Pithay studios has some wonderful illustrators. It would be a waste not to feature them on our blog. Today, we’re grabbing a coffee with Dan Chernett to hear his story.

From Disney to Home Pride, and cute Barbie characters to celebrities in zombie form, if you can think of it, Dan Chernett has probably illustrated it.

Although Dan enjoys a constant supply of work from large clients, it hasn’t always been this straightforward. If you were to turn back the clock a little over a decade, you’d meet an unsatisfied creative in search of direction.

“I’ve always known I was creative, but I didn’t ever think you could make a career from illustrating. I applied for a course in graphic design but didn’t get the place.”

So, what next? Dan started a course in product design, hoping that it would satisfy his creative drive.

“Product design was not for me, so I gave it up and started looking again.”

If at first you don’t succeed, try again.

When Dan found an illustration course in the University of Lincoln, it kickstarted a positive spiral of events.

“One of my first clients was Connexions, a training service for young people. They wanted to rebrand their shop in Lincoln and they liked my style at the time. It was good fun and got the ball rolling.”

After the Connexions rebrand, Dan’s client list continued to grow. Just after graduating, he worked on two Scholastic books called Malice and Havoc. Scholastic gave Dan complete free-reign to design the monsters and artwork; the perfect opportunity for him to prove his creative ability.

Dan Chernett’s Illustrations Today

Having built up a substantial client collection, Dan decided to make his freelance work a little more social by taking out a studio space. In this space, he invited likeminded artists to co-work. One became two, two became four, and four became ten. When Dan’s workspace reached double digits, he joined us in Pithay Studios.

The studio contains a mix of illustrators, animators and designers. A few weeks ago they welcomed a new indie games designer to the crowd.

“Working in a creative crowd helps keep you inspired and motivated. It also helps keep your moral boosted when dealing with clients.”

The nature of being an illustrator means a constant desire to learn and improve. Last year Dan taught himself to animate using Adobe After Effects. Although he had always provided the illustrations for animations, he had never put the animations together himself. He has now perfected the skill to the point where he can offer it professionally.

We loved meeting Dan and hearing his inspirational story. Don’t forget to keep up to date with the latest Meanwhile Creative news on our Facebook page, and to check out more of Dan Chernett’s work on his website.