I'll be teaching Journaling at the Open Center!
Every Tuesday, from November 11–December 16, 8–10pm, I shall be teaching a workshop at the Open Center in New York City. It's entitled, "Everyday Matters - Illustrated Journaling as a Path to Creativity." We'll form a group of journalers...
It's hard
I love this little chat with This American Life's Ira Glass on the importance of persevering in being creative. I think he articulates a wall we all hit a lot, particularly when we start out, when our ambitions are...
Nice.
A nice appreciation of The Creative License on Bruce Black's blog. Funny when someone else makes you look at your own ideas as if you had just come up on them....
Everyone
Jason Pollan claims to be trying to draw every single person in New York. He posts these drawings on his site. I like the idea, a little less enthusiastic about the execution. Wanna tackle the folks in your town?...
Sketch Theatre
Check out this site that features short, time-lapse films of a bunch of different artists drawing. The artists tend to be of the Juxtapoz, tattoo-parlor, heavy metal school who draw from their imaginations and the soundtracks tend to be...
Phoebe Gleckner
The cartoonist explains why she had to become an artist and why she can't do anything else. Inspiring thoughts and awesome drawings. (Or Click here to see it full size)....
Title pages
Hal Mayforth has written about my recent interview with him on his own blog. He has also posted a selection of title pages from his sketchbooks that are very inspiring. Check 'em out....
A recording of the Creativity Book Salon
If you'd like to listen to the recording of the Creativity Book Salon wherein the participants discussed The Creative License, visit this page on Cynthia Morris's site: It's right here! It's a nice and inspiring chat....
An Illustrated Life podcast 003: Hal Mayforth
On this week's podcast, I interview illustrator Hal Mayforth about crow quills, snowboarding and the Blues. Hal and his work are smart and funny. I am particularly inspired by the travel journals he keeps, documenting the hijinks of his...
Congratulations!
We are very excited and proud that Jack was accepted to the art and music high school he applied for. It was an arduous process, putting together his portfolio and auditioning (only 1 out of 12 applicants got in),...
Creativity Book Salon
I received the following email today and thought some readers may care to join the salon. Danny, I wanted to let you know that my Creativity Book Salon, meeting this Thursday, February 28, will be discussing The Creative License. You're...
Geotagging
Flickr is an incredible thing and I love to wander through the EDM Flickrgroup and look at all the work members have posted (almost 13,000 different drawings and paintings!!). I just discovered a cool feature called 'geotagging'...
Beerhorst Update
My favorite family of God-loving artists were on NPR this week. You can hear the interview here or read a transcript below: Family of Artists A Grand Rapids, Mich. family create art in an unconventional lifestyle. by Kaomi Goetz...
The pen is mightier
Amazing what can be done with a simple ballpoint pen....
Watercolor Journaling DVD
Christina Lopp and Gay Kraeger offer fantastic classes in how to start keeping an illustrated journaling and now they've captured this experience on a terrific new DVD, Illustrated Watercolor Journaling . It's full of great ideas and inspiration for...
DOG by France
The very talented France Belleville, a contributor to my new book An Illustrated Life, did this lovely drawing of unlovely me today....
Rama's Portrait Party
Rama Hughes is a fantastic illustrator who has started an interesting new project: The Portrait Party. As he puts it: "In order to play, you and a fellow artist must pair up and draw portraits of one another. you...
From Trevor
My pal, Trevor Romain blew through NYC on his way to an orphanage in the Magaliesburg in South Africa last month but we never managed to hook up. He just wrote me the following: Hey buddy - yeah, NY...
Yay, Karen!
Congratulations to EDM pioneer Karen Winters, whose painting, "As the Parade Passed By" - has been juried into the National Watercolor Society's spring all member show. Read more about it on Karen's blog....
Cover Girl
Congratulations to Jane LaFazio whose journal will appear on the cover of the March/April Cloth Paper Scissor magazine. Jane tells me there's also a really nice article full of stuff from her amazing journals inside. Check it out....
From the EDM Reading
For those who missed it, Jason Das posted his impressions of the reading I did last week on his terrific site, gas.water.nothing....
No models?
(click on video to see it larger on YouTube) I stumbled upon this video on YouTube. The creator, a young Brazilian named Marcos, draws other people who appear on YouTube or send him online videos. His drawing style is...
Moleskine skinned
Ever wish Moleskines had the paper of your choice rather than the rather odd stuff they stuff them with? Martha at Trumpetvine Travels has posted a great guide to remixing a Moleskine with the paper of your choice. Clear,...
2,222
That's how many members our EDM group has right now. Ten more folks joined today. Why don't you?...
A new idea ... improved
After a few days of manually assembling our blog of blogs, I have passed the torch onto Michael Nobbs. He has created a fantastic site which automatically feed our blog posts into a single blog. It's a great resource and...
A new idea
There are so many wonderful blogs in our group. I'm going to try to keep up with them here on the day-old, EveryDayMatters Bloggers Blog. Check it out. Your pal, Danny...
Je l'aime bien
Carol Gillot's Paris breakfasts blog featuring watercolors of same. You might like her main site too....
