A New Calling In Art

The journey of an artist takes different forms and for danny minnick, it’s the unexpected turns that have led him to today

- Joseph Low

The path to becoming an artist often varies. For the majority, it starts from an early age. Most have their first taste of making art through formal education and that becomes their starting point. For Seattle-born artist Danny Minnick, drawing has always been second nature and he could easily sketch his favourite cartoon characters even when he was only in third grade.

Unfortunately, an event with a teacher in his younger days left Minnick feeling wronged. He was told to draw an image of his hand freestyle and because his piece was so perfectly drawn, his teacher asserted that he had cheated. While Minnick did not, the incident left him feeling guilty, and resulted in him drawing less over time. After the incident, he continued to doodle but the passion he once had was no longer there.

Another of Minnick’s talents is skateboarding. With his natural aptitude for the urban sport, he competed professionally and enjoyed a successful skateboarding career. On top of that, he was also acting as a stunt double. But in 2010, he tore his Achilles tendon and the incident altered the course of his life. The injury meant Minnick could no longer partake in competitions and he shifted his focus to recovering.

Two years after his injury, fellow professional skateboarder Chad Muska introduced Minnick to his art studio space and reintroduced him to making art. Muska was already dabbling in contemporary art, similar to other skater-turned-artists such as Mark Gonzales and Ed Templeton. Minnick ended up spending a lot of time at Muska’s art studio and that was when he renewed his passion for painting.