Meet Daniel

Daniel J. Hogan is a Lansing cartoonist who works with inks and watercolors, and makes digital art as well. His focus is creating humorous illustrations that get a smile or a chuckle out of the viewer. His inspirations include the goofy creations of Dr. Seuss, Jim Henson and Harvey Kurtzman.

Daniel studied film and animation at Grand Valley State University, where one of his animated shorts, “Lunch Date,” won an award and was featured in several festivals. Daniel started making comics in 2012, and in 2015, he won a first-place S.P.A.C.E. prize in the Web Comic category. In 2018, Daniel appeared at the East Lansing Art Festival as an emerging artist. Also in 2018, Daniel won a contest for designing the sign topper for Lansing’s Sycamore Park neighborhood.

Daniel writes and draws the all-ages fantasy comic, “Foxes & Boxes,” found at clattertron.com. Learn more about Daniel and read his blog at danieljhogan.com. Make sure to follow Daniel on Instagram his handle is @clattertron.

Artist Statement

I call this exhibition “Found Cartoons,” because that is how the images were made–they were “found.” I started with random watercolor shapes and then “found” an image in the colorful chaos after turning the paper this way and that.

Then, using ink to define shapes I saw within the paint, I made a cartoon. I didn’t lay down paint with an idea of what I would draw ahead of time. The final images are the results of using my imagination and creativity to find a hidden treasure within the paint.

For some pieces, I did go back after defining shapes with ink and added more paint here and there. I did this to add more definition and further evolve the cartoon into a finished work. I only added paint on top of a previous layer, I didn’t change the overall shape of my starting image.

I really enjoy this creative exercise, because I never know what I will end up with, and I love watching the image evolve and change.
‍

‍