Info

Hello thanks for popping by! Here's some basic info:

I'm Mark Hooley, aka MNKY - I love to create all kinds of things... from Sketchbook Scribbles, Digital illustration & Design, Screenprints, to Paintings on Canvas (or any surface - from cardboard to brick) and much more.

Please have a browse through the various styles and images, and feel free to get in touch if you like something you see, or if you'd like to commission something - from digital works, to portraits, to murals in your home!

I've included a new LIFELONG Members option, which gets you discounts, free music, extra content

and a delightful sense of belonging!

You can also download for free some CubKids Colour Me In pages for a rainy day.

Hope you have enough crayons and the kids enjoy them!

BRIEFLY ME..

I have a variety of styles and when creating art I :

Draw, Paint, SilkscreenPrint, SprayPaint - Freehand & with Stencils, I love Typography & at the moment mostly use Digital Tools, to create Portraits, Illustration, Design & Comic Art.

I also love to dream up Stories, Comics, Songs & Music, which I am continually working on.

AND... MNKYvision as a RECORD LABEL is SLOWLY HAPPENING NOW!

Mark Hooley History & the birth of MNKYvision...LONG WINDED VERSION!

I'll thank my parents for my creative genes! And for their encouragement throughout my life.

It started with our mum encouraging us to draw and paint, probably as a way to keep us busy, and it stuck. My brother and I used to draw together a lot, as soon as we got out of bed, taping A4 paper together and making continuous scenes of violent action with themes including Star Wars, Superheroes, Rocketmen, Gladiators, Wrestlers, Boxers, Warriors, Elves and Orcs, battling and dying gruesome deaths!

Our dad was in the London Symphony Orchestra, so was very busy with work, and music was also a constant in our lives. I learned the basics of Piano, Violin, Saxophone and Guitar.

I have always loved producing art, writing stories, making music, and generally inventing stuff.

(I don’t know if I’m clever enough to be an ‘inventor’ but I’m getting older and am gradually becoming more organised, so who knows, maybe there’s something ingenious lurking in the back of my mind.)

Unfortunately, having all of these interests has made it difficult to focus on one thing at a time. I am now trying to do just that, and I think I'm getting better at it. My years of mis-management and fidgeting between projects has come to an end and I'll finally complete some of the projects I've been 'tinkering' with! I'm OK with my slow multi-tasking!

Variety is the spice of life, and I get twitchy doing the same thing, my mind wanders between various projects, but I'm learning how to focus better and go where necessary!

One of the many things that has helped me move forwards with this, is the recent work I've done for writer, Matt Stapleton, who has commissioned me to illustrate his story 'Die Hard of The Dead' ! (It's not Bruce Willis - it's the 'real' John McClaine!)

Writing is his passion and his love of film has meshed into comics perfectly. You can buy them from his website - What If Stories.

Having these comics in my sweaty palms is very satisfying and is a reminder not to procrastinate (especially Issue Two - which is all my artwork!!) Die Hard Of The Dead is also being collected in it's own books.

In 2013 I wrote and illustrated a little comic, trying to work out why it's taken me so long and why I struggle with making art, and specifically comics. It seems many creative people have these issues! You can read the comic here.

I'd like to be getting back to work on my Greedios book. I started this in 2003, but on their way to visit my first solo exhibition of this work in 2004, my parents were in a car crash and my dad died. I felt responsible. This has been an obstacle that has prevented me from continuing with the work. I've more recently been learning to overcome this and focus my energy more positively.

I hope to get this finished soon, at least the first version... if you’d like to support the creation of The Greedios through Kickstarter, that would be hugely appreciated - I will be creating that ONE DAY SOON-ISH - watch this space!

I have also been writing more story outlines for MagnetBoy. I’m planning to continue with the artwork ASAP! -

another battle between projects - and will likely have to wait until the GREEDIOS is finished!

I've also been making music, some of my own, really just for myself, and some that is a part of the ever-expanding MagnetBoy universe, which you can download for free, if you become a member.

The name MNKY was a name I used as a DJ. I love pseudonyms and alternative identities. Sometimes I like a certain level of anonymity. I began with DJ gogglez, then later became MonkeyBoy, (for a variety of reasons) which shortened to MNKY and if I did graffiti and street art, I would use this as my tag (but I mostly preferred the comfort of my sketchbook at home).

I also created a range of work under the guise of Miss Reg, which was more design-based, using stolen photographs and recreated to screen-prints, which I enjoy making, but it's not really my goal, artistically.

I chose the name MNKYvision for my website, partly because my brother Ben had a site called BenoVision, and partly to my love for spectacles and gogglez affiliation. Everything on here comes from my imagination and I felt the word vision would be a great indicator of this!

I've always wanted to combine the joys of art, music, clubbing, film, stories and creativity into my work.

I believe we can build a better world through creativity... I haven't worked out how best to contribute yet - but I try to remain positive and will continue pursuing this ideology!

Music has always been a huge help in getting through difficult times, so I hope some of the noises I create might be that for someone too. I'm working on a variety of projects which I will release myself... although I don't have a huge amount of time for the admin involved in campaigns, so if you get to hear it, that will probably be quite amazing!!

A few other bullet-point bits of info:

I graduated with a BA Degree in Illustration in 1998 from Brighton University of Art
and have since been working as a Fine Artist, Illustrator, Painter, Screen-Printer, Designer, Graffiti Artist, Mural Artist, Cartoonist, Workshop Leader, Delivery Manager and Interior Decorator.

Other interests over the years, have involved:

being the founder member and DJ for the gogglez collective,
a driving force for both Aerosolik Records and B.R.A.G. Collective,
and a Radio Show Producer and Presenter on Radio Reverb.
I have worked with Strong & Co and What & Sons,

for Shangri La Art Department at Glastonbury Festival, from 2009 until 2017.
I also worked as Screen Print Manager at ARTHOUSE Unlimited,

and as a Screen Printer at Another Fine Mesh.

I live in, on and around Brighton & Hove; in the South East coast of the UK.

I wish I still had a lovely studio to work in like this one...