Steal Like an Artist
You don’t need to be a genius, you just need to be yourself. That’s the message from Austin Kleon, a young writer and artist who knows that creativity is everywhere, creativity is for everyone. A manifesto for the digital age, Steal Like an Artist is a guide whose positive message, graphic look and illustrations, exercises, and examples will put readers directly in touch with their artistic side.
(Source: Amazon)
(Source: Amazon)
Chapter 1 - Steal Like and artist
How to look at the world (like and artist)
In this first section, Kleon explains that to produce good ideas, you just have to look at the world in a different way. Things are wither worth stealing, or they're not. It's that simple.
Nothing is original
In this case, the title says it all. "Nothing comes from nowhere. All creative work builds on what came before. Nothing is completely original." He points out that once "we're free from the burden of trying to be completely original, we can stop trying to make something out of nothing, and we can embrace influence instead of running away from it."
The genealogy of ideas
"You can pick your teachers and you can pick your friends and you can pick the music you listen to and you can pick the books you read and you can pick the movies you see.
You are, in face, a mashup of what you choose to let into your life. You are the sum of your influences."
You are, in face, a mashup of what you choose to let into your life. You are the sum of your influences."
Garbage in, Garbage out
"Your job is to collect good ideas. The more good ideas you collect, the more you can choose from to be influenced by."
Climb your own family tree
In this chunk of chapter 1, Kleon beaks down a way you can study artists without feeling like you're drowning.
To do this, focus on one person that inspires you. Learn everything there is to learn about that person. After that, find 3 people that inspired or influenced them and find out all of the information about them. Keep climbing up the tree until you can climb no further.
To do this, focus on one person that inspires you. Learn everything there is to learn about that person. After that, find 3 people that inspired or influenced them and find out all of the information about them. Keep climbing up the tree until you can climb no further.
School Yourself
Here, Kleon says that going deeper than anyone else is what will get you ahead of others. Google EVERYTHING. Search even if you don't quite know what you're searching for yet.
Save your thefts for later
Always have a notebook and pencil on you. Take it out, write down thoughts, observations, passages out of books, conversations, doodles.
"Keep a swipe file." A swipe file is self-explanatory, a file to keep the things you've swiped.
"Keep a swipe file." A swipe file is self-explanatory, a file to keep the things you've swiped.