Private query access
Mark Dye is an artist and illustrator who hides words and images into the intricate detailing of his ink drawings. He has found that children especially love to search through his pieces, and so he is currently engaged in adapting his art style to Picture Book Illustrations.
The Treasure in the Forest - Picture Book
Story:
Written as a contemporary origin myth of colors, The Treasure in the Forest appeals to lovers of books like The Legend of the Bluebonnet and The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses, with their emphasis on both bold aesthetics, and the elements of fable.
Dara’s village sees the world in black and white, and they have accepted the problems that make life so difficult.
But not Dara.
Dara has learned that the trick to solving problems is to try and see things differently, and when her little brother grows sick, she ventures into the forest to find a way to help him.
With each step along her journey, Dara solves a problem and releases a new color into the world, but it isn’t until she finds some berries to heal her brother that her eyes are opened to the new world around her. She returns home not only to cure her brother, but also to show her village how to see the world in color.
Below you will find the manuscript, concept art, and book dummy, showing how earlier illustrations will be in black and white, and with each part of Dara’s journey, a new color will be added until the final pictures are fully saturated:
About Me:
I am a professional artist, dealing largely in the intricate ink drawings you see here that draw people in with the hidden words and images I work into the detailing. I am also a novelist who has been a member of a small writing and critique group for nine years, and a member of the DFW Writers' Workshop for three. Thank you for your time.
Concept Art
Manuscript
The Treasure in the Forest
By Mark Dye
(Older Picture Book)
Long ago, all the way back where the river of time meets the horizon, there sat a small village at the edge of a forest. Life was often difficult for the people there, but they had all learned to accept the problems that gave them so much trouble.
Well, everyone, that is, except for a girl named Dara.
[Note: Early illustrations are in black and white.]
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Dara didn’t like problems at all, but she loved solving them. The trick was to try and see things differently.
Once, her little brother complained about sleeping on the hard ground with only a blanket. But Dara didn’t just see a blanket. She saw a hammock. So she tied it between two trees, and soon the whole village was sleeping comfortably under the stars.
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“But there are still so many problems to solve,” Dara would tell her mother, “like how the tigers in the forest surprise even our bravest hunters.”
“You are a very creative girl,” her mother would answer. “But some problems just can’t be solved.”
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Dara tried her hardest to think like the others, but one day, her brother grew very sick, and she overheard the village healers whispering outside his room.
“He’s simply not getting better,” said one.
“Yes,” said the other sadly, “if only we knew why our berries sometimes heal us and sometimes make us worse. But some problems just can’t be solved, and I fear the worst for this boy.”
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Dara ran from her home, half in anger, half in fear, her thoughts racing faster than her feet.
“Every problem has a solution,” she told herself, “and I will find the answer to this one.” When she looked up, she saw that her legs had taken her to the edge of the forest. If she wanted to solve the problem of the berries, that’s where she would find the answer, so without another thought, she entered the woods.
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Dara knew she would need food for her journey and spotted some apples high in a tree. She was not a strong climber, but she was a strong thinker. Around the tree were some vines, but she saw them differently. Dara saw a ladder.
In no time, she had tied them together and climbed the tree. But when she looked at the apple up close, she gasped at its strange new look!
[Note: The apple is red, and inside the detailing is hidden: an apple, a leaf, a rose, three berries, a bird, and a tiger.]
She wanted to explore this mystery more, but she had her brother to save, so she put the apple in the pocket of her dress and continued deeper into the forest. She didn’t see that her creativity had changed more than just the apple behind her…
[Note: Behind Dara, flowers and apples are turning red.]
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Soon Dara grew thirsty and stopped at a small stream. There was nothing except a large leaf nearby, but she saw it differently. Dara saw a cup. She cleverly curved the leaf in her hand to sip the fresh, cool water. When she drew the leaf back from her mouth, it looked as strange as the apple and yet different as well! She took the leaf and rushed on, not looking back at the forest transforming behind her.
[Note: Here, the color green is introduced.]
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Dara came to a fork in the trail. She had heard about this place. The path to the left was thought to be dangerous, and there were large thorny rose bushes blocking her way. The path on the right led back to her village.
“I should probably take the safer path back home,” she thought. “That's what everyone else would do…”
But when she looked at the dangerous path, she saw it differently. Dara saw the chance to find something new. So she grabbed a strong stick to part the vines and made her way through with only a few scrapes. On the other side, she found that one of the roses had become an even brighter shade than the other objects, so she plucked it and hurried on.
[Note: Here, the color yellow is introduced, and it is spreading behind her.]
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By now, Dara had travelled deep into the woods, and finally she spotted a patch of the berries. Her heart beat faster as she looked at them carefully and noticed a line of ants eating from one of the bushes, but not from another. A thought struck her.
“Maybe, the ants are eating the good berries and leaving the bad ones alone!”
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She needed a way to test her idea, and the only other animal in sight was a single bird on the ground. But she saw it differently. Dara saw a friend.
She put both berries in front of the bird, and it walked right over and ate the one Dara thought was safe! She ran over and grabbed more of them as they took on their own, deep, rich shade.
[Note: Here, the color purple is introduced with the berries.]
“I think I’ve solved it!” she said. “These berries are somehow different from the others, and—” but she was interrupted by a low growl behind her, and she turned to see…
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A fierce tiger staring straight at her. It growled louder and showed its teeth through a snarl.
Dara froze. She almost ran…but then she looked closer, and she didn’t just see an angry tiger. Dara saw a protective mother.
