A Drawing A Day: The Art of Habit

[connie]

I love that Veronica said " growth takes its own time". A comforting thought when your expectations race ahead of you and you get frustrated with your progress.

[MARTJE]

I do small thumbnail drawings from tv scenes in freeze frame, at least one, before sleeping. It’s becoming a habit and is quite meditative.

[trinitywright]

I know this video was put up a long time ago but I just found it today. And I hope this course is still available. I'm 60 now and when I was 17 I started art school in Pittsburgh, not only did my school go bankrupt and steal the money of the 500 artists enrolled there (wish for me was a student loan and had to be repaid anyway), I was married to a very bad person and after the school went bankrupt that was it for art. And I really picked up a pan or a pencil for the next 40 years. There was a small spurt where I did a few paintings and amazingly they were very nice but now in 2021 (June) I've just found this and I saw Danny Gregory last week on TV. I did buy sketchbook and have been doing something small every day. Now they're all terrible in my opinion but I don't think that's the point. I think the point is to do it. And once upon a time I really wanted to be an artist for a living, and maybe that's still possible. I think it starts with drawing and then moving forward from that.

I'm really grateful for Danny and Veronica here and for the whole sketchbook Skool idea (I don't know who thought that up but it's wonderful) and I plan to sign up for the beginner course and see what happens from there. You know usually at night I'll watch a movie or something and I find that as time goes by television and movies just gets worse and worse, and I think it would be better just to be drawing. I love the idea of drawing before breakfast in the morning but I do still work so I'm not sure if I can. However what I can do is keep trying to do this every day.

I really want to thank the people who make the videos and everyone in this video because without you people I would have never picked up a pan again. Somehow God has worked through you to inspire me and perhaps take me back to the roots of something very important.

I'm 1, 000 thank you to you and immense gratitude. 🙏

[batcactus]

I also find that synapses form when I am NOT drawing, practicing music, whatever it is, when I come back to it there has been a change, sometimes a breakthrough. Often I just go putter in my dedicated art zone/studio space, and ideas come, something incomplete shows up to be reconsidered. The important thing is to relax and enjoy, be kind to your artist self, and wash and put away the dishes.

[The_artistic_yogi]

I actually have a phone reminder to remind me of my daily drawing and I am doing really well since the beginning of the year! I am aiming for 365 days no matter what! It can suck ( the actual drawing) but I will do it!

[renzo]

I took a painting class at an art school.
My first task was to draw the still life objects in their proper place on my canvas.
A tray, a vase, a couple of pears.
I couldn't get it right.
My teacher came by, sat down at my place, picked up a pencil and as if by magic, re-drew the forms in right relationship to one another.
My eye and hand had not been trained, In fact, I really had no clear concept of what that training was all about.
How did it work? Would I ever learn to do what my teacher seemed to do so effortlessly?
The more you draw / paint the more your powers of observation improve.
You see, sometimes, these games in magazines and newspapers...two drawings that, at first glance, look identical.
You are told that there are 20 small details that are different in the second drawing.
You LOOK and look. From one to the other.
Ah! the laces of the shoe are untied !! The shirt collar is smaller etc.
Now, when I draw a line, I can SEE how long it should be and at what angle it is and how far away from another object it is etc.
Now, I can draw with great exactitude just as my teacher did
People ask me if I used a projector. I used to be insulted by the question. Now, I am gratified by it.
No projector, no grid, no tracing.
The ability just happens.

[Chunda]

Yep- doing this for a year will finish at least two sketchbooks and be most of a book...one drawing a day is a good quota and consistent. I'm at about 2-3 drawings a week, one per day is the next level for me to shoot for.

[christinelewis]

I love this conversation! Thank you for sharing it. Great stuff.

[nettie]

I make tiny pieces of art everyday. Artist trading cards or small sketchbooks work great. I also have small bags of art supplies I can tote with me wherever I go.

[nephildevil]

Yep, been a gym rat for most of my adult life, I use the same analogy for daily art exercise.
Do it daily, as a guideline, but don't overdo it, that way you keep doing it and progress will happen slowly but surely.
And yeah, never choose a gym that's too far away, it'll make the hurdle of going there too high, and you'll never leave the couch :D

[millymollymandyism]

A great analogy about growth and progress

[samcee]

This is such great advice. I need to remember to just keep plugging away, everyday.

[sujanithtottempudi]

Wow, it's real experience pouring out. Great discussion. Thank you

[ghalone]

Fantastic motivation!  I do drawing challenges all the time but I never thought to make this a daily habit to make me a better artist.  I have to rethink my priorities.  Thank you for this talk.

[JenniferPearsonJP]

I wonder if people had a "turn off the critique" cue, such as lighting a candle or using a specific implement. In writing we sometimes try to circumvent the editor by time limits. In visual art you could even have a limit of strokes, like a 10 stroke limit--can be representational or not.

[xenomads]

Alright that's it I'm going to the gym

[DesertVox]

He's really trying to convince ppl to believe that they have the potential, if they give it time and they just draw whatever everyday. I've implemented this attitude, and it's been two weeks, and it's shown in my drawing, and the ease and familiarity with the tablet and the software I use. Once you start noticing these little changes, it becomes an encouragement that practicing does make a difference, however little.

[monikaazariah]

Growth takes its own time..." So true...loved this talk

[laura]

Okay I'm convinced I just signed up!

[leanewton]

This is SO GOOD!!!! Thank you Danny once again for such valuable information and a way of approaching your art. Your words always resonate so much with me - you GET me! (and beginning artists everywhere I am sure! )
You have a gift!