Dan Ouellette is an American artist,

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

, director, author and

production designer In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wo ...

. He began drawing as a child inspired by Escher, Dalí and Moebius. His drawings usually begin with very rough sketches and are intended to capture a moment of tension or

eroticism Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, sculp ...

. His art pushes his audience into areas where people feel less than comfortable, stating that the "US which is so puritanical, our bodies are usually a great source of anxiety and fear". As a production designer, he has designed over fifteen independent feature films in the past decade as well as numerous commercials and music videos. He is best known as the director for the music videos ''

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

'' and '' Looking Glass'' by

The Birthday Massacre The Birthday Massacre (abbreviated TBM) is a Canadian rock band , formed in 1999 in London, Ontario, and currently based in Toronto, Ontario. The current lineup consists of lead vocalist Sara 'Chibi' Taylor, rhythm guitarist Michael Rainbow, l ...

, receiving over 4 million combined views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

, and has directed music videos for the industrial band Android Lust. He has done production design for many films over the years including ''

Chasing Sleep ''Chasing Sleep'' is a 2000 psychological thriller film written and directed by Michael Walker (film director), Michael Walker released to video in 2001. It depicts the reaction of a college professor who awakens to find his wife missing. It star ...

'' starring

Jeff Daniels Jeffrey Warren Daniels (born February 19, 1955) is an American actor, comedian, musician, and playwright, known for his work on stage and screen playing diverse characters switching between comedy and drama. He is the recipient of several accol ...

. Dan's artwork is strongly themed around

surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

and mostly done in pencil. As an artist he has exhibited widely. He has been published in numerous anthology art books including ''Bio-Mannerism'' which also features work by

H.R. Giger Hans Ruedi Giger ( ; ; 5 February 1940 – 12 May 2014) was a Swiss artist best known for his airbrushed images that blended human physiques with machines, an art style known as " biomechanical". Giger later abandoned airbrush for pastels, mark ...

and Beksinski, and he has been featured in magazines internationally.

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

commented while looking at Dan's art that he has noticed a strong influence of science fiction on contemporary art. Giger saw a different aspect, saying simply "Very bony." He grew to adore the cinema of

Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and most i ...

and later to marvel at Lynch's ''

Eraserhead ''Eraserhead'' is a 1977 American surrealist film, surrealist horror film written, directed, produced, and edited by David Lynch. Lynch also created its Eraserhead (soundtrack), score and sound design, which included pieces by a variety of oth ...

''. Rather than pursue a formal education in the fine arts he chose to study the craft of film making and after college he became a production designer working on feature films in New York City starting with his work as a

for

Hal Hartley Hal Hartley (born November 3, 1959) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and composer who became a key figure in the American independent film movement of the 1980s and '90s. He is best known for his films '' The Unbelievable T ...

in 1990 with

Trust Trust often refers to: * Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality It may also refer to: Business and law * Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another * Trust (bus ...

and then, in 1992, with

Simple Men ''Simple Men'' is a 1992 American film written and directed by Hal Hartley and starring Robert John Burke, Bill Sage, Karen Sillas, and Martin Donovan. It was the debut film of actress Holly Marie Combs, in a supporting role. It was entered into ...

Filmography

Music videos

* "Stained" (2003) — Android Lust * "

" (2005) —

* "Dragonfly" (2006) — Android Lust * "Looking Glass" (2008) —

* "Here Comes The Rain" (2011) —

Foetus A fetus or foetus (; plural fetuses, feti, foetuses, or foeti) is the unborn offspring that develops from an animal embryo. Following embryonic development the fetal stage of development takes place. In human prenatal development, fetal develo ...

* "Beyond" (2014) —

Other

* "Dreams From A Petrified Head" (2012) science fiction screened at the

Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya The Sitges Film Festival ( ca, Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, links=no) is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Spain, specialized in fantasy and horror films, of which it is considered one of the world's foremost in ...

* "Frankenhooker" (1990) Production design * Plays a lot of Sid Meier's civilation VI

References

External links

*
Sitges Film Festival Listing
Living people American music video directors Special effects people American production designers American illustrators Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-artist-stub