I started my career as a sign writer and illustrator but soon turned to the dark side of graphic design. For the next 20 years, or so, I progressed as a graphic designer to art director and creative director before deciding illustration was was my true calling. I’d always sketched and often at design briefs and during the initial concept stages of any design work before turning to the Mac. I enrolled on the outstanding BA Hons course in Illustration at the Cardiff School of Art and Design in South Wales in the UK and haven’t looked back. Whilst on the course, and researching for a dissertation on War Art and Perception I discovered reportage illustration and discovered that War Artists were still being embedded with the military in conflicts such as the Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan. Having spent over 14 years with the Airborne Artillery, 7th Parachute Regiment (TA), I knew that this was for me and eventually managed to get sponsored by the 1st The Queen’s Dragoon Guards, The Welsh Cavalry, to accompany them on their operational tour to Helmand Province in Afghanistan. I finished my degree, graduating in 2012, and now teach on that same course as an Associate Lecturer for Cardiff Metropolitan University where the School of Art and Design is based. I sketch, generally, with pen and ink - Faber-Castell PITT Pens and acrylic ink wash. Sometimes dip pen when time allows. I’ll sketch whatever I see but find myself migrating towards people and buildings mostly with a passion for life drawing. Drawing is the beginning of virtually all forms of visual art. Mark making as artistic representation in its purist form. 
Reportage, as a process of bringing a story to an audience through the creation of on-the-spot sketches, is my goal – interpreting the narrative of the situation in a way the photographer cannot. With this in mind I managed to get an embed with the Royal Navy on board HMS Bulwark during her SOLAS operation (Saving Lives At Sea) in 2015. Drawing life at sea as well as the rescue of hundreds of refugees trying to make the terrifying journey from the coast of Libya across the Mediterranean. I have lived in Cardiff since the age of 11 and I’m looking forward to sharing the experience of her streets, as well as the places that I visit around the world, with sketches on the pages of the Urban Sketchers website. For more of Dan's work, check out his blog, or website.
