Excellent teaching manner. I'm starting this sketchbook journey as soon as I get home from the hospital. Just had a stroke. Hands in tact so here we go!
I come back to this video every now and again for a confidence boost when the doubts creep in. It never fails to make me feel much better. 😊 Thanks, Danny! 🙏
I’m 80 & took up sketching & watercolor about 3 years ago - so enjoyable no matter how good or not so good. This is the 2nd time I have watched this video - you help keep me on track & not discouraged - I’ve learned a lot AND it gives more quality to my life! Thank you
Thanks for the motivation, Danny. Just fixed my breakfast to eat as I listen to your video, but then stopped myself from eating it right away. Instead, I grabbed one of my least intimidating sketchbook and sketched that yogurt and fruit bowl. Now, that was even more satisfying than my breakie!
My takeaway is that the drawing skill is the last of the benefits. Being in the moment, hand/eye/brain exercise, observing the world closely, putting down creative impulses, a journal of your daily experiences which creates memories instead of a blur of weeks and months slipping away. Also a legacy of your time on this planet.
I am sharing this comment w my friends, because I hope they will not be intimidated by drawing, I want them to enjoy all the benefits you said and really get to be themselves!
You sir, just made art much less intimidating. I would get so frustrated with ‘bad’ sketches (even though I literally just started lol), but your analogy about old photographs inspired me to not be so harsh on myself and see them as a part of my journey. I can’t wait to have a library of art journals like you do
We used to have to hand in our sketchbook monthly and we were graded on completely finished pieces - no room for unfinished, risky, wonky anything! You made me realize that being graded in the sketchbook has actually made me terrified to take risks and make mistakes in it now. Will work on this, thank you!
I follow all these points! Especially agree about drawing from life... once you start you can never go back to drawing from photos. The sketch from real life just has so much more emotional charge!
Am trying to build a "frankenplanner ", part bullet journal, part deep thinking , part commonnplace book, part schedule AND part sketching book- so I'm trying a mix of different papers and templates in my ring binder/ disc binder. Blending all the different ways of capturing information and experimenting about what works for me 😁
Never heard of a frankenplanner until i’ve read your comment. This sounds good for aspiring multipotentiolite/polymaths to organize their various interests and their life!
I agree, having my multiple subject journals got heavy. Now my inserts serve as the FRANKEN inventory. I can put them in their perspective journals at later date. I just love his videos
I don't worry about my bad art anymore. I use to want to throw it away, now I start again and fogure out whay I liked or didnt like snout it. It really lets you see your progress
This is really pure genius worth listening to again and again. I only wish somebody had taught me this 30 years ago in art school. You're making a huge difference and I thank you ❤️
yeahhhhh I agree with you, i wish i know this or at least somebody told me this maybe when i was a kid, but even i now not a kid anymore, i will start to do thiss. oh one more thing, and it is FREE lesson. :)
Hi Danny. Thank you so much for your content. I've been in a kind of drawing hibernation for a few years, and full of self doubt. You're gradually breaking that down. It's like you're in my head. Got a couple of your books on the way, too. Both yourself and Koosje Koene have got me looking at the world with fresher eyes. I'm in my late 50s, and in a bit of a rut, so that means a lot! There's so much more than drawing to be taken from these videos. 😊
Amazing that some of us need reminders not to be afraid to make mistakes when it comes to art, but we do! I need that encouragement just to get started. Thanks, Danny! I’m glad to be here.
I started a sketchbook habit four years ago and it gives me such delight to look back on the journey… it’s funny how each year is so very different from the years before… first one was more or less weekly, now it’s calling me daily. And the first one was very cartoony but colorful while this year is more writing and drawing. Who knows how I will see the world next?
