8 Lessons I Got from R. Crumb’s Sketchbooks

Robert Crumb might be the most controversial cartoonist alive. Sexist. Obsessive. Brilliant. Brutally honest.
But he’s also one of the greatest sketchbook keepers of the last century. Crumb filled thousands of pages with everything in his head and in his life — the mundane, the disturbing, the funny, and the beautiful.
In this video, I take you through my Crumb library — book by book — and share what his sketchbooks have taught me about drawing and about life. Along the way, I’ll also tell you about the time I worked with Crumb himself, and the surprising thing he once wrote to me about how my work influenced him.
👉 Note: This video contains a small amount of art that contains sexual content.

📚 Books mentioned in this video:
📕 An Illustrated Life: Drawing Inspiration from the Private Sketchbooks of Artists, Illustrators and Designers by me, Danny Gregory. https://geni.us/IllustratedLife
📗 The Sweeter Side of R. Crumb https://geni.us/I25Fz1
📘 Sketchbook, Vol. 1, June 1964 - Sept. 1968 https://geni.us/KI8F5d
📙 Waiting for Food: Restaurant Placemat Drawings https://geni.us/qFNz
📕 The Weirdo Years: https://geni.us/sIBhXI
📗 Crumb: the movie: https://geni.us/PjRVXJ
📘 The Book of Genesis: https://geni.us/ZkBKxN
📙 The Complete Sketchbooks (1982-2011) : https://geni.us/LYYHi
📕 Crumb: A Cartoonist's Life by Dan Nadel https://amzn.to/428tLo5

🟥 Become a channel member and get perks:    / @sketchbookskool  

More from Danny Gregory:
💌 My (free) weekly essays: https://dannysessays.com/
🎨 My newest course: Start Your Sketchbook Journal: https://sketchbook.tiny.us/journal
✏️ My most popular course: How to Draw Without Talent: https://sketch.tiny.us/WIthoutTalent
🎓 My other courses: https://SketchbookSkool.com
📚 My books: https://sketch.tiny.us/books

❤️ My favorite art supplies ❤️
🖊️Drawing pen: https://geni.us/Fudenosuke
🖌️ Brush pen: https://geni.us/NIJP
⛲️ Fountain pen: https://geni.us/2L44mQ
✒️ Dip pen: https://geni.us/AzWOBZT
🖌️ Watercolor brush: https://geni.us/WNSix
👉 Nib: https://geni.us/ZebraGNib
📓 Sketchbook: https://geni.us/venezia
🌈 Colored Pencils: https://geni.us/Inktense
✏️ Colored-pencil sharpener: https://geni.us/VLhfnO3
🖍️ Tempera sticks: https://geni.us/tempera

0:00 Intro — Why Robert Crumb matters
1:00 Sketchbooks can be raw and unfiltered
4:55 Inspiration doesn’t mean imitation
5:55 Treat your sketchbook like a diary
7:09 Draw anywhere
8:00 Turn flaws and neuroses into material
9:17 Obsession can fuel mastery
11:32 Big, obsessive projects are possible
13:55 Every artist’s story keeps unfolding
15:30 Closing — What Crumb’s sketchbooks teach us