Originally from Maine, Daniel Merriam paints fantastical character and intricate scenes of imagined architecture, as well as children’s fantasy-tinged themes of trees and moons with faces, bizarre creatures and elaborate tableaux of all of them together.
His fantasized takes on Victorian architecture are at times ornate to the point of the Baroque. He often casts his compositions in almost monochromatic ranges of color, allowing his hues variety only within a narrow range, and using value and textural contrasts to compose the image.
At times his works take on the semi-diensional character of a diorama or bas-relief, some seeming like a stage set from a dream.
On the artist’s website you will find galleries originals, latest releases, limited editions and books. In the Limited Editions section, be aware that there are several pages, accessed from small numbered links above the thumbnail area.
When you hover over images you see a larger version that can be accessed in a pop-up window by clicking on the image.
Merriam works in watercolor. I would have assumed form the look of the work in these small reproductions that he also used gouache, but in this reprinted article by Daniel Fallon from Watercolor Magic, Merriam indicates that he works in transparent watercolor.
[Suggestion courtesy of Willow's Quiet Corner]
Eeeeeeeeee! You should have heard me when this came up in my reader! I just left you a comment earlier about Daniel! I just discovered his work a few weeks ago and absolutely LOVE it! I think I’ll be making quite a few trips down to Laguna to stand in front of his giclee prints! Thanks for this post! :D
Post was from your suggestion (thanks). I neglected to add the “suggestion courtesy of” line, which is now in place.
I am a reasonably good painter but haved failed miserably the several times. Really nice blog….Thanks for sharing the information
M F Husain
Wow I would love to watch a movie made like his paintings!
Thanks, Charley! :) There is a video on his FB page showing him drawing . . . it is speeded up, but still pretty interesting!