When I was in high school, I woke up one February morning, staggered into the shower, set the family table for breakfast, groggily downed some toast and tea, then walked through the still-dark streets to my school. The streets were quiet and empty. When I got to school, the doors were locked. On the corner, the Bowery Saving Bank's clock flashed "37 degrees" then, "3:22 am.” Damn it. I turned around, walked home, and fell back in bed, fully clothed. Three hours later, I did the whole thing...
12 days ago • 2 min read
Each Tuesday for the last three years, I have shared Studio Notebook with you. And now, one of my biggest experiments is coming to an end. It’s been a great success — and you are the reason it has. Knowing that you are interested enough in my work, my ideas, and my dad jokes to fork over a few bucks each month has been so encouraging. The Internet has been revolutionary — giving anyone with a computer and an Internet connection the opportunity to reach people all around the world in an...
15 days ago • 4 min read
At the beginning of the year, I vowed to myself that this year I would do less. I would take it easy and only work on things that I truly wanted to do and that seemed extremely important. My resolution didn't last long. We began with a radical restructuring of the way that Sketchbook Skool works. We closed down the Spark Program — our dozen teachers and I had been we’d been teaching 4-5 hours of drawing instruction every day for our hundreds of members. It was sad to say goodbye to this...
19 days ago • 3 min read
The final list of 💖 Stuff I Like Hi Reader: This is the penultimate issue of Studio Notebook — I hope all of these wonderful resources will inspire and delight you! 🧶 Dive into Knitting. Tom Daley is a cute young Olympic diver. You may remember him from last summer in Paris because he was often seen knitting by the pool. He’s crazy about knitting and makes whimsical, amusing objects of all kinds. Link 🖼️ Jon does Stan. Though I was fairly meh about his latest movie, Convocation, I am a big...
23 days ago • 1 min read
When I was at the peak of my advertising career, I was fired. It turned out to be a gift. The job I’d been dismissed from was enormously stressful and involved several dysfunctional and borderline personalities. But I was too bedazzled by my title — Chief Creative Officer — to quit when I should have. I spent the next few months thinking about the lessons I’d learned and what I should do next. I decided to travel around the country to talk to artists and start writing a new book. A book about...
26 days ago • 2 min read
It seems like at this time of year, every website and newsletter is offering advice (and affiliate links 😉). So I thought I should do the same, but with a twist. Here’s a list of meaningful gifts to inspire generosity, connection, and creativity—all without opening your wallet! Regift it: Go through your unused art supplies and pick out a few to pass on. Write a short note on why you like these materials or, if you never used them, what you intended with these materials and how the user might...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader: I have really enjoyed sharing my sketchbooks with you every month. Every time I take a rumpled sketchbook off the shelf, it’s like meeting up with an old friend. Once again, I have experienced how recording words and pictures in a sketchbook journal creates a time capsule that can take me back whenever I turn the page. The moment floods back to me—not just the images, but the sounds, smells, flavors, and feelings, too, still fresh and zesty. I read recently that three weeks after...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
While my wife was still unconscious from the anesthetic, I pulled out my sketchbook and drew her in her hospital bed. I noticed every detail of her face, her lips, the way her nose curved, and a twist of her hair over her ear. My anxiety over her recovery washed away in a wave of love for this beautiful woman lying so still. A month later. The CEO was monopolizing the call, faceless. Resentful and bored, I inched open my sketchbook and began to draw the speaker box on the conference table...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
One sketchbook — or many? NOTE TO SUBSCRIBERS: After 152 issues, Studio Notebook will cease publication at the end of this year. Danny's Essays, my free newsletter, will continue each week. You will no longer be charged for your subscription, but I shall continue to send out Studio Notebooks till the end of December. I will fill you in further on this decision in the remaining issues. Thank you so much for being a paid subscriber — your support has meant so much to me! Hi Reader: I used to be...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read