Markas Odom (b. 1992) is a Seattle-based painter, illustrator and caricaturist, originally from Chicago, IL. Markas’ painting and illustration style can be described as a mix of whimsical character design, with heavy focus on design, color, movement and abstraction. His love for art started at a young age by drawing cartoons and comics. Whether at home, in school or in church he would always be with a sketchbook drawing something. His passion for art ended up earning him a bachelor’s in Illustration from the American Academy of Art in 2015. As well as an Associates in Applied Science (amimation) from College of DuPage in 2020.

Primarily working with paint, paint markers and oil sticks, his painting and illustrative work is heavily inspired by everyday life, romance, storytelling and movement that portrays poetic meaning through dance. He achieves this by using limited color palettes, foreshortening and using dynamic design and caricature to captivate the viewers of his work. The goal for the images he paints is to show the symbiotic bond between design, caricature and movement using traditional mixed median on canvas and canvas roll. He hopes the images he paints impacts viewers to feel freely about themselves in hopes that they expand their eye to reflect on a universe of vulnerabilities and self reflection.