Minnesota artist Daniel Craig is an accomplished illustrator whose work has appeared on
numerous advertisements and book covers. A true Twin Cities person, the artist commutes
from his home in St. Paul, which he shares with his family, to his thriving illustration studio
in Minneapolis six days each week.
Craig's illustration is characterized by a sense of wholeness. Impeccably rendered in a
precisely controlled palette with a soft natural lighting and a polished surface reminiscent of
the old Flemish Masters whom he admires, his oil paintings have authentic dimension. "I like
to capture form with a strong sense of roundness and wholeness. I love the sense of solidity
you get from a single fruit...there is a natural sense of purity which intrigues me."
An avid antique collector, Bonsai plant enthusiast and musician, Craig "loves natural
things in general, trees, fauna...I am drawn to the unity in nature. I transpose nature and
stylize it in my mind to let it become my ideal nature...how I feel it should be." That philosophy
of idealized form and stylization is evident in Craig's work including that which reveals the
gently humorous and more than slightly human quality of animals. "I enjoy painting animals
because I feel a tie with their life force which fascinates me...a certain calm and attitude of
harmony which intrigues me. Animals seem integrated...and people see themselves in animals,
a tendency which I find fascinating."
Craig's illustration includes work for 3M, DuPont, Ralston Purina, Northwest Airlines,
Blue Cross-Blue Shield and United Way and he has twice been the recipient of the CLIO Award
for Best Advertising Illustration.
BIRTHPLACE: Mankato, MN
EDUCATION: Minneapolis College of Art & Design
ADDITIONAL AWARDS: 1990 Silver Medal, Society of Illustrators
1991, '90, '89, '86 Award of Excellence, Communication Arts
1991 Art Directors Club of Toronto, Gold Award
1992 Certificate of Design Excellence, Print Magazine
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