A story of self discovery.

 

I use to spend hours in the studios in college, after the evening class let out. I'd sit in an empty room full of computers drawing from 8pm to 3 am, every night like clockwork. In the winter on my late nights walking home, the town of Slippery Rock would seem like another world. By daylight, these streets would be bustling with students and truck drivers, but at night it was a ghost town. Just me, the hum of street lights and the crunch of my foot steps on the frozen sidewalk. I always wondered --why do I do this to myself? Walking home almost freezing to death. But most of all, in a town full of people, how come I'm always walking alone?

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I can hear 80's music echoing through town, from the gas station at the end of the street.

 

 Sometimes a light would be on in an apartment window above a shop on Main Street, or a blue glow from a T.V. I would stop and wonder, if they're just getting in and settling down after a fun night with friends?

Or, Is something else keeping them awake, like me?

I use to imagine stories behind each lit window, or random car speeding through red lights. I would pretend each one had a reason to be awake this late at night, and every time the narrative would be an extension of my own loneliness. A story where someone felt the same as I did, but in a different life. These characters played scenes out around town, where each story ended with another night wanderer like me. 

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Oh, how those windows use to inspire me...

 

With all the potential stories behind each one, just waiting to be drawn. 

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This is how it all began.

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Artist Bio

Dan Senneway lives in the North Hills of Pittsburgh. 

He spent his childhood running around at night with the neighborhood kids, and spent hours talking in parking lots after midnight.

 

He graduated from Slippery Rock University, with a BFA in Fine Arts, and after college he became a member of the Pittsburgh Society of Illustrators. Dan also started selling prints out of the Bottle Brush Gallery in Harmony PA. This town soon became a major focus on many illustrations.

 

Dan also became an art vendor at many craft shows and fairs. To him, it is a great way for emerging artist to learn business and find their niche.

 

His style is an imitation of linoleum block prints through photoshop. He loved the process and the affect of crosshatching, but found a way to achieve it digitally. When creating the After Dark, his goal was to create a little world, where people can experience a sense of belonging. The After Dark is constantly growing, and gaining a life of its own, he wants the viewers to be a part of it, and create lore by adding personal stories to the places he draws. 

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On summer nights you can still find him playing kendama around the places he and his friends use to go. Many were torn down, or changed their names, but the memories still stay the same.