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Shut up and Draw. It’s Good for You!

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

In order to get myself back in gear this summer and prep myself for the drawing classes I’m going to be teaching this semester at Murray State, I delved into the simple but effective EDM drawing challenges. These drawing challenges were started by artist Danny Gregory, whom I’ve been following off and on for  about 8 years now. I found his blog somehow and began promoting his books at Maple Street Book Shop, the small, independent store I worked at during my undergraduate studies at Tulane in New Orleans. Ever since I’ve checked back in now and again to be inspired by his productivity and honest commentary on daily life.

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

I’m also continually impressed by the community that has grown around his work, and around these drawing challenges in particular. “EDM” stands for “Every Day Matters,” which was the very book of his that I once promoted at the shop. The Creative License is another of Gregory’s books, which I have used in  2D Design classes to inspire students who grumble that they “can’t draw” and that they just want to be graphic designers or clothing designers and why do they need to learn to draw, anyway? Sometimes the Creative License tome was just what they needed to get their gears rolling and to quit listing all the things they can’t and/or don’t like to do.

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

In any case, while at Frogman’s workshop this summer, I happened upon Gregory’s blog again. He was starting to do the EDM Challenges all over himself, and I decided to work on some myself. I wrote down a long list of the challenges from this Master Challenge List and got to work. It’s been fun! I did a whole bunch of them back-to-back at first, and now I have tapered off a bit, but I am sure I will keep returning to them. It feels good just to draw and to give myself assignments. It almost doesn’t matter what it is. It keeps my drawing muscles limber, and it makes me feel great to say that I draw something every day.

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

If any of you guys are interested in seeing more or trying a few of the challenges yourself, check out the EDM flickr group, the challenges on Danny Gregory’s blog, and the master list of challenges on Karen Winters’ Blog. I’m not really following any of the rules of the challenges–I jump around and do more sometimes, less others–but I don’t think it matters as long as it gets the juices flowing so that I’m salivating for the next drawing or print that I’ll be working on for myself.

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

Sketchbook: Drawing Challenges

In other news, here’s the latest woodblock I carved. It’s in commemoration of the sale of Frogman’s press to Matt Egan. Hopefully I will get a chance to proof it later this week! Frogman’s Press pillows, anyone?

Lloyd Menard, Frogman's Press, Matt Egan

90 thoughts on “Shut up and Draw. It’s Good for You!”

  1. goddddddamn really good stuff. i love sketchbooks. somedays its the only thing that keeps me sane…….keeps me from hacking someone into chunks with a damn claw hammer. carry it with me always…..the sketchbook that is…not the claw hammer.

  2. I love drawing, especially when the subject/scene (whatever) is interesting.
    With a bit of music to go with it, I can disappear into another world, like a trance almost.
    I sometimes discretely draw faces of people in the coffee shop I go to on the waterfront.
    It’s good practise, practise, practise etc.
    In the meantime, I enjoy drawing all the cartoons you can see on my blog.
    Thanks for starting this post.

  3. A peek into an artist’s sketchbook is such a treat! Thanks for sharing and congrats on being freshly pressed!

    Also, is that a VW key I see? ;)

  4. What a stunning collectin. A beautiful style and such inspiring drawings. Especially the picture of the keys and phone, wonderful 3d effect, and the hand. Saw you noted to do it again but I seriously thought it was perfect, such craft!

  5. this is really good stuff…your technique and detail is brilliant, how long have you been doing this? made me go stare at my sketch book, its been pretty lonely for a while…lol..!!

    1. Don’t let it be lonely! You can always start again with something small. I’ve always loved drawing/journaling ever since I was a little kid. I think the oldest sketchbooks I have date back to 2nd grade. I make a lot of failed attempts, but I always learn something even with those, and I just keep chugging along. As a teacher, I like to keep myself in the struggle and try to keep challenging myself. I’m glad there are lots of others out there doing the same to keep me going when I hit a low point!

  6. This is so great! I am a photographer, but I have a love for drawing. I’ve been thinking about popping into some nude drawing classes to get back into it, but this is a great idea. I’m so happy you shared this and I can’t wait to get started on my daily sketches. I believe that art in all forms helps to open your creativity.

