Meet The Artist: Daniel Morgan
Daniel Morgan is an illustrator born and raised in St Ives, Cornwall. he now lives a stone's throw away from St. Ives, just across the bay in Hayle with his wife and son.
Working primarily in fine liners, inks and/or Procreate, Daniel enjoys drawing Cornwall's unique and quaint streets, using a simple palette to illustrate the buildings which are often then countered with a vivid splash of colour to draw the eye.
After a decade without picking up a pencil, Daniel rediscovered his passion for illustration when his wife bought him a sketchbook during the pandemic. "What started as a hobby to pass the time soon turned into a more structured business as interest grew and people requested prints of my ‘little drawings," says Daniel.
Can you talk us through your method of creating a piece of artwork?
I use a traditional grid method for ensuring my drawings are to scale, I then sketch this in pencil and once happy I finalise in Micron fine liners and shade using Windsor & Newton neutral promarkers, I then scan the drawings in and add a block of vivid colour to help the drawings pop. Lately, I have been drawing through the Procreate app, still using the grid method but it allows me to create on a larger scale and add more detail…it also means if there’s something I’m not happy with I can go back and edit it!
How do you decide on the location you use for your landscapes?
I enjoy drawing the old Cornish buildings, especially from my hometown of St Ives, so I choose iconic locations that are easily recognisable.
Porthmeor Framed Print by Daniel Morgan (£60.00)
Do you paint from a photo or memory?
I mainly draw from photos as I like to ensure the proportions and scale are as accurate as possible.
What is an art tool you use that you cannot live without?
As I have started to create more and more digital work Iately, I have grown to really enjoy working with Procreate software on my iPad.
What do you like to listen to when creating your art?
I tend to listen to the ‘parenting hell’ podcast or have a film playing in the background.
What piece of your portfolio are you most proud of?
My St Ives panoramic image is my proudest achievement, just for the sheer amount of time it took to complete and the fact that I essentially had to draw it twice since the file corrupted.
Panoramic St. Ives Harbour Framed Print (145.00)
What is your workspace like?
I do not have a workspace as such, it’s the kitchen table when I can clear some space, or if working on the iPad then I can do it from the comfort of the sofa.
Why do you use such a minimal colour palette for your art?
I never set out to sell my drawings so my aim was just something to decorate my plain walls, and I was never a fan of too much colour, black and white work always caught my eye, and gradually I added block colours to help draw the eye and add a little life to my walls.
How did you discover your distinct style of art?
It evolved throughout my earlier sketches, it was straightforward to replicate the buildings but when it came to the sky I wasn’t happy with the blank colour or drawing the clouds, so experimented with vertical lines and negative space for clouds and found the technique complimented the shaded buildings well and what hopefully is a somewhat unique style.
