Most budding artists begin their profession in a spare room at residence, crowding out different household wants. Dan Wilson was no exception — beginning in an upstairs bed room. Over the following few years, he graduated to the lounge after which to a portion of the unfinished basement that finally had 4 partitions and a door. 

“Paint was in all places,” smiled Heather Wilson, Dan Wilson’s spouse of 13 years. “We nonetheless discover paint in random locations all around the home — even within the freezer. I assumed it might all the time be that manner.” 

Wilson started drawing from the time he might decide up a pencil. “I doodled on every part,” he mentioned. “My first sale was in seventh grade to certainly one of my lecturers. She had me draw John Wayne. I couldn’t consider she gave me $20. However I battled being an artist. I studied chiropractic, fireplace science and enterprise, however I all the time felt a tug to return to artwork.”

“Earlier than commencement, Dan was in every single place,” mentioned Heather Wilson. “He couldn’t work out what he needed to do. He thought of being a seminary instructor, then enterprise administration as a result of it was common. I requested, ‘Why not artwork?’ However I by no means thought he would do it full time.” 

Early inspiration

Born and raised in Salt Lake Metropolis, Wilson graduated from Utah Valley College with a bachelor’s diploma in positive arts. “My best mentors have been Perry Stewart, a UVU artwork professor, and William Whittaker who mentored me after school. I used to be additionally impressed by Danish artist Carl Bloch and French artist William Bouguereau — two artists of the mid-1800s.”

Wilson has additionally been impressed by his spouse. “I wouldn’t be capable to give it 100% if she wasn’t behind me,” he mentioned. 

The Wilsons first met at a health club in Utah. “I didn’t need to be that man who will get her quantity on the health club,” mentioned Dan Wilson. “Then I bumped into her at a dance two months later. The remainder is historical past.” The couple has 4 boys and two ladies ages 2 to 11. 

Dan Wilson’s respect for his spouse is summarized in a submit on his Instagram account, the place he has greater than 41,000 followers:

“I’ve painted Heather so many instances as a result of … she actually is far more lovely in each manner than the day I married her. … She is continually considering of the way to uplift the individuals round her and is all the time attempting to enhance herself. Her testimony of Christ and His gospel makes me need to be a greater Christian, father and husband. … When I’m weak, she is powerful and is the loopy glue that retains us collectively. … She is the explanation I’m a cheerful man. I like you.”

Christ-centric painter

“I initially painted simply to have a profession,” mentioned Wilson. “I did portrait artwork and needed to get into galleries. Then, I painted my first picture of Christ, and two households purchased easy prints. One mom stopped me the following week at church, bought emotional and mentioned, ‘You don’t have any concept how a lot that picture is uplifting us in our residence.’ I assumed, ‘That was actually cool.’”

The subsequent week at the very same spot, one other lady stopped Wilson. “She additionally bought emotional and mentioned: ‘I gave my print to my sister who’s attempting to maintain her household collectively. You don’t have any concept how a lot it means to them and the way a lot it’s serving to.’ She mentioned nearly the very same phrases. The lightbulb went off and I knew I’m presupposed to be portray for a motive and that’s to uplift individuals of their properties with photos of Christ.”

“When Dan was deciding what he needed to color, he was up and down,” mentioned Heather Wilson. “When he realized he needed to color the Savior, every part simply fell into place.”

But it surely hasn’t all the time been straightforward. To help his artwork profession, Dan Wilson managed a freight-forwarding enterprise for FedEx and Heather Wilson cleaned homes. “My first yr I made $7,000 from my artwork,” he mentioned. “Heather by no means second-guessed the entire thing.” In 2014, Dan Wilson began portray full time.

“It’s not a traditional 9-to-5 job,” mentioned Heather Wilson. “There’s no paid time without work. His schedule varies. At 6 p.m. he could also be in the course of one thing he can’t depart. Typically he paints till midnight. However he’s a tough employee and takes on the duty of offering for the household. I’m actually impressed how humble and teachable he’s, all the time attempting to raised himself. He always research the work of different artists.”

Inspiration is a course of

Wilson depends closely on the facility and means of inspiration. “If I’m portray the Savior for a temple, I simply need to do Him justice,” he mentioned. “I’m intimidated each time. I spend loads of psychological prep work on the point of paint. I get a father’s blessing. I embrace it in my quick. Then I do the very best portray I can with the Lord’s assist.”

Dan Wilson is fast so as to add inspiration doesn’t come unexpectedly. “I can take it solely thus far after which I get caught the place I simply don’t know what the very best factor for the portray is. It’s then I obtain extra solutions.”

