John Mapes Clark creates imaginative architectural caricatures using realistic finishing techniques. As a child, he was fascinated by the architecture of Detroit, with its abandoned buildings, mysterious emptiness and danger, dramatic night illumination and all the fascinating textures to draw. Since then, he has enjoyed creating informative and expressive architectural and urban drawings. He started selling his illustrations at the age of 18, and worked for an architect as an illustrator. This exposure led to a straight forward style reminiscent of plans and architectural renderings in pen and ink and watercolor. He studied graphic design and worked in an art gallery after university, exposing him to art from around the world, but what really stuck with him were the colors of Latin American and the feelings that work emitted to the viewer. Since 2000, John has worked in education, and now lives in Spain, where the vertical nature of the buildings and hillside villages added to the childhood architectural theme and Latin colors he loves to draw and paint. 

John has lived in Michigan, Colorado, Florida, (USA) Alicante and Valencia, (Spain) and has traveled extensively. The places he has been and the places he would love to go all show up in his artwork, but working in education has led him to look for a more fun way to express himself; hence the latest style of architectural caricatures. These whimsical, colorful or dramatic black and white images sum up a lifetime of passion to art, architecture, travel and education.