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Mark Watts

New NFT Release!

Mark Watts is the Original G1 TRANSFORMER Artist from 1981 and beyond. He is famous for iconic artworks many of us remember very well.

View NFTs at KnownOrigin.io

About the Artist

Mark Watts loves life. And he loves to entertain the people around him, including you! Mark’s career as an artist includes designing around 50 boxes of the first Generation 1 Transformer Set.

Mark uses materials and techniques like Traditional airbrush on hot press illustration board or canvas painting mostly in acrylics, dyes and some oil paint. Another technique is 3d with digital airbrush.

Mark was also a featured artist on the shopping TV channel QVC. Besides that he invented and patented a product, where framed artwork hanging on the wall easily transforms into a small coffee table, or dining table with changeable artwork.

Nostalgia combined with Sci-Fi – dive deep into Mark Watt’s collection, and get reminded and inspired at the same time!

Selected Famous Products & Artworks

  • 45+ boxes of the 1st Generation 1 Transformer Set; 1st Generation 1 blister packs with Bumble Bee, Decepticons Set, Construction Set, Shockwave, Jet Fire, and many more
  • Tyco Toys Crash Dummies boxes
  • Movie poster for “Pink Cadillac” starring Clint Eastwood

Selected book covers:

  • The Odessa File
  • Day of the Jackal
  • The Dogs of War
 

Exhibitions & Events:

  • Society of Illustrators Club in New York City
  • “Reflections” at the Sunset Cultural Center in Carmel
  • Hershey Antique Auto Museum (AACA Museum), Pennsylvania, one of the world’s top automotive museums
  • Featured artist at the 12th annual Boca Raton Concours d’Elegance 2018 presented by AutoNation and Mercedes-Benz

Former Clients:

  • Hasbro
  • Mattel
  • Walt Disney
  • Budweiser
  • The Rolling Stones
  • Warner Brothers Pictures
  • Paramount Pictures
  • Sony
  • Tyco Toys
  • Crayola
  • Avon Book
  • William Morrow Publishing

This is your chance to own a true piece of history!

Latest Comments on Reddit

Strong positive feedback by fans, gamers, retro toy collectors, and art enthusiasts:

>6.000 upvotes on Mark’s Reddit postings

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“Some of the Transformers shown were being sold in China and had done very well. At that point I was given a Transformers Bible, top secret, to be kept under lock & key. It contained technical drawings of each Transformer including the placement of colors, logos, etc.”

To describe Mark’s creative process: many pencil sketches are done until the drawing is perfected. Then the drawing is transferred to a smooth press illustration board. The frisket is cut for every line. One can see this in the drawing. This is done in order to protect all areas that are not to be sprayed with the airbrush. It is a filigree technique with a stark outcome in its aesthetics.

Materials the artist is using: hot press illustration board / airbrush / low tack frisket, and acrylic paint.

Mark Watts Transformer art from 1981 until today is created by hand with an airbrush.

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“This first set of six G1 Transformers were painted in Dr. Martian Dyes and Luma Dyes, completely done in airbrush with cut frisket to protect the area not to be sprayed. Cut tracing paper was used to move around when spraying to create a softer edge in the reflections.”

Selected interesting weblinks and interviews:

A selection of Mark Watts Art

Mark sends a shout out to all fellow digital artists out there! What an amazing time we experience all together!

The artists in later years, when the computer became available to create Art, he did so with software as follows: Photoshop, Painter, Illustrator, Lightwave, and Vue. Also, the artist uses a combination of 3D rendered and Wacom tablet nowadays.

Mark Watts still creates art by hand, in an old-school style and technique, like with new transformer pieces and it has a different look.

The artist told us, it seems when working by hand it is more a mantra calming, you can hear the birds chirp.

“I also like digital now it is faster and easy to change and correct color of course when I started out in the late 70s everything was done by hand, no computers.”

Own Your Part Of History

View NFT Collection at KnownOrigin.io

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