About & FAQ's


I'm a graphic artist and whimsical illustrator creating artwork on assignment and independently for numerous publishers and companies around the globe. Creating fun and inspiring stories and illustrations for children, teens, and adults is my goal and passion. My experience includes illustrating children's books and magazines, textbooks, greeting cards, educational clip art, websites, advertisements, marketing materials, POP displays and signs and much more.

A few of the hundreds of domestic and international clients I have created artwork for over the years include: Carus Publishing (Cricket, Cobblestone, Spider, Ask, Ladybug Magazines), Current Greetings, Discovery Channel Education, George Lucas Educational Foundation, Grolier, Happy House (South Korea), Harcourt, Pearson, the National Park Service, Paulist Press, School Zone Books, Scholastic, Sesame Street Magazine, Simon and Schuster, Weekly Reader K-6, and the National Children's Museum. I'm also the creator of a couple of popular fun holiday-themed websites. (Please see IMHalloween.com and Santa-T.com.) 

My hobbies include archeology, herpetology, and collecting old books and toys. And, when I can find the time and resources, I also paint and sculpt and invent things. (Oh, to think what I could do if I could just find the time, capital, and resources to match my imagination.)

random info...

Mark A.
                          Hicks Arizona Joshua Pilcher Mark's
                          Dream Mark on
                          Romper Room School Disneyland 1965 (Hicks Family Photo)

I'm a very creative person. (See my portfolio.)

I was born and raised in Arizona. (See my Arizona website for students and teachers.) My great, great, great, great grandfather, Joshua Pilcher, took over for William Clark as Superintendent of Indian Affairs. (See Smithsonian article.) My Dream Projects (click here) I was on Romper Room School twice. (More info here.) I met and shook Walt Disney's hand at a chance encounter during Disneyland's Tencennial.




How do I contact you?

Just click here.  Contact my lit agent here: Karen Grencik, Red Fox Literary
How do I license your art or character designs for my product?.

Click here. 
Have you won any awards?

A few. Click here to view some of them.
Do you ever put new samples up on your site?

Occasionally I'll post a new published piece or two. Unfortunately, some unscrupulous Internet users seem to think that just because artwork is online it is in the public domain and free for them to use as they like. This forces me to limit the amount of work I have online. However, it doesn't mean I don't have lots of illustration samples to show to prospective art buyers. Please contact me.
Where can I buy your books?

At your local bookstore or at one of the many online booksellers.
Click here to go to a page that lists many of my book titles and ISBNs (International Standard Book Numbers.)
I want to be a freelance illustrator, can you offer any advice?

Yes, I can offer you some advice as well as words of encouragement.
Click here.
I've written a children's book, can you illustrate it for me?

Yes, if you are considering self-publishing a picture book, I will illustrate it for a competitive fee. My fees start at $299 per page, depending on rights granted and other negotiable details.

Please do not ask me to recommend a publisher. And please do not email me any story ideas or manuscripts. To protect all parties involved I only look at storybook proposals and manuscripts after a contract has been signed.

Are you the same Mark Hicks...

 ...that authored books about fishing? No.

 
...the actor/stuntman? No. (Although I was on a local television station's edition of Romper Room School two times when I was five. Yes, that's right, I'm a double-diplomate of Romper Room School! See one of my Romper Room photos here.)

 
...the minister? OMG, heck no.     
Do you have a blog? 

Not anymore. To give me more time to create I now just post short tidbits on my Facebook page.
Do you have a dream project?

I actually have many... more books, more paintings, and finding unlimited free time to create just for art's sake, but I have one big one that I would somehow like to become a reality. Click here to read about it.



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