Here’s a little video I made about how to approach drawing complex things. If you can’t make it to my workshop today, this may inspire you to do some drawing this weekend nonetheless.
What do you think?
Category: video
The Avidor’s Big Adventure.
A little video report on two artists who are hitting the road and drawing the world.
Giving Thanks
I recently told you about some of the commercials I’ve been making. Here’s the first one. It will only run for the next two or three days in the US starting tomorrow. If you have the TV on while you eat your turkey, you’ll be hard-pressed to miss.
It was shot by Jeff Preiss of Epoch films, edited by Charlie Johnston at Lost Planet, scored by Mark Isham and produced by Drew Lippman.
More than you could possibly want to know about me.
Last week, the lovely and inspiring Jane LaFazio sent me a bunch of questions for an interview and I decided to turn them into a little film, shot in my home and the places I frequent about town. It’s a little long, 20 minutes or so, but vaguely amusing:
You can see Jane’s comments about it here;
http://janeville.blogspot.com/2012/07/interviews-as-inspiration-danny-gregory.html
First Feelings
Last night I sat down with my camera to talk aloud about how I feel having the first copy of my new book, A Kiss Before You Go in my hands. Here’s what I said:
A new video: timcam
An utterly ridiculous experiment in film making. The latest from sketchbook labs. vimeo.com/43860865
Dancing with myself
I have become utterly bored by my breakfast (in dismay at my shortening belt, I’ve taken to eating celery and radishes and the like while staring out the kitchen window dreaming of waffles) so I have embarked on a new subject – my reflection. I don’t think it’s pure vanity but rather the easy availability of the subject and his increasing lumpy wrinkledness which makes for more interesting lines and shadows than the usual bagel.
I have also been considering the several international trips I have scheduled for the rest of the year and wondering if there’s an easy way to make Sketchbook Films on my own while I am abroad. I plan to draw, obviously, while I’m there and it would be interesting to share the process with you. Unfortunately I won’t be able to sneak my crew into my bag, so I may have to make do with ingenuity and a jury-rigged camera setup.
To that end, I knocked out a quick test at home which was fairly educational. I didn’t plan it properly so I ended up drawing myself with a couple of Sharpies on an old shopping list and the light was quickly fading. The old Flip camera I was testing likes a lot of sunlight so I’ll probably get better image quality in Shanghai, Rio, Capetown and Perth. The resulting film is a bit ugly and fairly interesting, like the drawing itself, and if you have any creative suggestions about how to improve future versions (that don’t require helicopters, Teamsters, or an army of makeup artists), please leave a comment. I have been collecting some small tripods and a wide-angle lens so testing will continue.
If you think the idea of me doing a drawing and stopping to readjust a barrage of cameras around me like some schizophrenic paparazzo, you are quite right. These are the sacrifices I willingly make for art.
The Artist’s Pulse – now on video
At the end of March, I was part of a panel of artists (including Karen Cole, Jill Zaheer, Roxanne Evans Stout, Julie Prichard, and Michelle Ward) gathered to discuss our work and Seth Apter‘s new book, The Pulse of Mixed Media.
It was an interesting morning and for those who were not able to attend, Seth has posted a rather abbreviated video of the discussion.
If this doesn’t satisfy you, there is more on Seth’s blog. More importantly, there’s Seth’s book, brimming with many more inspiring thoughts and art thingees.
The Daily Grind
A short film about my everyday.
For the last few years, I have walked to work every day. It’s about two miles and the trip takes about 35 minutes. I only made an exception if it’s raining hard. Recently I got a new bicycle, a Bobbin from England, and I now make the trip in about twelve minutes, most of it along the Hudson RIver. My bike is new but old-fashioned. It has five gears but they are all fairly slow. Men in Lycra crouched over titanium frames from Italy streak past me as I toodle along. I am like an old man with a baguette in his basket, whistling under my beret, enjoying the birds and the sunshine and the breezes off the river.
Spring: a new Sketchbook film about, well, me
I really enjoy making our little series of Sketchbook Films. With each one we become more ambitious and discover new techniques and gear to use. Last weekend, we decided to make a fairly simple one — no dollies, Winnebagos or helicopters. I got in front of the camera again and left Jack to man the lens for the action sequences then Jenny covered off my drawing process (the fourth Beetle, Tommy Kane, was off doing something productive and couldn’t join us on this one though he approved the final cut as being Sketchbook Films worthy).
I wanted to show a simple pen and ink drawing, done outside on a gorgeous day. The weather didn’t cooperate and instead of gorgeous we got clouds and rain which meant things got more complicated and technical and we actually had to shoot bits and pieces over the course of four days and in three different parks.
It was still fun to make though horrifying as always to see myself on screen. It may surprise you to know that no aging makeup was used on this production — that’s actually how decrepit I now look.
Danny Gregory 