to record a moment.

    The ink defines the twisting architecture of the oak. The acrylic adds the weight to the sky and the moss. It is a rougher, more experimental process than my usual work, but it captures the grit I was looking for.

    Technical Details:

    • Acrylic swipe
    • Sakura Pigma pens
    • India ink with drip pen
    • 9×12 140lb cold press press
  • The Lure

    The Lure

    On the outside, it’s just weathered wood and rust. But when the door cracks open, the mask slips. This illustration is about that moment of realization—when the familiar peels back to reveal something sickly and wrong underneath.

    The colors inside are too bright, too vertical. They vibrate against the rot of the doorframe.

    Now part of a private collection.

    Technical Details:

    • Acrylic swipe
    • Sakura Pigma pens
    • India ink with drip pen
    • 9×12 140lb cold press press
  • A Fleeting Thought, Held

    A Fleeting Thought, Held

    This piece explores the visual and emotional dialogue between the enduring and the fleeting. The foreground is dominated by a vibrant bloom of bluebonnets, rendered with a delicate touch to emphasize their ephemeral nature – like a beautiful, transient thought taking tangible form. Their cool tones offer a moment of respite within the overall warmth of the composition, a temporary splash of serenity.

    The choice of a strong, almost cadmium orange-yellow for the sky was deliberate. It serves to create a sense of visual tension, a feeling of being enveloped or even constricted by the intensity of the atmosphere. This deliberate contrast in color and feeling aims to highlight the preciousness and temporary nature of the bluebonnets, making their ephemeral beauty all the more poignant against the persistent, almost weighty sky.

    Technical Details:

    • 9×12 140lb cold press
    • Sakura Pigma pens
    • Acrylic brush and swipe
  • Illustration of Dragon Tree

    Illustration of Dragon Tree

    Illustration of Dragon Tree

    Technical Details:

    • 9×12 140lb hot press
    • Sakura Pigma pens
    • Faber-Castell Pitt pens

  • The Throat

    The Throat

    A feeling, a raw, visceral clench when a familiar space turns on you. The air is thick, humming, and the walls are a sick, fleshy pink. The lines all scrape inward, pulling you, forcing you down toward the dark.

    Everything here is designed to mimic that tightening in your own gullet. That patch of light on the floor isn’t a welcome. It’s a stain. It’s what the darkness leaves behind.

    But the real horror is in the details. Go on, look closer. Lean into the shadows at the end of the hall. See what’s been left on the floor.

    This is the digital version. The physical one is clawing its way into existence even as we speak.

    Technical Details:

    • Samsung Tab9 Ultra
    • Infinite Painter

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