By day, Shane Morgan is a busy family man, a father of two who works full time for a computer network cabling and telephone interconnect company.

He’s disciplined. That’s evident by his faithful involvement in the Nam Pi Kung Fu San Soo School, and the black belt he earned in 2012.

But in the nooks and crannies of his days, Morgan draws and paints characters that seem to jump off the page.

An ogre-like giant with protruding teeth and warts on his face is a main character in a new book he illustrated. He just finished a painting of Little Red Riding Hood walking through the dark forest that draws onlookers in with an air of fantasy and suspense indicative of the well-known fairy tale.

Morgan is an artist who has found a niche as a book illustrator. He dipped his toe into the illustration business with “The First Snowflake of Winter,” a local children’s book written by Laura Rhodes. His illustrations also are featured in “Jacob and the Giant” by Jim Sticka.

Most recently Morgan, 39, has been working on illustrations for a book written by Rick Johnson for Summit Preparatory School near Kalispell.

The door opened for illustration artwork a few years ago when he was helping with the set painting for a Christmas production at Christian Center, where Morgan’s father, Shawn Morgan, starred in many of the popular holiday musicals. Laura Rhodes saw the set, and happened to be looking for an illustrator for her book.

It’s a challenge to communicate the vision an author has for his or her book, Morgan said, but illustrating books is a niche where he has found his comfort zone.

He’s always loved to draw and remembers sketching cartoon characters such as Scooby Do at an early age. Morgan is largely self-taught as an artist. He took a few classes at Flathead Valley Community College, but otherwise his ability and inspiration come from within.

It’s all about observing what’s around you, he said.

Beyond getting more involved in illustrating books, Morgan has a few ideas of how he sees his art career developing. He’d love to become more of a portrait artist, and envisions painting people by putting them into character themes. His son Caleb, 10, would be painted as Huck Finn, for example. He’d love to paint his daughter Abigail, 16, as Snow White.

“I have plans to insert kids into characters in my paintings,” he said.

Morgan’s fine art paintings to this point have focused largely on horses because his wife, Wendy, and their daughter share a love of equestrian sports. He’s tapped into The Event at Rebecca Farm, not far from where the Morgans live, for subject matter in many of his paintings.

A 1993 graduate of Flathead High School, Morgan periodically has taught art lessons at West Valley School where his son is a student. His work has been displayed at the Hockaday Museum of Art, and he’d love to eventually do more shows there.

Marketing his work hasn’t been his strong suit, though, he admitted, adding that he’s trying to develop name recognition.

“I’m a timid kind of guy,” he said. “It’s hard selling myself ... I never pictured myself selling anything.”

There’s also the challenge of juggling work and a family.

Even so, Morgan hopes to one day make the transition to full-time artist.

“I’ve always wanted to stay in the art realm,” he said. “This is where my heart is really at.”

For more information about Morgan’s work, go to his website at www.vannerart.com