Daniel Sulzberg

All

Cartoon & Humour

Character Design

Children

Conceptual

Sport & Fitness

Cartoon astronaut with fishbowl helmet and peace sign on purple background

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Yellow cartoon monster with palm tree eyes on blue background

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Cartoon skeleton wearing a hat and skateboard with a worm on head

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Playful cartoon brain with glasses and cap walking

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Cartoon basketball with arms and legs dunking on facial expression hoop

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Happiness is easy

“The vibe of being relaxed, casual and yourself is a part of who I am and it definitely shows in my work."

Training

Dan is a graduate of UCLA’s design programme.

Approach

Dan has a loose creative process that starts with sketching on paper as he plays with ideas for his piece. The sketches are refined, and the composition is honed for a final sketch that he’ll scan in. Then Dan colours the image using his iPad and Apple Pencil, before transferring it over to Photoshop for the finishing touches.

Styles

Vivid colour, positivity, surrealism and whimsy are all elements of Daniel’s style, which he says is heavily influenced by where he’s from – California.

Impressions

Interview

Video

Website

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Interview

What led you to become an illustrator? It seemed that right around 3rd grade when other kids stopped drawing, I kept on going. I drew on everything from the walls of my bedroom to the margins of my notebook paper. I was always drawing. Becoming an illustrator was a natural process for me and being a kid from the 80's I was inspired by Saturday Morning Cartoons, Comic Books, and Nintendo games. My dad owned an art gallery and I never knew there was a career outside of being a professional gallery artist so it was extremely eye opening when I learned all the different kinds of illustration jobs that existed. Did you study illustration in college? I didn't study illustration in college but I did go to a masters program at UCLA for Communication Arts. It was there that I realized that I didn't really connect to graphic design work and all of my projects were illustrative. That's when I knew that was what I truly enjoyed. Where did you grow up? I grew up in Danville California, a small town about 45 minutes of East of San Francisco. I love where I grew up and everyone knew me as Dan from Danville, which is why I called my illustration studio "Danvillage."Do you have a childhood memory relating to drawing/art that you hold dear? I have many childhood art memories but one of my favorites was that my older brother who is ten years older than me was also an artist and extremely talented. I used to sit next to him and try to draw just like him and it's how I learned a lot of my early skills. Where do you live now and what drew you there? I currently live in Santa Barbara California. My wife and I moved here about 3 years ago from Santa Monica after our son was born and we absolutely love it here. It's a small beachy town with mellow and positive vibes and a great place to raise our children. Living near the beach was something I've always aspired to and it's my place of meditation and happiness.Describe your studio for us My studio is a room in our house that includes a giant bookshelf filled with my favorite comic books, art books, beer can labels I've designed, and work I've had the pleasure of collaborating on. I have a large art desk that holds my ipad and laptop and I've filled the space with candles, a light up lava rock, and a record player. The other half of the room is a baby nursery for our newest addition who just turned one years old in January so the vibe is cozy, relaxed, and inspiring. Do you have a studio pet?My studio pet is my fluffy dog Coco. She is a Corgi/chow mix which we call a Chowgi and she constantly lets me know when she'd like a walk, a snuggle, or for me to feed the baby so she can eat all the dropped scraps. Describe the view from your window The view from my window is the street of our neighborhood in San Roque. I love to stare out sometime and see people walking their dogs or loads of interesting birds that fly right up to my window. My neighborhood has a flock of wild parrots and occasionally I see their beautiful green and red feathers land right on the telephone lines outside. Who or What is your biggest inspiration? I am inspired by so many things. There is not just one that I can point to. Music is a big inspiration to me and I'm a huge fan of music from the 80's. In the art world, I've always been drawn to the work of Murakami, Salvador Dali, and Studio Ghibli. I'm definitely inspired by nostalgia and things that make you smile or give positive vibes. These days, my biggest inspiration are my two kids. They make me want to create work that will leave a positive impact in the world.How do you get your ideas? I've always been a storyteller. Before I was an illustrator I worked as a screenwriter in Los Angeles and was always coming up with ideas for stories. I have numerous ways that I like to stimulate creative ideas and one day, I'd like to put together a book of all the techniques I use to generate stories, projects, and ideas. I keep a special note section on my phone where I will add bits and pieces of ideas and see if they can fit together with other bits and pieces.