So glad I found you… I used to sketch at faculty meetings, mostly feet, legs, hands rather than faces as that felt too obvious. I’ve sketched at church, sitting in the back row & drawing profiles, backs of heads and people on the stage preaching, singing, praying. I’ve sketched musicians at small local events. I’m retired now and this reminded me how much I love to sketch people just doing their thing and wondering why I stopped. It just seems I got out of the habit. I started sketching people’s faces during zoom meetings a while ago, also just a few things around my home. Now I’m feeling a pull to sketch out in the world more. I take daily walks - next time I want to remember to bring my sketchbook and sit a bit before heading home. Instead of taking photos with my cell phone, sketch what I see. And I agree - I’ve told my students the more you draw the better you get at drawing (wasn’t an art teacher, but I always encouraged illustrating their work). It’s so true. Thank you, great appreciation for you!
Hi, thanks so much for your videos. I have a middleage crisis and drawing is bringing me so much peace and also like a pathway to move on. Does this makes sense? I recently found your videos, thanks so much it’s really inspiring 😊❤ sending you love from Mexico City
Here's another tip: set the stove timer while sketching and cooking! I keep burning/over cooking meals! Ah haha or better yet, maybe I should sketch the thing I'm cooking 😅 Thanks for the encouragement and inspiration Danny, always look forward to your posts 😊
Danny, I could not agree more. I always have some kind of notebook or sketchbook with me…”just in case.” Just in case an idea hits me. Just in case I want to scribble down a fragment of a scene or jot down a reminder. Just in case I have to wait around for an appointment or my plane or the rest of my friends haven’t yet arrived. And just in case I have to do something that drains my energy-I pull out my sketchbook (blank pages or lined notebook) and I entertain myself. All of your advice is spot on.
Thank you so much Danny🫶🏻🙏🏻 I love your videos and watch each of them many times! They inspire me and help me act whenever I lose my confidence! Thank you again and again …😍🙏🏻🍃🌸
Thank you for all the reminders not to aim for perfection and to embrace the mistakes. Recovering perfectionist over here and I’ve been feeling the creative itch for so long, but every time I sit down to make something, I just go blank…and then get in my head about it and don’t end up doing anything. I started watching some videos for beginners because I thought it might help kick me in the booty and I found your video very motivating. Thank you!
I used to draw people from on the bus to wandering through the mall. I don't know why I got out of the habit. I still people watch. Maybe it's time I start sketching them again. I've learned so many things from people interacting and speaking to each other, like matching facial expressions and posture to moods.
I was basically punishing myself by marking ALL the unfinished pages of my sketchbook and i got so stressed about it that i couldn’t even finish my sketchbook until the last page (even if not everything was finished). I decided to get a fresh start and just get a new sketchbook. And immediately i was stressing out about what the heck do I draw?! Especially since i hate using images and pinterest because i compare it too much and end up hating my own work. This video motivated me so much to just do that fresh start and take the first steps in that new sketchbook without my own pressure. Thank you so much! (by the way i’m sorry if you don’t understand what i’m rambling about)
I've only done one sketch, outdoors, sitting at a cafe on vacation. But, you know what?, it was one of the most memorable artistic sketchbook moments I've had. What's stopping me? Fear of not being good enough, producing a crappy drawing...who cares! Thanks for the motivation Danny, as always.
Thank you Danny. I have to tell myself that my art is first, for me. If someone sees it, thats fine. But it is a journey for me. I am expressing myself.
4:07 Message is inline with The Artist's Way workbook and messaging from Rick Rubin. Certainly something I've been focused on implementing. Gotta take action on those ideas as they come or they'll find another vessel to be materialized.
Thank you so much for this great reminder! 💕Have piles of all sizes of sketchbooks, pads and asstd blank paper which I intend to use for sketching whatever artworks……but they have remained blank all these years, except for a few pages. Listening to you has motivated me to move and finally fill up those pages . “ God bless you”! 🌸🌿🔥
Hi there:) I do feel there's a lot of depth in what you say and a lot of wisdom about life, too! That's why I really very much enjoyed listening to your explanation of each tip and how you talk from profound experience. Great thanks as well for taking so much care to give tips that will keep up the fun plus help improve one's skills at the same time. Best wishes and greetings from Germany!
