Featured Artist: Marcos Sorensen

My Background: I was born in Mexico, raised in Canada and graduated from Parsons School of Design in New York. Now residing in San Francisco with the lovely Isabel Samaras and our narcoleptic tabby, Otis. My first job after we moved to SF was as a staff illustrator at the Oakland Tribune. It was a perfect way for me to get my feet wet with computer generated art and start experimenting with where I wanted to go as an illustrator. (I basically took a job on the premise that I already knew how to use all kinds of programs I'd never laid eyes on before so there was a pretty steep learning curve.) Eventually I took the leap into the full mode freelancer life and haven't looked back. Otis just fell asleep in my lap! I love this job!

My Technique: I have decided not to decide what my technique is. I used to actually separate my work into two different styles which I produced under different names but a few years ago I did away with my alter ego and embraced my schizoid side. I bounce back and forth between working traditionally and then enhancing and accentuating with the computer or working in say Adobe Illustrator to achieve a very clean iconographic look and feel. It's all good. I'm enjoying the variety of the work this brings my way and it keeps me from feeling pigeon holed.
That's not very specific tho' is it. O.k., I usually start with a hand drawn sketch which I scan in. If it's going to be a collaged piece I'll add other scanned elements (video grabs, paint slabs, etc.), experiment with sizing and textures. Sometimes it's just a matter of working the color into the piece. Sometimes it's more of a elaborate experiment job. For the "shammy" work, again I start with a hand drawn silhouette and then bring out highlights with a dodging technique, so the final effect is a sort of 3-D silhouette, cavorting in some kind of environment.

My involvement with the Guild: I have been known to man the booths at various conventions, avail myself to marathon envelope stuffing situations, and will be participating in the Peep Show, the Illustrators Marketplace on October 11th (check the Guild site for further info).

My Favorite Client story: My favorite client story? I guess the one that has continued to surprise me and has turned into a great ongoing gig is the character I designed for Ask Jeeves (www.ask.com). About three years ago I was commissioned to come up with a bunch of approaches for a butler/host who would retrieve info on the web. My wife Isabel Samaras helped me work up some excellent sketches and together we were able to figure out who this butler was. So it seemed like the job was done and we sort of forgot all about it until about six months later when they came back for more! And after another few months, still more. Then came the Kid's site (www.ajkids.com) and a whole new approach for Jeeves, and so on. I just recently became their Art Director, in charge of all the illustration and growing the character into new medias. It's been really thrilling to see Jeeves working his way into the public eye, to see the scope and results of a marketing strategy and to plot out a future with these people. Frankly it's a little surreal to see my work on billboards and tv ads. 'The Butler Did It', indeed.

Other info you'd like to share: What's beautiful about working as an illustrator is that you don't have to chart your course as much as stay true to what you want to do and let it lead you. What I mean is that you're sort of pulled along into these new situations that are generally darned exciting -- every day brings a new challenge, new problems to solve, something comes spitting out of the fax machine and you're off! It's not so much about style as how you think and solve problems. If you're not overly concerned with a steady pay check, it's an excellent ride.

All artwork © 2002 Marcos Sorensen. Not to be used without permission.