mark ulriksen
TRANSCRIPT
.
Rohan Patrick
Fig. 1 Mark Ulriken, (b. 1957) MyName is Mark, 2012, pen and pencil
drawing, Israeli exhibition.
Guest Speaker ReactionSan Francisco - [email protected]
“By the time I was a freshman in high school,
I realized that playing professional baseball
was not in the cards for me,” Mark Ulriksen
(Fig. 2) says. “I still liked to draw and paint
baseball, so I feel
fortunate that I can continue my love
for the sport with what I do for a
living. I’m not a Yankees fan per se,
but I’m a New Yorker at heart, and I
can say the Yankees are sure old and
beat up.”
After signing up on Mr. Mark
Ulriksen blog, I received a copy of his latest illustration via
email. The next day I checked my mailbox to find my very own copy
of The New York with Mr. Ulriken’s illustration on the front cover
(Fig. 3). The cover was about the New
York Yankees “hitting 40.” The New
Yorker, celebrating the start of another baseball season
highlights the Yankees, “old and beaten up.” In his lineup Mr.
Ulriken put together the ages of all the players and found the
Fig. 2 Photographer unknown, Mark Ulriken (b. 1957), 2013,
Fig. 3 Mark Ulriken, (b. 1957), 2013, Acrylic Paint, Hitting 40. The New Yorker, Magazine Cover.
average was forty, “and forty in baseball is old,” he says, with
a laugh. In his original painting (Fig. 4), Mr. Ulriken debated
about adding outfielder Curtis Granderson, who fractured his
wrist, instead he chose to have pitcher Carsten Charles Sabathia
as the last person portrayed in this Opening Day lineup. He
wanted to show that not every Yankee is disabled as the season
starts. Adhering to the smallest detail, Mr. Ulriken removed the
Air Force jets flying over the stadium as he was told that the
sequester budget cuts in Washington meant that the program was
curtailed. Later he was told by his editor to replace Carsten
Charles Sabathia with the latest Yankee to go down with an
injury, in this case first baseman Mark Teixeira who just
discovered his recent wrist injury was serious enough to require
surgery. “These Yankees are dropping
like flies folks. I painted Teixeira
and the magazine patched it onto the
digital file, Voila, cited Mr. Ulriken
on his drawger.com website.
After working for 13 years as a
graphic designer and magazine art
director, Mr. Ulriksen gave it up forFig. 4 Mark Ulriken, (b. 1957), 2013, Acrylic Paint, Hitting 40. The New Yorker, Magazine Cover.
a new career as a freelance illustrator and artist. Mr. Ulriksen
likes to express his opinion through his illustrations which
gives his a great deal of satisfaction. Depending on the
assignment, Mr. Ulriken’s processes include, finding the problem,
taking notes and gathering as many ingredients as possible. He
would produce a rough drawing and gets tighter before presenting
it to the client. Born in 1957, Mr. Ulriken grew up South of San
Francisco Bay area. He graduated from San Carlos High School in
1975 and later received a bachelor’s degree in visual
communication from California State University (Chico State) in
1980. He was married in 1981 to Leslie Rae Flores and later had
two daughters, Emma and Lily. Mr. Ulriken’s father worked as an
engineer for the Division of Highways and his mother held odd
jobs as a real estate title agent. In his family Mr. Ulriken has
one younger brother.
Mr. Ulriksen’s illustrations are instantly recognizable and
his work has a whimsical take on life. He specializes in
figurative work that blends humor and darkness with psychological
insight. His editorial illustration work began in the mid-
nineties, and since then his paintings have appeared in many of
America's leading magazines and newspapers. Mr. Ulriken is best
known for his work for The New Yorker, where he has been a regular
contributor since 1993, with more than 30 magazine covers to his
credit.
Mr. Ulriken’s incorporates his diverse interests into his
subjects which is his style and is done in acrylic paint. What he
dislikes about his work is that it is stiff, has poor craftsmanship
and that it is mediocre. How Mr. Ulriken feels about his style does
not reflect in his achievements. According to the web site
en.wikipedia.org, “Mr. Ulriksen's style incorporates his loves of dogs and
baseball, as well as drawing on his family and friends (in a manner
akin to Norman Rockwell, (b. 1894-1978) to serve as anonymous subjects
for his illustrations. It is a style that is expressionistic, quirky,
angular, and painterly, with exaggerated features (usually very small
hands and feet), but which captures the essence of his subjects dead-
on with sweetness, light humor, and joy.”
He covered the 2008
Masters for Golf Digest
(Fig. 5) and created
murals for clients such as United Airlines and
the Chicago Bears. These images can be found on
Fig. 5 Mark Ulriken, (b. 1957), 2008, Oil on Canvas, Masters in Augusta, GA.Golf Digest magazine.
Fig. 5 Mark Ulriken, (b. 1957), 2005, Oil on Canvas, Watch Your Back Mountain, The New Yorker,
the walls of the United Club at Soldier Field. His dog portraits can
be seen in the halls of Kaiser Permanente hospitals in the San
Francisco Bay Area. He is the regular illustrator for the San Francisco
Jazz Festival, as well as a children's book illustrator, and the recipient
of numerous awards, including Gold and Silver medals from the NY
Society of Illustrators. His 2006 New Yorker cover parody of the film
Brokeback Mountain (Fig. 6) was named the year's top magazine news cover
by the Magazine Publishers of America. Mr. Ulriksen's work is in the
permanent collection of The Smithsonian and the Library of Congress.
Mr. Ulriken now balances his time between illustration
assignments, children's books, gallery work and private
commissions, primarily family portraits and dog portraits.
References:
1. http://www.markulriksen.com/about.html
2. http://www.drawger.com/thethirdman/
3. http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2013/04/cover-
story-mark-ulriksen-baseball.html
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Ulriksen#Artistic_style