Dan Kelby

Dan Kelby joined the Animation team in 2020. As a Lecturer in Animation, Dan uses his industry experience to deliver workshops and projects that reflect the current cultural outlook and technical demands of contemporary animation practice. An expert in character design, Dan is especially interested in life drawing and how it directly relates to all aspects of the animation pre-production process.

I have spent over 20 years working in the creative industries as a character designer, illustrator, graphic designer, and concept artist, with my work being seen across film, television, advertising, and publishing. My past clients include Disney TV Animation, Cartoon Network Studios, Passion Animation Studios, Blink Industries, nWave Pictures, and Lucasfilm Press.

My practice-based research explores the depiction of characters through expressive line, with minimalist and abstract approaches to rendering and detail. I investigate how a subject’s form and personality can be streamlined into a visual shorthand, inspired by the work of artists such as Al Hirschfeld, David Downton, and Shiyoon Kim.

In parallel with my teaching career, I maintain a busy freelance practice working remotely for clients in the United States, Europe, and the UK. I hope to inspire students to consider remote-based working as a potential creative avenue post-graduation, and I am passionate about sharing my knowledge of the freelance world and methods that students can adopt to break into their chosen field. After attending international animation conventions and developing amazing connections with those I’ve met there, I truly believe that community is at the heart of our industry, whether it’s working in a studio setting or contributing to a project as an independent contractor.

Practice

• 2021 – Domestika – Creation of the online character design course: Character Design: Develop Your Own Style
• 2020 – Dead End: Paranormal Park – Character Designer (Blink Industries)
• 2020 – Lucas the Spider – Character Designer (Elliott Animation)
• 2021 – Magasin du Nord – Character Designer (Art & Graft)
• 2019 – Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness – Character Designer (nWave Pictures)
• 2018 – Heritage Development Project – Character Designer (Disney TV Animation)
• 2018 – Barclaycard Advertisement – Character Designer (Strange Beast)
• 2017 – Apple & Onion – Model Pack Designer (Cartoon Network Studios)
• 2016 – 5-Minute Star Wars Stories Strike Back– Illustrator (Pilot Studios/Lucasfilm Press)

Other Academic Activities

• 2023 – Animation: My Journey – External talk, Chapman University, California, USA
• 2022 / 2023 – Anyone Can Draw! – Workshop, First Light Festival, Lowestoft, UK
• 2022 – My Journey into Animation – External talk, ARU, Cambridge, UK