Thank you so much for this inspiring talk! Everything you said is very motivating and longs to be put into practice. I learned some important mindsets that I have to adopt when I work in my sketchbooks. 💜
14:38 ...THERE'S NO !!!! Thanks, that takes the pressure off, I think. Going back to childhood, a kid will produce the most abstract scrawl and present it to a parent as a gift... Absorbed in the moment & beaming with pride of the magic of expression & creation, of mastering the tools (in their perception). Not a flicker of performance anxiety or shame of failure or competitive anguish... Then 5mins later they are doing something totally different, moved on to new experiences & sensations. Art should feel like that.
Merci beaucoup, vous êtes très motivant, chaleureux, positif, merci de partager, il faut faire face à la vie quand c’est difficile, avancer, le dessin est un moteur, merci, et belle journée à vous 😀 Christiane, de France.
Hello, I’ve been inspired by your podcasts, and refreshed by your relaxed demeanor for almost a year now. I live in central Wisconsin, and am an artist rediscovering the joys of drawing. Your podcasts have been invaluable to me, and I probably owe you the same dollar amount that I paid my alma-mater as an art major ; because your empathetic approach to keeping people motivated and cultivating a safe online atmosphere to explore artistic mediums is remarkable. Hats off to you for that ! Please keep doing what you're doing ; and please don’t stop, because thousands of people depend on you for the reasons mentioned above. I don’t make very much money, but I’d like to donate just a little bit. What site do I go on to do this? I don’t see a “Donate” button anywhere. Take good care, and thank you again. Joe Arts
I'm relatively new to drawing and watching your video has inspired me to get out that scary empty sketchbook and try some drawing. I noticed all the writing in your sketchbooks as you flipped through the pages. Do you use them as a sort of journal or do you write about the item you're drawing?
Excellent ideas! And thank you for sharing this with us. It has been so encouraging and inspirational. Though I do need some help, the problem is there is too much around me and I need help focusing in on specific things. Are you able to do like a 12 month prompting video? each week you choose a prom for 52 weeks something like that? Or each month have a different prompt to focus on. That would be super helpful because I just don’t know what to choose. I get so distracted and overwhelmed by that.
Love your channel. Awesome tips, I've returned to Art after a long hiatus and I'm loving it Been getting back into my pencil drawings, and enjoying the process of learning again. Thanks for sharing and keep creating and inspiring us. Have a fantastic day 🙏🌈📕🎨📜
I really love your lettering. That is a syle you created, right? Do you have any videos or classes on how to letter or create a similar lettering style. Thanks, Danny!
Dear Danny I learn and get inspired by you so much. I do have a question. Although you mostly draw from observation of live people, things and places, do you also draw from pictures? Because I was looking at some of your drawings in your sketchbooks in this video, for instance the frogs, or faces of people that you drew really large that take the whole page and almost seems that they might be pictures of famous people, or some of your very detailed drawings of places and things. Are these sometimes from pictures? Sometimes also if you are with friends or family and you see something or someone you would like to draw but you can’t stop and do it, do you photograph that and then draw it later from the picture you took? Also does drawing people that you are looking at on your TV or some other kind of screen, is that comparable to drawing people that are around you in real time? Thanks. I am just trying to draw people from real life but sometimes there is nobody around me in the house or even outside on my street and around where I live and I don’t want to necessarily drive somewhere to do it. Thank you again for all of the inspiration you give to everyone.❤
I got all kinds of supplies I just suck at drawing I don't even write that will because I'm blind in one eye and I'm going through cancer so my hands shake constantly I drew a little bit when I was a kid and enjoyed it but it's getting harder and harder
My job is cleaning homes and I see a lot of art by kids. I've taken many pictures of their art for inspo because kids are all over the place, outside the lines, crazy colors BUT amazing nevertheless! You don't have to be amazing, just do what you do. If you can put pen to paper, some paint, then YOU are an artist :)
I actually find it easier to draw from life than from a photo. When I’m drawing in my town or in my garden or even if I’m drawing my dog or cats, there’s just a mental connection that makes me see things more clearly and I seem to actually feel the positions of things, whats close what’s farther away.
I completely loved this video, thank you so much. New subscriber, i just picked one of my sketch books out, wish i knew what ink pen you sketch with, is it waterproof so you can watercolor on it? Thank you 💕
