Braun said he deliberately narrowed his focus to pencil on paper after years working in commercial and technical illustration.

“Paper and pencil, very easy, no mess, economical materials,” he said. “It’s something I can begin and let sit for days and come back to.”

He said inspiration often comes from recent experiences.

“I seem to be inspired by things that may have touched my mind during the past week or month,” Braun said. He recalled a stay in Red Wing where railroad tracks outside his hotel room led him to research vintage trains and railroad personnel. Music has also influenced his work, leading him to draw from musicians and their performances.

Mark Braun gestures toward a framed pencil drawing during his exhibit at Lykke Books, explaining his use of a circular framing device to emphasize character while limiting background detail. 

Many of the pieces feature historical or popular culture figures, including W. C. Fields, Charlie McCarthy, Albert Einstein and Mark Twain. Braun said he often explores different interpretations of the same figure, noting one collector has purchased several of his W. C. Fields drawings.

Several works depict broader themes, including early American life, Indigenous figures, the Roaring Twenties and rural scenes. A recurring stylistic element is a circular framing device, which Braun uses to suggest background without fully rendering it.

“It gives emphasis to character while limiting unnecessary background detail,” he said.

Braun was raised in New Ulm and holds a fine arts degree from Minnesota State University, Mankato. Early in his career, he worked as a commercial artist and later specialized in technical illustration, producing detailed drawings for machinery manuals. He worked for an engineering firm in Mankato creating illustrations that showed the internal components of generators and other equipment.

After retiring in 2015, Braun returned to personal artwork. He said most drawings take about 10 hours to complete, though he works in stages rather than long sessions. Some pieces on display date back to the 1970s.

A selection of Mark Braun’s pencil drawings explores themes including early American life, Indigenous figures, the Roaring Twenties, and rural scenes. 

He has also worked in the publishing industry, including sales and production of children’s books, traveling to major publishing centers in the United States and abroad. While he has not published a book of his own artwork, he said it is something he has considered.

He said he continues to return to certain subjects, including Albert Einstein.

“The structure of his face is simply unique to me,” Braun said. “Thus I continue to choose him as a subject.”

Braun cited realist artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt and Norman Rockwell as influences. “I feel that I am more of a technician than an artist,” he said. “So I challenge myself to replicate realistic images rather than experimenting with artistic flair.”

He compared his approach to art and music.

Mark Braun gestures toward a framed pencil portrait of Albert Einstein during the opening of his exhibit at Lykke Books.

“Good illustration and good music take hours of rehearsal and hours of practice,” Braun said. “I acknowledge that the results of my practice only scrape the surface of what the real musicians and art masters have accomplished.”

He often performs music locally with his grandson, Kaleb Braun-Schulz. The duo, known as “The Old Guy and the Kid,” plays across Southern Minnesota, blending Braun’s songwriting with Kaleb’s indie-folk style. The name highlights their generational pairing and has become a recognizable identity for their shows.

The exhibit opened Dec. 16 and will remain on display through Jan. 31, 2026, at Lykke Books, 203 N. Minnesota St. Admission is free and open to the public.

Braun illustrations Works by Mark Braun feature historical and popular culture figures. (Photo by Amy Zents)