Contact

You can reach me at marcjohns[at]gmail.com

Before you do...

Please be patient - I get LOADS of email. There's just one of me -- I don't have an army of assistants. If you've got a deadline, let me know. If I haven't replied and you're getting impatient, email me again.

If you have questions about my process, advice, how I do what I do, etc. have a look at the interviews I've done. If you still have a specific question that wasn't answered, shoot me an email.

Do I take on commissions? Yup, commercial and editorial and product and such. Have a look at some of the work I've done for Newsweek, Wired magazine, Harper Perennial, and more. Get in touch.

What about personal commissions? Like custom tattoos and wedding gifts and such? I can't take on any personal commissions. I simply don't have the time. You can ask, but please don't be upset if I can't accomodate your request.

Trappings

Mixed media on wooden rat traps.
This was a commissioned installation I did for inside a friend's home. It is made up of 12 rat traps with some of the hardware removed. I often comment on the trappings of wealth in my work. I particularly like to focus on the futile, ridiculous pursuit of trying to look rich.

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Sticky Note Drawings

I have been drawing on sticky notes (Post-it notes) and posting them online for over two years now. I like the format; it forces the drawing to be simple, and the concept to be focussed. It's not so much about the craft of drawing, but more about the idea, boiled down to just the essentials.

(May take one or two seconds to load - if you don't have Flash installed, view the drawings on Flickr)

About Marc

Marc Johns creates whimsical drawings filled with dry wit and humour. Whether it’s a man with branches growing out of his head that need pruning, or a pipe that’s trying to quit smoking, his characters are simply, sparsely drawn, yet speak volumes with just a few strokes of the pen. He's been drawing since he was tiny. He's not tiny anymore, but he's not exactly big either. Marc is not sure why he's talking about himself in the third person...

I generally aim to say as much as possible with as few elements as possible. My work often leans toward humour. Finding the humour in things often leads to finding the truth. I like to create absurd situations, by combining things together that don’t belong, or imagine what inanimate objects would say if they could speak. For instance, the pen I am using to write this draft would probably say: "I'm tired. Can we stop for a bit?" Or perhaps it would say: "I can't believe you're making me write this. This is rubbish. Signing cheques would be more inspiring than this." These are the things I think about. I think about a lot of things. I think about thinking. Don't try it though, it's not worth it.

I use watercolours in ways you shouldn't. I make my own sketchbooks. If I smoked, I'd roll my own. I'd rather draw than rent a movie. Don't try to start a conversation with me about recent films. I haven't seen any. I play the guitar. If I was a hobo, I'd learn to play the ukulele, because you could fit one in your duffle bag. My artwork and the materials I use are quite compact. You could fit my studio in a large suitcase.

Marc's drawings have been exhibited in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Athens, Amsterdam, Vancouver and elsewhere.

He has a book: I made these drawings for you.

Here's some interviews he's done.

Oh, and he's been lucky enough to make drawings for the New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, Google, WIRED, Newsweek, Tommy Hilfiger, Harper Collins, and a few others.

Marc lives in Victoria, BC, Canada with his wife Kristen, two boys, and a drawer full of pens.

Around the web:

Marc's Shop (original drawings and signed prints)
Society6 shop (iphone cases, tote bags, framed prints and more)
T-shirts
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