Daily Inspiration: Meet Mark Tavares

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Tavares.

Hi Mark, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born a pleasantly unusual child.

Instead of playing sports or getting involved in other outdoors-y activities like the other kids in the Suburban Massachusetts neighborhood in which he grew up, I engaged in more solitary pursuits such as reading comic books, obsessing over televisions shows like “The Six Million Dollar Man”, “Batman”, and “Star Trek”, and of course, Drawing. I loved to draw! In fact, my love of comic books and drawing was so great that for many years, my dream was to be a Marvel Comics Bullpen artists like my heroes, Jack Kirby, John Romita, and George Tuska. Drawing also served another purpose. I was a rather shy sort. I quickly found that my ability to draw caricatures of friends, relatives, teachers, etc. drew people to me and acted as a sort of ice breaker.

My extremely supportive parents, while not necessarily thrilled at their son’s introverted ways, saw that his interests fueled his imagination and creativity. So, at every opportunity, they encouraged my pursuit of the weird. Even at Halloween, my favorite Holiday, my Mom would let me raid her make-up kit so I could spend hours looking into the bathroom mirror and painting monster designs onto my face. Like I said, I had VERY supportive parents.

My comic book and face painting obsessions continued into the mid 70’s when something happened that would forever alter the course of my life. That thing was a little movie called “Star Wars”. I had always been a fan of Sci-fi movies. However, this one was radically different. From the opening shot of the Star Destroyer bearing down Princess Leia’s cruiser, I was hooked. This was a quantum leap past everything else in terms of storytelling and most obviously, special effects. Those fantastic images burned themselves into my brain. From that moment on, I knew that I had to get into the movie business and create Movie Magic!

Throughout High School, I lived and breathed Special Effects. I read every book and magazine on the subject that I could get my hands on. My Mom discovered and enrolled me in a summer day camp called the Charles River Creative Arts Program. In this remarkable program, kids got to learn about and get involved in all aspects of the arts, including film making and animation classes which I devoured.

When I graduated from High School, I was accepted into Emerson College, a school in Boston well regarded for its film and television degree programs. In my sophomore year at Emerson, I decided to take a theatrical make-up course just for fun. It was about this time that films like “The Howling” and “An American Werewolf in London” were introducing the movie-going public to a new term: Special Effects Make-up. Geniuses like Dick Smith, Rick Baker, Stan Winston, and more, we’re creating amazing characters on screen with rubber and paint. Between the course and those films, I rediscovered my love of creating characters with greasepaint. I also saw that Make-up Effects, which are done live on the set, provided more immediate gratification than the other effects disciplines like animation. This appealed to my somewhat impatient nature.

Now fully determined to pursue Special Make-up Effects as a career, I looked for more opportunities to learn the craft. Through an ad in a magazine, I discovered “The Make-up Place”, a downtown Boston make-up supply store run by Dennis Curcio. Unlike traditional theatrical make-up stores, this store catered to the effects professional, selling foam rubber and other products necessary for creating latex prosthetics. I spent all of my free time at “The Make-up Place”. Eventually, Dennis gave me a break and brought me in as an “intern”. It was an amazing time.

After graduation, I decided to go for broke and move out to Los Angeles to become a Special Effects Make-up Artist. I packed all of my earthly belongings into my beat up Ford LTD and drove out to L.A.

Armed with a weak beginner’s portfolio, I had difficulty securing work at first. Moving out to the coast during a major Writer’s Strike didn’t help either. Eventually, after numerous rejections, I interviewed at a fledgling Effects Company called K.N.B. EFX Group. Founders Robert Kurtzman, Greg Nicotero, and Howard Berger were all accomplished make-up artists working for other companies when they decided it was time to strike out on their own. They were completing their very first shows at K.N.B. when I walked through their door. Sensing a passion for the art akin to their own, they looked past my inexperience and hired me.

Over the next 18 plus years, I would have an amazing ride in the business. At K.N.B. and other shops, I worked my way up the ladder, learning every aspect of the Make-up Effects business. As I learned, my skill set grew. Eventually, I would come to be designing, sculpting, and painting all manner of characters for film and television.

As an offshoot of the Make-up Effects business, I became involved with the Halloween industry in 2001. Famed Halloween Mask Company, Don Post Studios, hired me as a freelance illustrator to design and prototype all kinds of masks, props, and décor. The relationship continued until September of 2012, when Don Post Studios closed their doors.

With the closing of Don Post Studios and Make-up Effects slowly being replaced by Digital Effects, I was at a crossroads. I needed to figure out my next move. I had always dreamed of selling my own original artworks. So, I decided it was time to return to what I loved most, Drawing and Painting.

This is where I am now. I paint characters! As I stated at the top, my ability to create caricatures or capture a funny scene was always something that appealed to people. It is something I have always enjoyed and done for fun throughout my life. This is now where I want to concentrate my efforts; learning to find the character in all of us!

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I have been incredibly fortunate. My family, my friends, my employers, and most especially my wife Erin have been so supportive of my growth as an artist. I could not have come as far as I have without their help.

If there have been roadblocks, they have been mostly of my own making. I have never been the most “driven” individual. I would pursue an interest until I was, well…uninterested. Eventually, I discovered if I really wanted something, then the passion to acquire it would be there. My mother always said I was a “do things in his own time” kind of guy. There were periods in my career where I plateaued and just sort of went through the motions. Once again, I was fortunate to have driven individuals around me who inspired me with their determination to better themselves. It was the kick in the ass I would (and still do) occasionally need!

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I paint characters!

I have always been attracted to people and faces. It is why I wanted to be a comic book artist. It is what pushed me into Makeup Effects and eventually into the Halloween industry.

Caricature has been a particular love of mine. Artists like Mort Drucker, Al Hirschfeld, and Jack Davis always managed to capture a person’s essence and stretch to its hilarious limits. I found early on that I had a talent for seeing the funny in a situation or a person and putting my own artistic spin on it.

My portraits are not just a funny faces. I love creating portraits of pop culture figures that tell a story. Those stories are researched and loaded with all sorts of references and deep cut in-jokes. I have taken this even further with my latest paintings by incorporating the frames into the story of the piece.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Learn the foundations of your craft. I am a self-taught artist. While I had the traditional “art classes” in high school, those only covered general aspects of art. I never pursued any more formalized art training than that.

Claiming to be “self-taught” is kind of like a badge of honor. It makes you feel cool to know you have achieved all that you have “on your own”. Truth be told though, I do wish I had taken more life drawing, sculpture and painting classes along the way. Without learning the foundations, you pick up lousy habits that take a long time to unlearn. That doesn’t mean I am suggesting one has to get a degree from art school. I know lots of folks for whom art school was a waste of time because the teachers pushed them in restrictive directions. Just figure out what the basics of your chosen craft are and then take some classes and learn them the proper way. As the saying goes, “You have to know the rules in order to beak them”.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.marktavares.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/marktavaresartist
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/marktavares

Image Credits:
All images copyright Mark Tavares