Our Author Talk With Artist Mark Ulriksen

Sometimes when we look at a published piece of writing or piece of art, we get discouraged because it looks so perfect. It must have taken SO much time, we know! The chances of taking an idea and turning it into a finished work, accepted by a major publication, seem so remote. New Yorker cover artist Mark Ulriksen reminded us at our Author Talk event last weekend that the pathway to success is paved with a lot of little failures along the way. Who knew that an illustrator as talented and accomplished as Mark, with fifty-one New Yorker cover credits to his name, had a whole drawer full of sketches that just aren’t that good? (At least according to Mark.) He was inspired when he went to Europe and saw a Picasso exhibit and noticed that, yeah, a lot of the master’s work was great, but actually, he thought a lot if it was kind of crappy. Mark also reminded us all that you can be down to earth and funny and charming and also a big success. Now, if only we could draw.