Born in Montpellier in 1988, Thomas Danthony holds a Master’s degree in Product Design. It was when he moved to London that he devoted himself exclusively to illustration. Since then, Thomas Danthony has worked on press and advertising projects for both European and American clients such as Arte, Netflix, Liberty, The New Yorker, Google, Liberty, The New York Times and Penguin.
Dame au chapeau for Popshot, 7-colour screen print, hand-pulled, edition of 50, numbered and signed by hand.©Thomas Danthony
Artist, designer and practising mountaineer, Thomas Danthony sees synergies between his work and sport that go beyond the simple inspiration of the outdoors. He believes that both involve a similar problem-solving mindset to find the most effective method.
It’s quite classic. He’s been drawing since he was a child and later, as a teenager, he copied pages from French comic strips. But it wasn’t until he studied product design that he really discovered illustration, both on paper and in the street, where he painted animals. After graduating, he moved to London and realised it could be a career path, so he took the plunge. Since then he has worked as a freelance illustrator, but also paints and designs limited edition objects.
It came about organically. It’s the result of experimenting with different techniques and influences. Once he found a process that he was comfortable with and that worked well with his personality, he used it as a base, but it’s never set in stone. He evolves a little every day. He then developed a technique that would allow him to work with the same logic on paper with paint. This experience also changed his approach to digital work; the two techniques now feed off each other and that’s very interesting.
“I tried to capture the essence of the Mediterranean in summer. I love the calm you can find in small villages, when you come home after a long day exploring, but the warm light keeps you outside a little longer.” Designing patterns for @arrels_barcelona
It usually starts with small sketches in a sketchbook, where he develops the ideas. They come from observations or visual solutions to a brief, then he moves on to the computer to refine them and see if the sketches work as an image. Once that’s done, the drawing process begins. He spends a lot of time perfecting everything; sometimes fine-tuning the colours can take longer than creating the shapes themselves. Fortunately, for each image it’s a bit different. He’ll struggle with different things and that’s what makes it interesting. For the paintings it’s more or less the same except that the computer phase is much shorter, it’s usually more to plan everything. Once everything is ready, he uses a personalised technique that he has developed over the years to transfer it onto paper. He paints mainly with gouache.
Illustration for Trace, a book by @blackdragonpress.
“I tried to post it as I designed it for the book. A double page with a fold to reveal. I wanted to work on the traces we leave in nature, which can be beautiful but also devastating”… @ Transsibérien
Advertising for the Magnum ice cream maker at Roland-Garros
He finds inspiration everywhere, in photography, film and painting, but also outdoors, where a specific light or shadow can trigger something. He loves climbing because it requires total concentration. At certain moments, you can’t think about anything else. Thomas enjoys being completely cut off from work and feels that the two activities complement each other. The process is in some ways similar, they are both creative and involve problem solving. In his work, he tries to simplify things as much as possible, to find the most effective way of telling a story, and he supposes that this is also true of climbing. By trying different betas, refining body position, optimising movements, he also tries to be as efficient as possible with the holds. There’s also an obvious aesthetic link: it’s the lines, colours and shapes that motivate the desire to climb a specific route or boulder.
Magazine cover for @vraiment_hebdo on the French car industry. ©Thomas Danthony
The best thing you can do is work hard, follow your instincts and stay true to yourself. Focus on the work you love to do and people will eventually notice. A creative career isn’t easy, but it can be very rewarding. It’s also great to have other points of interest; for him, climbing is that gateway to a different world. It’s a question of balancing work and pleasure, in climbing and in design!
Dominated by blue and red, Thomas Danthony’s illustrations bear witness to a unique style and a particular workflow. Thumbnail drawing, gouache, Photoshop
It’s a colour that comes naturally to him: blue represents many of the elements he likes to draw, such as mountains, the sea and the sky. It’s ingrained in his personality: he likes to be outside climbing or in the waves, where blue is omnipresent and majestic. Having said that, he loves all colours and always starts an image with a blank palette, letting himself be guided by the subject.
Advertising campaign commissioned by LOLA MullenLowe Madrid for Magnum.
He is very fond of architecture, but he doesn’t really know if this has an influence on his compositions. They are more organic than planned.
Almost human for the New York Times.
Cover of the New York Times book review of Kazuo Ishiguro’s new book, Klara and the Sun.
Set in the not-too-distant future, the novel is about Klara, an artificial friend with exceptional powers of observation.
The story is a parable about human obsolescence and what of us, among humanity and technology, is set aside to move forward.
New Height, Giclée print – Printed on paper
Avalanche. Snow Science against the Avalanche for The New Yorker, for an article by James Somers
Advertising campaign for El Corte Inglés travel programmes for senior citizens.
Studio Swan, 2017, Illustration, Thomas Danthony
Poster for the 2018 edition of the Savannah Music Festival in Georgia, USA. The festival’s programme gives pride of place to jazz, which inspired the poster.
Film La La Land for Variety. Cover illustration for Popshot magazine
Cover of Douce France, a book about the French landscape, written by Joël Collado and published by Milan et Demi . © Thomas Danthony.
Crater Lake National Park poster, screen-printed in 10 colours. ©Thomas Danthony
Cabaret, from Voyage, my first solo show in Paris, 2015.
“I don’t sleep.
I like to see dreams coming.”
Elena Venel
Illustration by Thomas Danthony
