Self portrait. Image: see artist’s website below
Chris Dunn, was born and lived in the Riddlesden area of Keighley. He has been a fine artist and illustrator since 2008 and his anthropormorphic animal illustrations have gained him a strong following and the attention of a major gallery in Paris.
‘Feast’. Image: from artist’s website, see below.
He attended Bingley Grammar School, where he began to develop his talent for art in a newly built art block at the school. Speaking to the Bradford ‘Telegraph & Argus‘ newspaper in February 2016 he recalled:
I spent my lunch breaks and other spare time in the new building with my friends, working on projects and chatting to teachers. It was a very formative time for me.
After leaving school, Chris went to Bradford College, where he completed an art foundation course, followed by advanced study at Swindon School of Art, where he graduated with a degree in illustration.
After graduation, he was employed in an art shop, but began to work freelance as an illustrator, finding clients eventually among a range of publishing and media outlets, including Haymarket Press publications, BBC Audiobooks, and The Times.
‘Tony Pidgley’. Illustration for ‘Management Today’. Image: from artist’s website, see below.
He began work on his freelance animal illustrations having been inspired earlier in life by characters in works by Beatrix Potter and Brian Jacques. The Galerie Daniel Maghen in Paris, having seen Chris’s work on Facebook, sold one of his paintings through a Christie’s auction, leading to an invitation to show his complete collection of paintings at the Maghen gallery in 2016.
‘Peter’s Bedroom’ from ‘Paisley Rabbit and the Treehouse Context’. Image: from artist’s website, see below.
In addition to the major Paris exhibition in 2016, Chris’s work has been shown in at the Bath Open exhibition, Bath Prize exhibition, and Royal Watercolour Society and Sunday Times Watercolour exhibitions in London. He was the Pound Art Open People’s Choice award winner in 2014, Bath Artists Society Young Artist Prize winner, 2012, and a winner of the Bath Art Prize, and Agnes Sloan Prize, both in 2011.
‘Not a Creature was Stirring’ from The Night Before Christmas. Image: from artist’s website, see below.
Chris has illustrated a number of books including ‘Paisley Rabbit and the Treehouse Contest’ (Impossible Dreams, published 2018), ‘The Night Before Christmas’ (Impossible Dreams, published 2021), ‘The Wind in the Willows’ (Caurette, published 2022) and book covers for the complete German language ‘Redwall’ series by Brian Jacques (Cross Cult, published 2022). He continues to work with Galerie Daniel Maghen, exhibiting book illustrations and personal pieces.
‘The Owl and the Pussy-Cat’ from Time For Rhyme, published by Books Illustrated. Image: from artist’s website, see below.
Chris lives in Calne, Wiltshire, where he has his studio.
Website: https://www.chris-dunn.co.uk