Daniel Frost’s cinematic paintings capture the otherworldly beauty of Greenland

Date
13 February 2017

For his latest series, British illustrator Daniel Frost has sidestepped the crisp and vivid aesthetics of his better-known commercial work and turned to gouache. The paintings are inspired by a recent trip to Greenland, and depict the characters, landscapes and freezing cold temperatures he experienced while there.

“Greenland felt very alien with its lack of trees and vegetation; it was just snow, ice and rocks. This mixed with the extreme cold and three hours of daylight made me feel like I was on another planet. It had a mysterious beauty too. With the lack of green life you appreciate other colours, like the pink and purple sky, the mixture of blues. The low sunlight casts some curious shadows and highlights, which all add to this feel of mystery.”

Daniel did rough drawings while on his travels, but with temperatures as low as -27C outside many had to be done from memory, giving them a fuzzy, dream-like aesthetic. This is amplified by texture of the works, made by using gouache on watercolour paper.

Compared with his commercial illustrations, Daniel says the pieces are “more cinematic and intuitive” with a different colour palette that is “more muted and tonal”. It’s the latest in an ongoing series of personal projects for Daniel that he explains help him develop and rethink his process.

“This idea of travel and exploring has been a reoccurring theme in my work over the last few years,” he says. “I love travelling and l’m a massive fan of National Geographic and David Attenborough, so I think it will always be present in my work, but It would be exciting to take it further and see where it leads.”

Above

Daniel Frost: Greenland

Above

Daniel Frost: Greenland

Above

Daniel Frost: Greenland

Above

Daniel Frost: Greenland

Above

Daniel Frost: Greenland

Above

Daniel Frost: Greenland

Above

Daniel Frost: Greenland

Above

Daniel Frost: Greenland

Above

Daniel Frost: Greenland

Above

Daniel Frost: Greenland

Above

Daniel Frost: Greenland

Above

Daniel Frost: Greenland

Above

Daniel Frost: Greenland

Share Article

About the Author

Jenny Brewer

Jenny oversees our editorial output across work, news and features. She was previously It’s Nice That's news editor. Get in touch with any big creative stories, tips, pitches, news and opinions, or questions about all things editorial.

It's Nice That Newsletters

Fancy a bit of It's Nice That in your inbox? Sign up to our newsletters and we'll keep you in the loop with everything good going on in the creative world.