Look closely at a tree, Dan Tavis will tell you, and you'll find beetle-bitten bark and odd, crooked growth, the very things that make it beautiful. That idea sits at the heart of everything he does.
Dan is a #1 New York Times bestselling picture-book illustrator working out of Concord, New Hampshire, and he's spent his career chasing that same "imperfect perfection" through soft-eyed bears, mischievous cats, and forest critters rendered in watercolor and ink. It's a philosophy that started with a comic strip in 8th grade and never let go, and it's exactly why we jumped at the chance to bring his world onto our notebooks. We sat down with Dan to talk about that journey, his process, and what's inspiring him these days.
1. What has driven you to be an artist?
Since elementary school, I've enjoyed all forms of art, especially cartoons, comic strips, and Disney and Pixar animated films.
Ever since reading Calvin and Hobbes in 8th grade, I've always told myself that I'll be a full-time artist. I went to community college and took a couple of introductory courses, and I realized that I had to choose either to go down the path of animation or picture books.
I ended up choosing the picture book route because, even though in the book industry you collaborate with publishers, editors, etc., much of your time is spent working solo, which I love to do.
I enjoy working on and planning my own projects — for example, self-publishing a coloring book, calendar, art prints, coffee mugs, and more! I also get to work with other businesses outside of the picture book world, like you guys at Denik!
Seeing my artwork in notebook form is so cool, and I love everything your company stands for.
2. What is your favorite medium to work with?
Much of my work is digital, working on an iPad Pro and Procreate. The reason being, especially when I first started out, I had no money, so the most cost-effective way to hit deadlines was to paint digitally. But my favorite medium to work with is watercolor and ink.
Being able to paint incredibly fast on the iPad is great, but there's nothing more satisfying than painting traditionally. Painting with watercolor is like trying to solve a puzzle that can never be fully solved. When I'm mixing colors, wetting the paper, and putting my brush down on the paper, I never truly know what the result might be, but it always comes out better than I thought.
3. How do you get through a creative block?
Ultimately, the best way to get over a creative block is to plow through it. When I'm feeling stuck, I will take a quick coffee break or go for a walk, sit back down, and try my best to get through it. Every creative person trying to make something great gets stuck in the mud, but the artists who continue trudging through end up making great art.
4. What are you currently working on or excited about?
Every year I self-publish my own illustrated calendar, which I am very excited about! It's my own way of taking a break from the picture book world and making something that's truly mine.
With recurring characters and hilarious and beautiful illustrations, customers look forward to the release every year, which has been very rewarding to see! And this year I'm doing every month's illustration with watercolor and ink, so even though it's a lot of work, I think people will enjoy seeing what I've come up with this time around.
5. What's one piece of advice that's shaped your creative journey?
Consistency is everything. In high school and college, every day I worked on my art — and not just in class, but huddled away in my bedroom, drawing late into the night and into the morning hours.
Having a career in the art field is incredibly difficult, rewarding, stressful at times, but always fulfilling. And you'll only be able to create art as a job if you are relentlessly consistent in improving your artistic abilities and producing artwork.
6. What's currently inspiring you?
Nature is a constant inspiration to me. I find nature captivating, because it is perfect imperfection. If you look at a tree from far away, it's beautiful, but when you look closely you see its imperfections. Maybe the bark is missing because it's infested with beetles, or there's an irregular growth protruding from the base.
Those types of interesting things are what I try to capture in my work. Nature is imperfect perfection, because even with its imperfections, it's beautiful — which, in my opinion, is the same case with watercolor, because its imperfections make it engaging and beautiful to look at.
7. Anything else you want us to know?
I have a picture book coming out in August called Milton Makes a Move, written by the amazing Jon Graziano and published by Simon & Schuster! It's a charming and heartfelt picture book following Milton the pug, Jonathan's newly adopted dog, as he makes a brave move to his forever home!
8. Where is the best place to view your art?
You can find me at my website, dantavis.com, and follow along on Instagram @dantavis.
Want to bring a little bit of Dan's cuddly, imperfectly perfect world into your everyday? Shop the Dan Tavis Collection and follow him on Instagram to keep up with his latest work, including his upcoming release, Milton Makes a Move.
