Daniel Douglas (born 1984, Dedemsvaart) grew up in the Dutch countryside, surrounded by the low horizons and dramatic skies once immortalized by the 17th‑century masters. From an early age he knew he wanted to become a painter. After a preparatory year at art school, he apprenticed with Maarten Welbergen, where he learned the fundamentals of oil painting and proportion. He then continued his studies at the Florence Academy of Art in Italy, where he immersed himself in classical drawing and painting techniques and refined his powers of observation. Douglas’ work is predominantly realistic, encompassing landscapes, still lifes, and portraits in which light and nature play a central role. In addition, he explores the phenomenon of pareidolia: the human tendency to perceive faces or figures in random forms. In these works, imagination and reality merge, and the art‑historical tradition is brought vividly back to life in a surprising way.