Behind the Scenes of "The Artist Who Couldn’t Draw"

Across the Zoom grid, I spotted someone holding up a gorgeous illustration paired with a C.S. Lewis quote. We were at the end of a FieldTrip where we had looked at art “like a pirate”, and our master facilitator Rachel Ropeik had us make drawings to “thank” the painting we had looked at. When I couldn’t puzzle out the words in the virtual square, I asked for the full quote in the chat. The responder had the Sketchbook Skool logo as their Zoom avatar. Lo and behold, it was their founder, Danny Gregory — a personal hero of mine.

Danny Gregory’s sketch of a glass half full and the C.S. Lewis quote “You are never too old to set a new goal or to dream a new dream.”

Sketchbook Skool played a huge role in helping me set up my creative practice. In 2021, I started watching their Youtube videos. Through their short tutorials and sketchbook tours, I learned the importance of showing up every day and having a place to play without getting precious about the materials I used. This was a revelation for me, that consistency and experimentation could be more meaningful than the final product. Previously, I had only made a painting or two a year, and felt paralyzed by the thought of putting brush to paper — unless there was a deadline. Danny’s videos and kind guidance were one of many resources that helped me forgive myself for my stuckness. Slowly but surely I began to fill the pages of many sketchbooks with experiments.

So when “The Artist Who Couldn’t Draw” hit the web, I immediately sent it to Alexa, our Head of FieldTrips, who said that I wasn’t even the first person to send it to her that weekend. It spread around our team like wildfire. This 10 minute animation feels so aligned to our deeply held beliefs: that each and every one of us is creative, and that what matters is that you show up again and again. It feels like essential viewing. Read my interview with Danny to discover what compelled him to make this clip.

Click to watch the full-length video.

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Could you share a bit about how this video came about? What inspired you to create it?

Like a lot of creative people, I discovered my creativity through a love of drawing as a little kid. But as I got older, that passion disappeared. I meet so many designers and art directors who never draw and say they no longer can. I was that way too.

In my late thirties, I found my way back to drawing. It was a real struggle to regain my confidence but turning drawing into a regular habit made it do-able.

It also changed my life and I’ve been trying to spread the word about the transformative powers of drawing ever since.

I just made my first animated film. It’s the story of a talented creative person who finally overcomes his block about drawing thanks to a little girl who is pretty much the artist he used to be. Sound familiar?

Most of your Sketchbook Skool videos are tutorials, sketchbook tours, or musings about the artistic process. What inspired you to make an animated film? And were there any interesting stories from when you put it together?

I decided to tell the story in animation because, of course, it’s a bunch of drawings.

One small problem: I had no idea how to make an animated film. But I decided to find out.

It’s taken me about four months to make this film, from creating the characters, doing a lot of test drawings and storyboards, learning how to use a whole bunch of different software tools, figuring out how to make characters move and talk, building sets in 3 dimensions and lighting them, editing, picking music and all while doing my real job at Sketchbook Skool.

I’d love to thank the crew and the actors, the animators, the costumers, the writers and producers.

Unfortunately there aren’t any. Just me. Maybe next time I’ll get some help.

Here’s my film. I hope you enjoy it and if you do, please tell your friends about it. I’d love for as many people as possible to get the message that we can all become artists. All we have to do is try. Enjoy!

Watch “The Artist Who Couldn’t Draw”

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