  7. what kind of media do you use to make those drawings? (sorry, English is not my first language and i’m terrible translating art-related words, lol). they are really great, congrats!

  8. Great to see hand made art again, it is a relief. So much nowadays is done by computers etc which is good as well, but nothing like the old hand plus pen and paper tradition. Check out my art if you like. adamgrieve.com it is a mixture of all kinds.

  9. Oh my goodness, I love your style! I do a lot of photography, but picked up sketching this summer and have found it to be quite relaxing and enjoyable! Awesome share and congrats on being freshly pressed!

  10. What a great idea, I used to study fashion many years ago and I drift in and out of drawing. I set myself a challenge to draw a fashion illustration once a week and I’ve never considered myself great at drawing and the more I did the better they were. I must get back into it again!

  11. Very cool illustrations, and I like your enthusiasm to draw everyday. I have a sketchbook for cartoons and poetry, but I don’t work on it everyday. So your challenge to Shut Up and Draw is inspirational! Also, I’ve never heard of the EDM Challenges — I’ll certainly have to check it out. Thanks!

  12. Hi again! I have a sort of unrelated question that may be a little stupid :)
    Is there a difference between the Staedler 0.3 ink pen you mentioned and a Stabilo Point 88 pen? Thanks in advance!

  13. I really enjoyed this! I actually spent a lot of time drawing this summer because I want to get into graphic design a bit and needed the drawing foundation so that I can even get started. I’ve been thinking about posting my thoughts on it and your post is going to be that push to get it done this week. Thanks!

  14. Thats a fantastic post. I see the Danny Gregory community so vivid and sparkly that I love also to be part in my way. And there is a lot of inspiration and good people like you. Thanks!!

  15. Fantastic! Great sketches, and I love the EDM challenges you wrote in your sketchbook. It’s ironic that I read your post two days after I posted a sketch of my brother-in-law, who was finishing up at Murray State before he passed away 20 year ago. Thanks for sharing.

  16. These sketches are awesome. A crude sort of beauty. That woodblock is very awesome. Makes me think of the cartoonists at Mad Magazine. I really hope you contribute to some mass publication. If not you should be. Illustrations are way better than photographs. If only the world were an A-ha music video.

  17. Fantastic, really enjoyed reading your post and will definitely check out Danny Gregory and EDM. Its always easier to draw when you’re inspired by something beautiful or intriguing but it’s drawing those every day objects (like your pliers or the glass with a straw) that are so much harder and you’ve done so well.
    I run an art class on saturday and the kids only want to draw from their imagination, but half the time they cant even draw the skulls, robots etc that they want to draw properly.
    You’ve reminded me again of the joy of quick sketches. I tend to get bogged down with my jewellery design sketches (as you can see on my blog) and forget the non jewellery world.

    The sketch books are coming out, and I am going to make every day matter!

    1. Glad you’ve been inspired as I was by EDM!

      Thanks for sharing your story about your art class. I know what you mean! It’s even like that with college students sometimes.

      It’d be a fun project to get kids to build skulls/robots/etc. out of everyday objects and then have them do drawings from it. I might have to think about that as a project! Thanks for the inspiration…

      1. Absolutely, sometimes I get them to do studies of the actual objects first and then go from there into the imaginary realm or the other way round.
        We have a museum near us in Oxford, Uk, that has real skulls, shrunken heads and ancient artifacts. I so want to take my skull lovers there to sketch-working on the parents though!

  18. Wow! Love ur sketches! Really interesting way of making yourself draw everyday! I’ll probably give it a try and prepare for my uni projects! Thx again for the great idea :)

  19. I’m into watercolor portraits recently. Though I tried drawing everyday,I still find it difficult t to come up with an artistic output. I think my works are so plain and safe. I love how you put out your works, edgy and very artistic. This post inspires m to sketch some more and more and more each day.
    I’m really giddy to read articles about art and drawing here on wordpress. Glad to find your blog.

  20. Pingback: Taking time to practice « stephanissima

  21. Thanks so much for sharing this. I think your drawings are fantastic, and you’ve inspired me to pick up my pencils again and start the EDM challenge.

  22. Pingback: Every Day Matters | The Hipping Post

  23. Pingback: Listing and New Year’s Resolutions: Draw, Draw, Print & Draw! « Orange Barrel Industries

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