Danny Gregory's Blog, page 45

Another nice article and video about my visit to China.

A nice article and video about my visit to China. Click here to see the video. Danny Gregory draws artistic creativity from ISB By Tom Fearon Artist and author Danny Gregory has led a life as colorful as many of his paintings. Formerly creative director at a multinational advertising agency, his journey from “ad man” […]

Art by another name

One thing I keep encountering when I talk to people about starting to draw:  fear.  People are terrified of pens, paper, and brushes.  Art is scary. So I propose we call it something else. Drawing or journaling or sketching or doodling or sketchbooking or testing your pen. I call it ‘art with a small a‘. Here’s […]

A hundred feet of eighth graders

(A somewhat funky video I made in my hotel room in China) Learning to draw is not like learning to drive.  You don’t have to master the fundamentals, take courses, pass tests, put thousands of dollars of equipment at risk.  You just have to start. Drawing isn’t a learned skill so much as it’s a process […]

Some stuff I learned in China that could help you too

3-year-olds have a lot to teach me about drawing. Chinese people rarely eat rice.  Or dog. Digitizing your entire life is efficient and modern and smart. Until you can’t get online. 10-year-olds can draw with a dip pen and a fountain pen. Strangers are almost always helpful and friendly, especially if they have no idea what you are saying. […]

Kitchen Confidential

Remember the cafeteria ladies who worked in your high school? Their last serving of chipped beef may still be lurking in your colon but your probably never knew much about the ladies themselves, not even their names. I decided to do portrait of some of these hard working people when I was in Beijing, to […]

All the t-squares in China

Some clichés are based in truth.  The one I encounter a lot in China is the Asian student who drives her/himself super hard and who is forced by expectant parents to be overachieving and highly pragmatic. These kids have been coming to me, one by one, to ask for my advice on their future plans. A […]

Meanwhile…

I am enjoying my (hopefully) last day in Beijing.  I’ve been using the time to writing about the lessons I learned here and make a little film or two will be sharing them here over the next few days. Meanwhile, here are two nice pieces on my visit to Beijing by Rena Tang, a lovely person […]

My glass is half full. But can I drink the water?

So much contemporary fiction these days, especially the stuff for kids and YAs, is dystopian — people trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world in which electricity and information technology have disappeared. I think that’s because we all know deep down that we are relying on this stuff too much. That’s been brought home to […]

Recent Chinese adventures

Internet is kinda tough out here so I am posting my experiences and drawings on Instagram while I travel in China.  Follow me to stay updated. Here are a few recent ones. This place is crawling with dragons! Mao is still around, a benevolent but irrelevant icon, kinda like George Washington. Drawing fast and slow […]

Artist Danny Gregory inspires during ISB visit

By Tom Fearon New York author and illustrator Danny Gregory began his two-week visit to ISB with a Q&A session at a high school assembly on Wednesday, September 17. Encouraging students to be flexible to change and seek inspiration in their surroundings, Gregory stressed the importance of discovering their creative potential and never losing sight […]