She slowly raised her hands and backed away until she saw the mother and her cub relax in the distance. But when Dara finally found the bravery to turn around, she got another surprise.
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[Note: Dara sees the forest in full color for the first time.]
“A new way of looking at things!”
Dara dug in her pocket and pulled out the objects she had gathered. Each of them matched one of the six shades around her, but two were missing. Then she spotted some berries the same shade as the tiger.
“Danger,” she said, picking some and comparing them to the good berries.
Just then, the bird chirped above her, and a single beautiful feather fell into her hands.
[Note: The bad berries are orange, and the feather is blue.]
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Now she had them all, and she rushed home through the dazzling forest to share her discovery, but at the sight of her village, she stopped. It hadn’t changed at all.
“How can I show them what I’ve found?” Dara wondered. She looked at the six treasures in her hands and smiled. “I think I know what to do.”
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She returned home, opened her hands, and gave the village her gifts.
[Note: Here, Dara will be pictured with open hands and swirls of color emanating from them.]
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Dara had taught her village to see colors, and she gave each one a name. She was right about the purple berries healing her brother, and now, the hunters could easily avoid the bright orange tigers between the trees.
All because a young girl had found a new way of looking at the world.
Book Dummy
other open queries
Alibi High
- and the case of the bloodhound ruby -
Young Adult Mystery
When someone tries to murder a cheerleader on Frederick Sterling’s first day of school, it doesn’t take long to discover that there’s a lot out of the ordinary at Alibi High, which is more like a haunted mansion, teeming with major crimes than it is a school. As the new kid, Fred had simply been hoping not to embarrass himself, but now he’s more worried about staying alive. Unfortunately, when he stumbles on information about the cheerleader, he finds himself unwittingly recruited into the Forensics Club by Mr. Verdigris, a mixture of Ms. Frizzle and Sherlock Holmes, who enjoys turning brutal crimes into school projects. And when a pretty girl from the club named Patti Price decides to make Fred her latest pet project, he can’t help wanting to impress her. Now he’ll have to not only survive the school year, but find a way to actually contribute as the club hunts down a thief named The Klepto-Brainiac, threatening to steal Alibi High’s prized jewel: The Bloodhound Ruby. If they fail, Fred’s sure it will be his fault for not keeping pace with the brilliant Patti and their genius mentor. Not only could he suffer the public humiliation he was so desperately hoping to avoid from the start, but at a school like this, lives are always on the line.
At approximately 85,000 words, Alibi High and the Case of the Bloodhound Ruby appeals to fans of Truly Devious and One of Us is Lying, with its humorous, grounded voice that strikes a contrast to the southern gothic setting where Wednesday Addams would find herself right at home.
As a high school English and creative writing teacher of twelve years, I felt compelled to put the struggles of students in the epically absurd context they deserve. I have been a founding member of my writing group for ten years, and a member of the DFW Writers' Workshop for three. Thank you for your time and consideration.
through the year - Picture Book
Through the Year is a collection of fourteen drawings, paired with poems about the different seasons and holidays depicted. It begins with “Winter Tree,” and progresses chronologically through the year, ending on “New Years.” Lighthearted, concise and whimsical, the poetry makes for a fun, easy read before giving readers a chance to search through the festive drawings for hidden hedgehogs or butterflies or Christmas candies. As shown in the concept pages, a key will be provided on each spread, revealing some of the images they can find.
About Me:
I began my art business, Art by Mark(er), four years ago and have grown a steady following online and in-person at art shows where I will also be able to sell my books. I am also a novelist who has been a founding member of my writing group for ten years, and a member of the DFW Writers' Workshop for three.
Thank you for your time.
Concept Art
schoolhouse : Madhouse upmarket satire
My novel Schoolhouse : Madhouse is the tale of Mr. Greene, a first-year teacher armed with his idealism and work ethic, who blunders into Daledell Delldale Delldale ISD where the laws of logic and reason hold no sway. It is the kind of place where an elderly teacher can lecture from the hospital bed they’ve wheeled into her classroom and have her nurses take over teaching when she finally kicks the bucket. It’s the kind of place where the new English curriculum proudly waters down the classics into 500-word "excerptettes" like R0M30-tron and JU13T-bot, a tale of forbidden robot-love that teenagers can really relate to.
Luckily Mr. Greene finds hope in Lily, his mentor teacher and a veteran of the school, who has decided to ignore the district's asinine policies and initiatives in order to do what’s right for her students. Throughout the insanity of their school year, Mr. Greene and Lily put their new friendship and their very careers on the line in a struggle against the treacherous machinations of the district and the devious mastermind behind all the madness, their own principal. Why take the risk? Because the students deserve it.
Written as the Catch-22 of public school, Schoolhouse : Madhouse is upmarket fiction, clocking in at just under 100,000 words that will appeal to fans of Jasper Fford, Douglas Adams, and Joseph Heller. And a look below the surface of easy humor reveals a cosmic order to the district, founded on the tales of The Brothers Grimm, Aesop, and Hans Christian Andersen. As a teacher of English and Creative Writing in Texas for seven years now, I found myself compelled and especially qualified to tell this story.
Mark interviews high school friends he hasn’t talked to in 20 years, and catches up with them.
Mark, along with his friends from itsjustawesome.com take a movie genre and explore what they think is the BEST example, the WORST example, and the UGLIEST example of that genre.
Mark, along with his friends from itsjustawesome.com compare novels to their movie adaptations.