Mark's profile
I am Mark R. Hailey, an Emmy Award–winning artist based in Annapolis, Maryland. Through digital art, I work to bring the traditions of fine art confidently into the 21st century.
My work blends a wide range of disciplines to complete each piece, including hand drawing, acrylic painting, photography, 3D work, and digital painting. I enjoy combining these approaches to create artwork that feels both familiar and contemporary.
I am a classically trained artist, specializing in pencil and pen and ink, and I earned my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Virginia Commonwealth University. Some of my earliest work was exhibited at the Anderson Gallery in Richmond, Virginia.
My professional art career began in television, where I worked as an artist, producer, and art director. During that time, I refined my skills in 2D and 3D graphics and animation while telling visual stories for a wide audience.
As a student of art, I was deeply influenced and encouraged by my father, Bud Hailey, who was also an artist and a television art director. He held a master’s degree in art education and taught both art and photography.
Bud Hailey specialized in oil painting and gave me a strong foundation in color, composition, perspective, and balance. In 2009, after 25 years working in computer graphics for television, I began merging those skills with my traditional art training to create fine art digitally.
This shift from digital screen to digital canvas began on the tenth anniversary of my father’s passing. To honor him, I chose to recreate one of his oil paintings using digital tools.
Rather than making an exact copy, I interpreted the painting in my own style, as if we had been given the same assignment in class. I was surprised by the result and realized that digital art belongs alongside oils, acrylics, pastels, and watercolors.
I continue to push my work deeper into the digital space and have found it more rewarding than the pen, ink, and paper I started with. For my design work in television, I have won more than 70 awards and received five Emmy nominations, including my win.
