Above: Portrait of RZA for Rolling Stone.
The work of illustrator Mark Summers is not to be confused with anyone else’s. He’s elevated the technique of scratchboard that was all but dead when he began his career in the mid ’70s and has made it his. Since that time he has created portraits and narrative work for every major publisher including the New York Times, the Chicago Times, the Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, Newsweek, the Atlantic, the New Yorker, Sports Illustrated, and Time. He’s also worked extensively with book publishers and written two books of his own. And if you have ever been in a Barnes and Noble, you probably couldn’t help but miss those beautiful author’s portraits all over the store.