Joe Mruk

Joe Mruk is an author-illustrator who has worked under the name Red Buffalo Illustration for 12 years, in which he has collaborated with environmental initiatives, bands, venues, record labels, large events and small businesses to create identity packages, posters, editorial illustrations, album art, music festival promotion packages, maps and merch. Previous clients include Ansys, the Pittsburgh Steelers, American Rivers, The Environmental Defense Fund, Southern Tier, Tröegs, The Clarks, The Deutschtown Music Festival, Jack and Jill Magazine, and CraftPittsburgh Magazine. Joe is the owner/operator of www.redbuffalo.org, where a full portfolio is on display.

For the same amount of time he has been teaching kids and adults publicly and privately. From instructing at a 5-day art camp for Lakota youth at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota for 3 years to teaching at institutions such as WashArts in Washington, PA and Pittsburgh Center for the Arts many times, Joe has been avid about providing students with skills based in technique, culture and freelance practice.

Joe is also the Regional Advisor for the Western Pennsylvania chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), where he helps connect local authors and illustrators to online and in-person events featuring industry professionals. He is knowledgeable about the children’s publishing industry and always infuses that knowledge in his classes, from showing kids how to write cover letters to developing compelling storylines and unforgettable characters for graphic novels. He himself is working on a 6-book middle-grade graphic novel series currently, and shares that process as well.

“In teaching, I seek out the creative seeds that kids have already planted in their own minds and nurture that seed, encouraging them and offering ways to make their imagined worlds not just more real, but marketable. In this fast-paced, technological world, kids need to be provided with the cutting edge of information about the industries they gravitate toward and my experiences with SCBWI helps provide that for young creators.”

Joe’s classes are primarily digital, utilizing iPads and Procreate, but he also teaches composition, design and technique in equal measure.