Mark’s story.

Mark Frazier is a fine art painter who was born in West Covina, California as one of three boys to Ralph and Doris Frazier. Ralph worked during the school year as a biology teacher and spent his summers as a national park ranger throughout the western United States. The family would accompany Ralph every summer in the great outdoors, often times surrounded by nothing but forest or the open ocean. Doris was an accomplished painter that was always inspired by the beauty of nature. She took great care in capturing life in water color, oil and other mediums. Through her work she introduced Mark to the method of plein air painting, which taught him to leave the four walls of his studio behind and to paint or draw in a natural outdoor landscape.

Mark with his mother Doris in Yosemite National Park, CA circa 1958.

Mark with his mother Doris in Yosemite National Park, CA circa 1958.

Taking inspiration from his childhood and the California plein art painters LeRoy Neiman and Roger Dean, Mark studied fine art at Cal Poly Pomona University in California and began his career as an artist.

Starting in the early 1980s Mark became known around Los Angeles and New York for painting photo realistic backgrounds for photography studios. This led to the chance encounter with the late Hugh Hefner where Mark was hired to body paint people for both the magazine and the infamous Playboy mansion parties.

In 2007, Mark was listed as #46 in Time Magazine’s “Alt Most Influential People in the World List” for his hand in creating the modern style and techniques used by body painters and digital photographers.

Mark’s work can be found in dozens of national publications and broadcast shows, as well as various art galleries and collections across the United States.

Mark Frazier resides in Southern California, with his wife Susan Frazier and their dogs. He has two grown children, both successful artists, and continues to paint by private commission.


View Mark Frazier on Wikipedia

Contact Mark Frazier

Open to private commissioned work.
(949) 246-4688

California, USA