By people who came before you, or beside you. If you know that much, you’re good to begin looking for things to steal.Įverything that needs to be said and written and painted in this world has already been said and written and painted. Know the difference between a good theft and a bad theft. And theirs, by another.Īnd instead of cocooning yourself away from any of those influences, observe, learn, imbibe and drink in from their work. First, embrace the fact that your work is always influenced by another artist’s art. You should create, but not in the flawed, even detrimental hope of magically weaving up threads of ideas that have never been thought of before. Austin believes, like many other artists before him, that it’s near-impossible and even depressing to try to create something out of nothing. When was the last time someone appreciated your work, calling it original thought? Chances are, they do not know the actual source(s) or references of what they think was entirely your brainchild. Steve Jobs famously misquoted him when he said Good artists copy, great artists steal. If I were to talk to her today, at this moment, I would ask her to steal more. Somewhere inside me, I still have a 19-year-old version of myself earnestly looking up to me for direction. When you give someone an advice, you’re simply talking to a past version of yourself. In the preface, he says that all advice is autobiographical. He doesn’t color any chapter with this-will-change-your-life promises or the aggressiveness associated with some self-help books. Three, it gives genuine advice - the type of advice Austin wishes he had received back when he was 19.Īustin’s writing style is conversational, fluid and energetic. Two, it combines writing and drawing, which makes for brilliant reading. For one, written over 160 pages, it’s short and succinct. As intriguing as the title sounds, Austin Kleon’s insightful work on unlocking creativity is a breath of fresh air in the heavily crowded lanes of creativity advice.

Steal like an artist pages