Last year, we randomly came across Daniel Jeanes’s art on Instagram and instantly loved his style; how could we not? Combining his passion for skateboarding and surfing to create unique art pieces, Daniel draw illustrations that are deeply refreshing and beautiful. Working mostly with black and white colors as well as really soft tones, Daniel’s style is standing amongst some of the best, such Volcom’s in-house illustrator, Jamie Browne.
Fascinated by his work and intrigued by the man behind the Australian-based design studio, we’ve decided to ask a few questions to Daniel about his youth, his art as well as his future goals.
Daniel, you are always hiding behind your design studio, Buttery, so we don’t know much about you at all. Where are you from and how did growing up on the Gold Coast played a role in your art?
I’m from all over the show. I was born in South Africa, then moved to New Zealand as a toddler and have only been living in Gold Coast, Australia, for less than two years so I’m quite new to the area. However the Gold Coast has still played a large role in my art because of the large surf and skateboarding scene. Growing up in New Zealand, I was very immersed in the skate culture and that had a huge part to play in my development as an artist.
How did you develop your skills? Was it all self-taught or you went to school to explore different techniques?
Growing up, I was always into my art over other subjects in school, so I would constantly be ditching class to do art, this was a factor that led to me getting kicked out of school [laughs], so I never ended up finishing. After that, I managed to get into university and studied graphic design and illustration and that had a large part to play in my development as an artist. However it has its pro’s and con’s. So I’ve explored many different techniques starting from realism which has moved in a completely different angle and landed me in the style I’m doing today.
Does being a creative type scared you at the beginning, especially when you created your own design studio and tried to live off your art?
Yeah, it did, no doubt! Just hoping to get enough jobs in to keep me surviving. However I’m lucky enough to also work casually for a screen-printing company so that gives me a bit of security, yet it is hard to balance the two.
In writing, we sometimes get the blank page problem. Does it ever happen to you? What are your techniques to bring back the inspiration?
It happens to me all the time, I just try to think in a weird way and gather inspiration from whatever I can, whether that be artists I admire or good design.
Since when do you have Buttery Studio? And where does the name come from? It is definitely original and catchy!
I created a small skate brand in 2014 called Buttery Skateboards, which never really amounted to anything [laughs]. So after that I thought I might as well make it a design studio which can also be a bit of a brand too. Lots of things can be referred to Buttery and in the skate and surf scene it means you did something smooth or good “not a hugely common term, but a term nonetheless.” So it basically came from that.
What would be your dream goal assignment?
This is a hard one because I have many dreams. However I would say doing a series of apparel and board designs for one of the skate or surf brands that are common to me from when I was growing up.
If you’re not creating something new, where can we find you at?
Try Nobbys beach, Australia. I’ll be skating around or floundering in the surf. Bound to bump into me there.
Website – Instagram
