Dan Talbot primarily paints en plein air. His paintings consist of multiple vignettes arranged randomly on the canvas. Typically, Dan paints two or three of these moments during a day of working. The catalyst for the works is always to be out in places interacting with local people, rather than stuck in the studio. In the end, the works come together as a complete scene while maintaining the charm of an open-ended visual journal.
Talbot completed a residency in the spring of 2013 in Yunnan Province in south central China. The residency is located in a small farming village called Lashihai 20 minutes outside of the city of Lijiang. The people of this region belong to an ethnic minority known as the Naxi. While in residence, Talbot and a few other artists lived on the farm of the Ho family, eating their meals with them as well as tagging along for many other family events.