Creative Mom
Have you checked out the Creative Mom Podcast? I'm digging it....
Bell-isima
I urge you to look at the wonderful new journal pages Richard Bell has been putting out over the past month. He has redesigned the way he does his pages, adding calligraphy and a more organic design and it...
Answers from Kate
A recent email from Kate Williamson in response to some comments on her interview: hello--in response to Violetsrose's question, I sketched in the Moleskine notebooks and a few larger ones and then sometimes scanned these pictures directly (in the case...
Carol saw it. Did you?
This just in from a super-observant reader: Did I just see The Creative License title on a marquee in a Chase commercial?!?! There I was, thinking this must be one of your ads, and I'll swear I saw the cover!...
Nice email
Danny, I am a 43 year-old Special Ed. teacher in IN. I have always been an art fanatic and took many lessons way back in my teen years. Since then I have just "dabbled". I had to take a "leave"...
A religion
Noah: HI! Tess: Hey Danny! Noah and I are reading your book Creative Lisence in class and it has been one of the most inspiring book we have evr read, and we are on the 20th page! It is like...
Coming and goings
Everyone's on the move it seems, while I sit here in New York, wringing out the rain. I have consoled myself by reading last week's New Yorker, the Journeys issue. Here are the transitions a few of my friends...
#1503
Yay! We now have over fifteen hundred members in our Yahoo!Group and the party continues to rock. However, only 178 have put their names in the database for sketchcrawls and get- togethers. Take a minute, if you haven't already, to...
Three times the annoyance
I apologize to everyone who signed up for email notifications from me and then gets them in multiple. I have no idea why this is or how to prevent it and I hesitate each time I use the notification feature....
NY Sketchcrawl @ the Zoo
I just heard that here's gonna be a crawl this Sunday at 12 noon at the Central Park zoo entrance. (64th St and 5th Ave.) It will be mainly indoors but I'd suggest you bring something to sit on. It's...
Get on the map!
Danny Gregory The Creative License | Add yourself!Photos | Forums This is very, very cool. The EveryDayMatters group has set up a map which features the locations of every member who enrolls. Try it out and add yourself. It will...
Southern California Sketchcrawl
Karen Winters is setting up a 'crawl for next weekend at the Descanso Gardens for the So. Calif sketchcrawlers group. Email her if you'd like more details....
Nancy with the pencil
Nancy wrote to me: Hello Gregory, I have one question so far while reading your book - I wanted to know why you require us to draw with a pen and not a pencil. I'm on page 60, and maybe...
To Yahoo Group members:
We have established a group contact database/addressbook which can be found in the Database section under the tabs on the left hand side of the screen. Even if you are not interested in any such thing, do sign up, so...
Wisdom
Art supply junkies, take heed: an epiphany from Trevor...
Furthering the art of the sketchcrawl
This post was to the EDM group but might be of interest for those who are not members.. While the NYC sketchcrawl was a big success, sadly, I hear from Lindsay Olsen that literally nobody showed up for the Chicago...
Drawn Together
Himalayan Demon drawn by Jack Tea Gregory on the Rubin Museum Sketchcrawl I had one of those week's from hell -- work in particular had been tough, stressful, and I'd had to work very late several times -- and...
Illustrated Letters 2
A few more lovely illustrated letters straggled in after the last exhibition. I have created a new gallery here. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. Thanks again to every one who has written me; it...
Prash update
Prashant Miranda has been sending me more pages from the journal he is keeping during his trip back home to Benares, India and I have created a gallery of these pages: Prash Update Gallery. I love Prash's style, his...
Please share your experience
I am interested in hearing from people who are professionally creative -- that is to say in design, advertising, fashion, illustration, interactive, film, the arts, etc -- about how, if at all, getting back into drawing and journaling has...
2/3 NYC Sketchcrawl
Just a couple of more weeks until we meet and draw again, this time at the Rubin Museum from 7 to 10 pm. This 'crawl will be a great drawing experience and we shall also be turning our love...
[everydaymatters] Digest Number 850
I have to say that, though I tend to lurk and not to join the chat as much as I probably ought, I think I have read every single post (11,798!) made to the Everyday Matters group. This afternoon I...
The Magic Mailbox
Over the past month, I have been so excited to go through the mail. Almost every day, nestled among the Christmas catalogs, there'd be a special envelope or two -- painted, calligraphed, covered with rubber stamps, all responses to...
My recent post to the EDM group
Art making is not a competitive sport. Being intimidated by what others do, by the clarity of their vision, the steadiness of their line, means thwarting the very thing that will get you to where you want to be. If...
New Year's Resolution
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world".- Gandhi New Year's Day. It's a good time for stock-taking, for self-appraisal. With each change one makes in oneself, one see more changes yet to be made....
Laura and Linda and You
"I plan to rent an apartment in Paris for the month of October, just to draw..." I am delighted to see Laura F. has an ambitious set of New Year art resolutions on her blog. What are yours? I like...
Illustrated Letters
Thanks so much to every one who sent me a letter. In the next few days, I shall be uploading a gallery of the incredible treasure trove of correspondence I've received....
