Whether he is borrowing from comic books or Caravaggio, movies or Mariano Fortuny Marsal, Chiaroscuro or street art… the breadth and depth of Daniel Sequeira’s influences span centuries and cultural genres. With references to past masters as well as contemporary culture, his paintings combine a realistic observation of the human state (both physical and emotional), with characters inhabiting theatrically imagined scenes.
Born in Surrey in 1983, Daniel has focussed completely on painting since 2014; having previously worked as a graphic designer before completing a year of academic drawing.
‘Having grown up on a diet of comic books, skateboarding, hip hop and movies – this has undoubtably influenced the style in which I paint. Sometimes my paintings have an element of an unfinished sketch. This gives it a sense of vibrancy, dynamism and urgency – something I always try to capture.
My process will always start with some figure studies and then continue through to colour studies before progressing to oil. I tend to paint in alla prima (wet-on-wet) fashion in order to keep the subject as fresh looking as possible (although it rarely works out that smoothly).
Some of my recent paintings draw inspiration from military uniforms and motion. Other paintings represent attempts at simply capturing a character. In essence, I enjoy trying to decode painting something as complex as the figure whilst developing my own particular style. The challenge of depicting the figure is what excites me to paint. I have an image of what I would like to paint and am continually working towards and chasing that goal.’