We convened another meeting of the Club to discuss the work of one Dan Price of Joseph, OR. He was one of my earliest and greatest mentors.
Some notes:
Moonlight Chronicle back issues:http://www.moonlightchronicles.com/issues.html
I see that on this site Dan said he doesn’t have back issues in print anymore but will be making e-versions of them. If you email him and bug him, maybe he’ll pull some out of the attic. It’s worth a shot. Otherwise, you’ll have to make do with his books — which are pretty awesome too.
This week I did a little urban sketching, drawing a crusty old locksmith shop in the Village. I was inspired by one of my idols, Nina Johansson, who we managed to convince to teach at Sketchbook Skool. Here I am doing my homework for her klass, despite a never-ending stream of obstacles.
New thing: Each week I’ll be conducting (?) a little chat on Facebook Live to share a book or two that have inspired my own sketchbooking. Here’s the first one.
I’m gonna to take a break at noon to watch Brian Butler’s Facebook Live He’ll be taking drawing requests from the audience and it will be fantastic. See you there.
Call me a nerd if you must but I loved doing homework. In this video, I do my assignment for Week Two in Seeing, a Sketchbook Skool klass on drawing self-portraits, taught by my partner, Koosje Koene.
I’m pretty jazzed to be launching a brand, spanking new kourse at Sketchbook Skool in a few weeks.
It’s been a year since I taught a regular klass, one that’s just focussed on stuff I find interesting (and hope others do too). I’ve been thinking a lot about how creativity works (and doesn’t) over the past year and was looking for a way to communicate those thoughts through a special kind of video technique. I also wanted to explore a technical aspect of drawing, how to capture tone and light with black ink lines on white paper.
Beyond getting to teach, I love working on new klasses with new teachers. And we’ve managed to land several of the leviathans of illustrated journaling and urban sketching, luminaries who our students have been requesting for years.
One of my watercoloring mentors, Felix Scheinberger, is back to talk about watercoloring and composition. I pour over his books regularly and always come away with a new idea or two each time.
My partner, Koosje shot a klass with Nina Johansson who was a contributor to my book, An Illustrated Journey. Her watercolors of cityscapes are really breathtaking and it’s a treat to finally get to see how she makes them. Koosje also shot a klass with illustrator Lynn Chapman in England, another rock star of Urban Sketching. She’s incredibly peppy and generous with her ideas and techniques. Watching her paint was another revelation.
And, finally, we also have a brand-new teacher from Miami, a street artist who I shot recently in Los Angeles as he painted a 30-foot mural. Brian Butler is one of the most productive sketchbook artists I’ve ever met and, by dedicating his life to drawing, he has had incredible experiences all over the world. I’ve long wanted to explore street art at SBS and this was my first chance. We spent two days shooting Brian as he painted a wall on a busy intersection of Downtown LA — and it was amazing. This sort of epic production with an artists who I admire is one of the chief reasons I love working at Sketchbook Skool.
Anyway, check out the video to get a taste of what this kourse will be like. I can’t wait for it to start!
Folks have asked me what I use to make these videos so I put together a supply list.
Originally this was a Facebook Live thingamabob but you may not have the time or inclination to watch it there. Maybe this pristine non-commercial stage will change your mind. Or not.
Oh, and if you have a problem reading my handwriting, a) join the crowd and b) look at this then.
In case you are avoiding Facebook, here’s one of the Facebook Live videos I made recently. It’s terribly exciting: I do a drawing of my favorite teacup. This is something I have been doing for a while, filling an entire sketchbook with drawings of the same cup using the same pen and usually at the same time: about 7 am.
You may be tempted to fast forward to the good bits. Don’t. Savor the moment with me. Spoiler alert: there aren’t any especially good bits anyway.
Well, there is the one —but if you go too fast, you’ll miss it.
And the sketchbook I use in this video is unique. It was made for me by my friend and mentor, Roz Stendahl. She’s the bomb.
Danny Gregory 