This course of was repeatedly manifest in his largest work to this point: a portray of the Second Coming for the Washington D.C. Temple.

“This Second Coming piece was a giant slice of humble pie,” mentioned Wilson. “I bumped into a number of issues I didn’t know do. I’ve by no means finished a mural this measurement earlier than with 300-plus angels. It stretched me. After I get overconfident and don’t depend on the Spirit, I make loads of errors I’ve to spend the following day fixing. It’s fairly straightforward to remain grounded while you notice you’re portray stuff you may’t paint by your self. I be taught one thing new every time.”

The Washington D.C. Temple portray

Wilson had accomplished six work for temples for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when he acquired a name from the Temple Division to do one other: an 8-by-12-foot oil portray for the Washington D.C. Temple. It wanted to be accomplished in time for the temple open home in spring 2022.

“The Temple Division gave me the concept for the portray,” Wilson mentioned, “based mostly on scripture with the Savior coming within the clouds clothed in a crimson gown surrounded by quite a few angels. I produced preliminary sketches with graphite. Once they have been accepted, I used to be requested to do a 1-by-2-foot portray the temple inside designer would use for his or her shade palate. When that was accepted, they let me free.”

Wilson went to work discovering fashions and clothes for them, discovering ideas for the trumpets, after which doing quite a few photoshoots earlier than placing all of it collectively. “I spent a whole lot of hours in Photoshop simply putting the angels in order that they didn’t create a sample and the place the range was not stacked in a single part. I had about 30 fashions, however as you go farther away from Christ the element isn’t as obvious.” 

There have been extra layers of approval for the portray, the final one being a member of the First Presidency of the Church. “The approvals have been comprised of photographic prints,” mentioned Wilson. “That bothered me as a result of a print is totally totally different than wanting on the authentic. I hoped somebody would come to my studio, however they’re so busy.”

It took Wilson an estimated 2,000 hours to color the Washington D.C. Temple portray — a fourth of it in prep. Think about the battle to maintain the exploring fingers of six energetic kids from experimenting along with his oil paints. The Wilsons had succeeded for over a decade.

By then, Wilson had added a spacious artwork studio onto his Lehi, Utah, residence. One morning he entered his studio and was shocked to search out orange paint scribbled on his work. 

“Effectively, it lastly occurred,” Wilson posted on Instagram. “Now we have gone 11 years of getting youngsters with zero toddler vandalism on a portray. However that streak has ended. These two are bother collectively. Should you see them wandering your neighborhood, name the authorities. They’ll’t be trusted in civilized society.”

“They went to city on the clouds,” mentioned Wilson. “I had forgotten to lock my studio and had left a bunch of orange paint on my palate. I actually wasn’t that upset. It was my fault, and I might paint the clouds again over their creativity. And who is aware of? Their doodles could be the beginning of their future artwork careers.”

Extra steerage from the Spirit

Wilson’s authentic idea was for 120 angels. To present larger depth to the portray, the quantity grew to greater than 300. “I painted one angel at a time,” he mentioned. “It took one to 3 days per angel. All of them had barely totally different contrasts. The toughest factor about portray 300 angels surrounding Christ is to have them not devour all the eye and to have them return in house evenly and persistently. I used to be actually stressed about it, and I prayed and fasted lots. I put my identify within the temple roll.”

One morning Wilson awoke early and visualized using a particular white glaze to use in variation to make the angels complement and never compete with the picture of the Savior. It gave them a glowing really feel and helped them match completely in atmospheric perspective. 

“Such a particular revelation is an affidavit to me that God is within the very particulars of our work,” he mentioned. “That simply doesn’t apply to me as a Christian artist engaged on temple work, nevertheless it applies to anybody in any profession. God is within the particulars of our work and He can reply particular questions to assist us be higher suppliers, higher workers, higher employers, higher husbands or wives, or wherever we’d like assist. If we’re particular with Him, He’ll be particular with us.”

The originals of Wilson’s temple work will likely be displayed in a particular temple with giclée prints (high-resolution, pigment-based prints on canvas) going to different temples. “Over the following three years, I’ve extra to do,” he mentioned. “I’ve began certainly one of Adam and Eve within the Backyard. Then I’m going to do Abish elevating the Lamanite queen and Moses with the brazen serpent.”

In his spare time, Wilson conducts portraiture workshops in his studio. He tells aspiring artists to concentrate on their drawing. “Simply draw, draw, draw,” he mentioned. “If you wish to do Christian artwork on prime of your coaching and your basis of drawing, it should assist your profession in case you are spiritually the place you should be so you may get steerage from the Spirit.”