Illustrator Mark Lee celebrates 15 years of manga about office life
Illustrator Mark Lee celebrates 15 years of manga about office life
2023-09-05
Illustrator Mark Lee is celebrating 15 years of manga about the trials and tribulations of white-collar work. Lee’s cutely ironic take on office life has brought a wry smile to many readers. But a successful career in art was not handed Lee on a plate. Before his art took off, he started a string of failed businesses, and was betrayed by a friend-turned-business-partner. At his lowest point, he had NT$20 million of debt. Maybe it’s that familiarity with the low points of business that enables Lee to depict workplace dramas with such clarity.
A cute animation accompanies an all-too-lifelike plot that could speak for many viewers. Illustrator Mark Lee has been on the side of the average office worker with his workplace manga for 15 years. He’s inspired by real life, of course.
Mark Lee
Illustrator
In the early days I often made notes, and whatever thoughts I had I would stick them in the cartoon.
His notebooks are full of images and scribbled records. Lee has been studying art since he was young, and started his professional career in 2008 – right in the middle of the global financial crisis. He offered readers a humorous angle on the daily tedium of office life and had become famous in less than a year.
Mark Lee
Illustrator
The workplace is already a gory place. If you then went and drew it very realistically, I think it wouldn’t have a good resonance. But there’s a contrasting tone, which is like, your images are cuter, but you’re telling these serious workplace stories, and that creates a contrast.
Lee now has his own studio. He creates the stories, and draws the initial sketches, and his employees transform them into a finished product. It all looks shiny now, but Lee’s success sits on the foundation of some harsh life experiences. In days past, he founded several companies which failed, and was betrayed by a friend. He was left with debts of NT$20 million. But he managed to make energy out of his rage and grief, using that low point as fuel for his creativity.
Mark Lee
Illustrator
I started a few companies when I was younger. And they all ended in huge failures, actually. So I had debts of eight digits at one point in my life. And that became something which I later put into my work, or a factor that influenced my art later.
Lee has been around the block a few times, and he’s no longer afraid of difficulties. After many years in art, he can truly claim to be an alternative spokesperson for the frustrated white-collar worker.
畫出上班族心聲! 插畫家馬克將低潮轉為靈感
2023-09-05
插畫作家「馬克」，以可愛版的漫畫人物，畫出上班族的心聲，引發不少人的共鳴，但馬克成名之前，也曾經歷經過低潮，他和朋友創業，結果遭到背叛，一肩扛起2千萬債務，但他沒有放棄夢想，他把這些經歷轉化為創作養分，成為最棒的靈感來源。
Q版可愛的動畫，搭配寫實的職場生活題材，道出民眾心聲，插畫家馬克，用職場漫畫，陪伴上班族15年，從生活周遭，尋找靈感。
[[插畫家 馬克]]
“早期我會常常做一些筆記，然後有些什麼想法，其實就會放在這個裡面”
筆記本上，一頁頁都是圖畫和文字紀錄，馬克從小就學美術， 2008年開始創作，當時正經歷金融風暴，他為苦悶的上班族，增添詼諧色彩，不到一年，就快速走紅。
[[插畫家 馬克]]
“因為職場已經很血淋淋了，你再畫得那麼寫實，其實我覺得那個共鳴感不好，那有一種反差的感覺就會是，你的圖比較可愛，但是你在陳述很嚴肅的職場故事，其實就會有一個反差”
現在成立工作室，由馬克發想故事、畫草圖，員工再進行繪製，一起團結合作。看似光鮮亮麗的背後，卻有一段苦澀經歷，馬克曾經歷創業失敗、被朋友背叛，背上2千萬債務，他化悲憤為力量，將這些低潮轉為創作養分。
[[插畫家 馬克]]
“年輕的時候有過幾次創業，其實有幾次也都是以大失敗當作收場，所以我也在人生一段時間，其實我有高達8位數的負債，會變成後來我放在我作品裡面，或是會影響我之後創作的一些因子”
不畏困難，一路堅持下來，馬克也成為上班族的代言人。
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