User:Buzzcut Season/sandbox/Dan Hillier

Dan Hillier (born 1973) is a professional artist based in London, England, best known for his detailed Giclée prints and black line engravings.

Early Life and Education

Hillier was born in 1973, in Oxford, England.

In 1991 Hillier attended the North Oxfordshire College of Art and Design and in 1995 received a BA (Hons) in Graphic Art and Illustration while studying at the Anglia Polytechnic University, England.

In 1999 Hillier attended the London College of Printing in which he received a Diploma in Digital Design.

Professional Work

After travelling for a number of years, to countries such as India and Nepal, Hillier began working as a professional artist in 2006. Hillier’s work combines Victorian imagery with his hand drawn ink illustrations, working with position to produce fantastical collages. Digital pieces such as Cellar Door and Aperture are created through a process of ink drawings and digital manipulation. The sourcing for his digital collages is taken from old books, encyclopedias, Dover archives and many other places. These are then arranged and polished in Photoshop, often working in his own ink drawings when needed.

Although this is his primary medium, Hillier also works with ink and dip nib pens to create delicate scratches in order to produce works such as Sing. He also makes use of wood or mahogany to print digital artworks or else draw in ink, such as Buddha and Self With Self.

The style of Hillier’s work is unique and innovative. The subjects of his prints range from people to animals, landscapes, ships, skulls and skeletons. His work is often said to “embody the steampunk aesthetic” as it combines its Victorian style with a modern perspective. Each print looks at merging together both human and animal attributes to create his own imaginative take on these Victorian hybrids. Hillier’s work has been featured in the magazine Dazed and Confused and the arts journal Phoebe. Furthermore his work has been praised by the likes of Neil Gaiman and Cory Doctorow, the latter of which described his work as “marvelous Cthuloid tentacled Victorian beauty-strosities”.

In 2014 Hillier took on a commission and created the album cover for the Number 1 UK hit by English rock-duo Royal Blood.

Exhibitions

Hillier has exhibited his work in numerous recognized galleries including the Saatchi Gallery and the ICA in London, and his work has appeared in several galleries as part of solo and group shows in London, Paris, New York and Turin.

Group shows include ‘Louis Vuitton Marc Jacobs’ from March to September in the Louvre, Paris and ‘The Unfairground’ at Glastonbury Festival in 2010.

Solo shows include ‘Fine-Feathered Beasts’ at the Printhouse Gallery, London in July 2011, ‘Dan Hillier’ in Hoxton Square, London in June 2011 and ‘Feather and Claw’ in Wilton’s Music Hall, London in 2011. Every Sunday Hillier runs a stall at the Upmarket at the Old Truman Brewery off Brick Lane, London.