Prash mail
My pal, Prashant Miranda, just sent me some of his journal pages. His work is lovely and I have included several of his drawings in my new book. He writes: Here are my initial pages of my travels, from...
Animals of the SketchCrawl
Yesterday we had the second major SketchCrawl of the season, this time at the Museum of Natural History. It was perhaps a little organized than it should have been. What was supposed to be a joint venture between the...
Sketchcrawls - how to
Mary Ann asked me about the ingredients of a sketchcrawl so she could put one together in Boise, ID. My response: Sketch Crawls are based on the model of the pub crawl. Go to a place -- draw (or drink)...
Illustrated Letter contest
I have received some lovely letters so far and it is so exciting to see how creative and generous people can be. Were you planning to send in a letter? Have you done it? I'd like to choose the contest...
NYC Sketchcrawl
The next SketchCrawl will be on Sunday, December 11th, (2005), late morningish
You've got mail!
Send me an illustrated letter and win a prize!
A cool Sketchcrawl souvenir
Check out this lovely monoprint of our 'Crawl by Belinda Del Pesco. It includes a demo of how she made it....
Everyday Matters Member Sites
Group has spawned a new guide to the illustrated blogs of member artists.... site, you can access several dozen beautiful blogs brimming with fresh art. If you'd like to add your own site to the list, please sign up,.
Crawling Intrepidly through the Village
A brave group of draw-ers gathered this morning under the Washington Square Arch at 9 am and bravely battled the elements through the morning.
Sketchcrawl Postponed
The weather looks bleak for this weekend, so we are going to postpone the New York Sketchcrawl, alas. Hopefully, Ma Nature will cooperate next weekend and we can 'crawl on the 29th or 30th. Dang....
SketchCrawl USA
Seems folks are going to be SketchCrawling all over the country. So far we have plans for get EDM togethers in NYC, Frisco, Chicago and Tucson. If you're involved in any of these or others, do fill me in....
SketchCrawl Update
A lot of people seem excited about joining together to draw the City but the weather continues to be soggy; so, for comfort's sake, we're going to postpone the SketchCrawl until the weekend after this, Sunday, the 23rd of...
Please help!
Hello: My new book, The Creative License: Giving yourself permission to be the artist you truly are is now in bound galley form, ready to head off to magazines that will write about and review it pending its official...
EDM West
Karen Winters wrote to tell me that I missed a picnic of journalistas in LA. She reports: "There were only 9 of us (several others wanted to come but were getting married or having babies or on vacation.) "We...
Everyday Matters Picnic I
The weather was threatening but the turnout was great. Dozens of folks showed up with their journals and watercolor sets and offerings for the potluck lunch. We all shared our work, swapped tips on great books, websites, watercolors, pens...
Flocking together
My new pen of choice is the Rotring Art pen, and as I've discussed before, I have been filling it with India Ink because it's waterproof. Richard, who first turned me onto the pen, was a little leery of...
Jello Mold
We are precisely two months away from the big New York Journaler's picnic. Plenty of time to get out your favorite macaroni salad recipes and start ironing those gingham table cloths. My associates and I shall be rallying on...
The fundamental question
"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." — Pablo P. Here's a very basic and important issue I'd love you to think about. Why do you do it? Why do...
The neighbors have called the police!
I didn't get a chance to check on the new Yahoo! group until just now ( Patti and I went to the movies; saw "Osama" and " The Butterfly Effect" — we gave them both a 7) and when I...
The final Chronicles
This evening we shipped out the last of the extra Moonlight Chronicles. They went to Judith M., Donna B., Soren MT., Gerri C., Wileen H. (envelope surgery, tssk, tssk), Samantha H., Judy H., Stephanie T. and Shana I. I...
Midpoints: my response
People turned in some great solutions ("Stupid nuns!") to this exercise. I guess my own answers were more literal and concrete — somehow I felt like they had to be things one could hold in one's hand and draw....
Chronicle shipment II
Patti & Jack packing up Moonlight Chronicles for: Sharon H., Serena BC, Stacey B., Donna B., Jacqui S., Heather E., Alan. M., Deborah C., Jacqueline P., Kathleen A., Amy LM., Wendy C., Rita C. Valerie T., Kathy T., and Erin...
Moonlight quite heavy
To everyone who is sending me a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope: 1. Get an envelope that will accommodate a magazine that is 4.5 x 6 inches. 2. Write your address on it. 3. Affix enough stamps to mail 3 oz....
Free Moonlight
d.price, the hobo publisher, author, illustrator, grave digger, and visionary behind Moonlight Chronicles, has long been my friend and teacher. He recently sent me a complete set of the Chronicles which, with his permission, I'd like to hand out...
Dear Danny:
I've been lucky enough to get lots of email from visitors to this journal. These are some of the interesting questions I received over the past month: When did you start to draw? I mean, did you ever draw when...
A record of my exploration into all aspects of drawing, illustrated journaling, creativity, and the inspiring aspects of art. By the author of "Everyday Matters," "The Creative License", and "An Illustrated Life" and other books.