Joseph Daily (American, 1981 - ?)
Born in 1981 to two freelance illustrators, I
have been making pictures for as long as I can remember. My early
interests were in comics & cartooning ... until 10th grade,
when a fantastic art teacher opened the door for me into the world of
carefully observed, representational drawing (thanks, Mrs. Jewett). I
went on to study painting at the School of Visual Arts (BFA 2003 Illustration), where classes with Marvin Mattelson laid the foundation for my work as a naturalistic painter.
sold my first painted portrait while still in
college, but after graduating, I was only able to sustain a trickle of
commissions and soon resorted to a stint at house painting in order to
stay afloat. With my last bits of spare time and money, I painted a
full-length show-portrait of my then-fiancée’s father. Several months later, the painting ended up winning both Best of Show & The People's Choice Award at the Portrait Society of America's 2005 Competition. A fortuitous meeting with Minnie S. Churchill
– director of the (Winston) Churchill Heritage and keynote speaker at
the event – threw a struggling career into swift success. Over the next
five years, I completed more than 80 commissioned portraits in the U.S.
and the U.K. It was a wild ride.
