Dave McCleery (Artist)
Bringing your story and vision to life
About
Art has always been my passion. I’ve been illustrating for as long as I can remember, exploring many forms of art and design along the way—from portraiture and cartooning to large-scale wall murals.​
Portraits
I sketched this portrait of Elvis when I was 12 years of age. It’s the earliest piece of my artwork that still exists, lovingly preserved by an old school friend who kept it pressed between the pages of a book since September 1977.
A decade later, I sketched this portrait of one of my favourite singer-songwriters, Joan Armatrading, using pencil and felt-tip pen. With growing confidence, I began exploring a wider range of techniques, styles, and artistic mediums.
Murals
In 1989, I bought a backpack and set off to travel the world on the adventure of a lifetime. This seven-foot wall mural of Elvis—painted in acrylics at Albany Backpackers in Western Australia—was my first attempt at creating something on a much grander scale.
The Fender guitar was my first attempt at a 3D visual illusion in acrylic—a technique known as trompe l’oeil, designed to “deceive the eye.”
My pieces of Pete Garrett and Janis Joplin were created using matte black and fluorescent acrylic paint. When a blue light was cast on the wall at night, the images appeared almost three-dimensional, giving them a striking, immersive effect.
The murals above—the Dreamtime lizard and koala—were created using leftover paint salvaged from the sheds and outbuildings of the farm where I was staying in Western Australia.
Caricatures
My early school days were when I first began experimenting with caricatures. Highlighting the features of my friends and teachers was far more fun than many of the lessons. Above is one of my most recent projects.
Newspaper Cartoon
I created a weekly cartoon strip for The Albany Advertiser that ran for nearly two years in collaboration with my good friend and colleague Rob Daniel.
Influenced by the classic physical comedy of Tom & Jerry, the strip relied entirely on visual storytelling—using movement, expression, and reaction rather than words to drive the humour and narrative.
Logo Design
Model Making
The meticulous process of constructing a miniature world has always captured my imagination. From printed reference images sourced online, I built the recording studio and office from balsa wood, MDF, cardboard and plywood.
Photography
Another great passion of mine is photography. I’m fascinated by its ability to capture an image in an instant, distilling the world around me into a moment of pure observation.
UCA Canterbury
In 2020, at the age of 55, I completed a BA (Hons) in Illustration and Animation at the University for the Creative Arts in Canterbury. This experience helped me refine my practice and confidently blend contemporary digital techniques in Photoshop with my ‘old-school’ retro sensibilities, resulting in work that feels both timeless and relevant—an ideal combination for children’s story illustration.
Creative Workshops
Throughout my career, I’ve been fortunate to tour hundreds of schools across Australia and New Zealand, teaching illustration and cartooning to tens of thousands of students aged 4 to 18. These experiences have deepened my love for storytelling and enhanced my ability to create engaging, heartfelt images that truly connect with young people.
Represented by 'P.I.E. Productions' Agency (Formally Nora Goodridge Agency) in Sydney, Australia, I collaborated with children’s author Rob Daniel to create a motivational school workshop titled The Dan & Dave Show.
Our ninety-minute workshop empowered students to turn “can’t do” into “can do” and “impossible” into “I’m possible” through an engaging writing and cartooning process.
Inspired by the students’ ideas, the images below are ten examples from the hundreds I quickly drew in the final 15 minutes of each show, using a chisel-point marker pen and soft pastels.
As part of every show, I guided the audience through a quick‑sketch, step‑by‑step drawing of either a monkey, lion, or tiger.
The examples above were created by two five‑year‑old students, and seeing their creativity firsthand remains one of the most inspiring, educational, and humbling experiences of my life.
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Above is just a brief overview of my journey through art so far. In the creative world, I believe there are no limits—no boundaries to learning, inventing, reinventing, discovering, and rediscovering. Everything around us, and within us, holds the potential for the next masterpiece.
A heartfelt thank you for taking the time to visit my site.
If you have a special story or project that requires a professional illustrator, or just simply need some advice or information, you can contact me by clicking on the link below.
