Welcome to Mark Ervin's Art-N-Motion. I grew up in a family of ten children, the sons and daughters to a loving and devoted couple with strong roots in Omaha Nebraska.  Dad was a pioneer in the field of commercial art and graphic design and he poured out much of his abilities and knowledge upon each of us. Mom is a strong,  graceful woman who always encouraged us in our creative pursuits. She shaped us each with strong conviction and forthright character, mostly by simple example. Dad had great taste in cars, the best of which, a powder blue '49 Buick Special convertible, wound up on a billboard of dad's design. My earliest memories, however, were of dad's white '62 Corvair coupe and Mom's red 1960, Ford Country Sedan (AKA Station Wagon.) Those cars infected me with the bug.  My  first car, was a 1962 Corvair Monza sedan, Autumn Gold inside and out with 'factory' tinted windows and only 42,000 miles on it. I've owned and driven several other road warn beauties, each of which has played into the experience that drives my passion and penchant for detail which is imbed into my work.

 

     In 1989, with a few years of Commercial Art schooling and a couple years of screen printing work under my belt, with the loving support of my wife, Jennifer, we loaded our 1966 Impala wagon and 1982 Plymouth Champ and moved to Glendale California. I attended Cal Arts where I studied Character Animation, design and film making. This lead to the opportunity of a lifetime, working on the The Simpsons, drawing backgrounds, animating and storyboarding my way up to Director in 1998.  After directing three episodes, in '99, I moved on to another studio and directed six episodes of Futurama. I was also privileged to storyboard and animate on other projects including Rug Rats, The Critic, Rocko's Modern Life, Family Guy and Baby Blues. In 2001, we, along with our four children,  move back to Nebraska as I returned to The Simpsons until 2012. I've worked remotely as a storyboard and character lay-out artist on both the TV series and, in 2006, the motion picture. 

 

      During these past several years I have actively pursued the goal of establishing myself as an automotive artist and cartoonist, drawing cars as often as possible using all tools at my disposal. Not limited to car for hire, I've developed a style which I incorporate into story illustrations as well as special events and greeting cards. Once in a while, I even get to design a t-shirt and posters. Guess those years of commercial and graphic arts were worth it after all... Cars are my passion but character is my goal. I absolutely love to draw environments and people, both of which enhance and build the world my cars live in and interact with. I hope you enjoy browsing through my work and will consider me if you ever want something truly unique as a personal addition to your collection, an heirloom or as a gift for another.