Dan Jamieson - Artist & Illustrator

Artist and illustrator Dan Jamieson incorporates humour, bright colours and a little bit of madness into his work. We get to know Dan a little better, meet his naughty Whippet Felix, and talk about how strange the past year has been.

What are your earliest memories of art and illustration?

My grandpa was always making stuff. I remember seeing his work as a kid and just being really interested in wanting to make stuff like that as well. I think one of the earliest pieces I was really happy with was a rhinocerous that ended up in my Dad’s office and alongside it just said ‘snort, snort, snort’ getting bigger and bigger, and I was just so proud that he put it up in his office.

How did you turn drawing into a career?

After finishing uni I managed to get an exhibition with a local gallery. There was a guy who bought some paintings I’d done on advertising boards of Kim Jong Il. And so that experience gave me a real insight into what you need to do for selling and promoting your work. It was a bit of a crash course and then I’ve just carried on from there, finding places to exhibit at, keeping in touch with people and networking.

What inspires and informs your work these days?

A lot of it is portrait based and I love wordplay and puns so I’ll normally pick an icon, idol or idiot, as I like to call them. It’s usually informed by the news, celebrity trash magazines, clickbait, sport, just something going on in the world really.

I just recently got a commission for the band HAIM, but I turned them into a ham sandwich, a ‘HAIM’ sandwich, so that was quite fun, illustrating them as a sandwich.

How did you stay creative through lockdown?

I ordered some canvases and made a series of works based on a recent trip I was able to make to Kyoto, just before the pandemic.

I worked from photos that I had taken from the trip and kind of moved away from the sort of work I normally do, so it was nice to escape into this journey that I had taken, re-evaluate everything I had seen and make paintings of everything collectively.

And based on the advice of the government what will you now be re-training as?

One of the things that came up was an actor, so maybe I’d go into acting, but I think that’s against what they are suggesting!

Another one that came up was horse-groomer, so maybe that?! Watch this space!

What is your favourite thing about your studio?

I love that it’s in my home. Just being able to go and grab a coffee and then come back here is nice and easy. I’m surrounded by stuff that I find inspiring, images, patterns, colours. Also there’s lots of plants which I find very calming.

Favourite thing about London?

There’s so many arts venues, so many galleries. You’ve got the whole history of London everywhere. It’s good to go and see things, not necessarilly something that you know is on, but just go and visit a gallery and see what’s on. I always find that you come out really inspired and wanting to make stuff.

Favourite Gallery?

I love the Hayward. I just love the Southbank and all the brutalist architecture along it. They always have good things on there. In fact I don’t think I’ve ever been to a bad exhibition there.

Tell us about your tattoos. How many do you have? Do you draw them for yourself?

I think maybe 30, I’m not quite sure. Most of them are all drawn out by me and then I just take them to a tattoo artist that I like. It’s all just kind of stuff that I’ve seen or been inspired by all around.

I mean the Mariachi guy, I just felt the dancing lady needed someone alongside, so he went in there. There’s my first ever dog Bertie, who sadly passed away. One of the first ones I got was this pencil. I was like ‘ooh I’m an illustrator so I’ll get a pencil cos I draw’. There’s a cowboy on his high horse. A skull from somewhere in Florence, from a church floor. I’ve got a $10 Vegas tattoo which is pretty bad. And there’s song lyrics and stuff.

My favourite one at the moment is this one, ‘white wine and you’. It’s from an Iggy Pop record and it just reminds me of drinking wine with Rachel.

Of all the people you have drawn, who would you most like to go on a night out with?

I’d probably like to go on a night with Elton John. I think the ‘belt on John’ print that I‘ve got is one of my favourites and I hope that he’d like it.

What’s the plan? Where are you taking him?

I think some cocktails at the house, show him round the studio, show him some of the artwork. And then I think maybe take him into Hackney Wick, some grotty warehouse party. Have Elton roll out a grand piano and take over the whole night.

And finally… What does Wonderland look like to you?

I’d probably say something like one of the water colour paintings I made from Kyoto. Something that’s kind of vibrant and fresh that you just want to escape into.