Book Review: The Creative Liscense by Danny Gregory

"The Creative License is a leaping burst of enthusiasm, the best kind of permission, and thoroughly inspiring. I give it my highest recommendation." -- SARK

From the back of the book: Danny Gregory is the author of several books, including an illustrated memoir, Everyday Matters. Tens of thousands of creative aspirants regularly visit his weblog, www.dannygregory.com. He has created illustrations for numerous books and magazines and is the creative director of many award-winning global advertising campaigns. Danny lives in Greenwich Village with his wife and son.

I received this book as a gift recently and was immediately addicted to the content, the layout and the premise of the book. Why? It's so visually stimulating it takes your breath away. That's before you reach the actual point of what's written. Which, by the way, is very conversational and in a handwriting font. Very friendly, inviting and consumable by the eager learner. (Those who weren't eager can't help changing when flipping open this book.)

When I started this book, I decided to treat it as a "school book" because I really wanted to get the most out of it that I could. I tend to have more respect for educational experiences and let casual learning fall by the waste-side. I didn't want that to happen in this case, so each time I did my homework for my college courses, I gave myself assignments from this book. My assignments including reading and completing every task he describes and suggests.

To accomplish this "assignment" type work, I needed to get the proper tools to complete each task and suggestion Mr. Gregory writes about. I flipped through the various sections to get a feel for the book and made sure I had everything on hand that was needed. The primary tools I used when working through this book was my art journal and a ballpoint pen.

Working through this book was a very exciting and changing experience for me. I noticed a dramatic difference in my work and how I thought about living a creative life, in general, especially when flipping through the work I accomplished in my art journal. I highly recommend this book both to new and seasoned artists. Not only does it teach new and, maybe unthought of methods, but it help keep the creative process flowing in your life on a daily, weekly or monthly basis (however often you have time to commit to this book).