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Self-Improvement. Nonfiction. HTML:Unlock your creativity. An inspiring guide to creativity in the digital age, Steal Like an Artist presents ten transformative principles that will help readers discover their artistic side and build a more creative life. Nothing is original, so embrace influence, school yourself through the work of others, remix and reimagine to discover your own path. Follow interests wherever they take you�??what feels like a hobby may turn into you life's work. Forget the old cliché about writing what you know: Instead, write the book you want to read, make the movie you want to watch. And finally, stay Smart, stay out of debt, and risk being boring in the everyday world so that you have the space to be wild and daring in your imagination and your work. "Brilliant and real and true."�??Rosanne Cas… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member antao
I find the most creative approach to meetings for example is not to go. Been not going to meetings for years now; saved a lot of time...
One must exercise the mind as much as the body in order for it to opened and strong enough to be able to direct outside influences into the formulation of one's
Creativity is something we do for ourselves and then share if there is anyone out there who cares to look, hear or see and money should really not be the goal. The important thing is to act on that inspiration - to turn thought into reality. That is true creativity. Without action, there is nothing. Making mistakes, in both ideas and application, is something I've embraced more in my work that I used to do. Going for technical accuracy tended to dilute that important initial idea and impede creativity. It risks an artist becoming afraid of their work and abandoning any given project. So I did away with it, and I find that creative flow is much easier these days.
Unfortunately you can't just grit your teeth or squint your eyes and be more creative. You have to believe in the cross-fertilization of ideas from very dissimilar activities, and therefore constantly be looking for ways to broaden your experiences.
Inspiration and action are everything.
One must exercise the mind as much as the body in order for it to opened and strong enough to be able to direct outside influences into the formulation of one's
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own ideas. Creativity in every form is essential to the well being of humanity. Imagine a world without paintings, music, literature and all the creative disciplines. It would be a hell on earth. The most important thing is to want to create and the next to find a way of doing so. Creativity sustains life itself. If I am truly inspired , creativity flows like water. It's when I'm not inspired, I have to rely on technique . People can use anger and competition to inspire, and I have used those things, but love and beautiful nature and other artists are more fulfilling to me. Performing is one of the biggest rushes out here. The beach populated by people, and for me, young beautiful women, is very inspiring from afar, I don't want to know them, but, I am inspired by them. Let's face it, the opposite sex, or whatever your preferable sex partner, it's a wealth of inspiration , if you see them in sensual situations.Creativity is something we do for ourselves and then share if there is anyone out there who cares to look, hear or see and money should really not be the goal. The important thing is to act on that inspiration - to turn thought into reality. That is true creativity. Without action, there is nothing. Making mistakes, in both ideas and application, is something I've embraced more in my work that I used to do. Going for technical accuracy tended to dilute that important initial idea and impede creativity. It risks an artist becoming afraid of their work and abandoning any given project. So I did away with it, and I find that creative flow is much easier these days.
Unfortunately you can't just grit your teeth or squint your eyes and be more creative. You have to believe in the cross-fertilization of ideas from very dissimilar activities, and therefore constantly be looking for ways to broaden your experiences.
Inspiration and action are everything.
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LibraryThing member urnmo
This is essentially a blog post.
LibraryThing member GTWise
There is unlikely to be anything informative for you to digest in this work; that is not the point. If he had submitted anything novel or anything requiring careful consideration, the book would no longer serve its useful purpose (and it would feel out of place given the emphasis he places on the
The book is an encouragement, a pick-me-up. It made me smile while considering a couple of the creative endeavors I have allowed to fall by the wayside lately. You should be able to read the entire thing in twenty, maybe thirty, minutes. Keep it on hand and return to it every so often, it seems to me that this is the ideal use of the book.
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fact that there is nothing new under the sun). Rather, the book brings you back to an earlier point in your creative process and gives you encouragement, then it gives some friendly nods to some of the ideas that have probably been dancing around your head anyway. It is not that the message is in any way new, it is the presentation, the way it is delivered to the reader that gives it quality.The book is an encouragement, a pick-me-up. It made me smile while considering a couple of the creative endeavors I have allowed to fall by the wayside lately. You should be able to read the entire thing in twenty, maybe thirty, minutes. Keep it on hand and return to it every so often, it seems to me that this is the ideal use of the book.
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LibraryThing member akmargie
Great book on being creative and creating from one of my favorite artist.
LibraryThing member John_Pappas
I would recommend this book along with "Unwork" to any new hires at the library. Both place creativity within the greater context of one's work flow.
LibraryThing member Sherri68
A quick guide with ideas on bringing more creativity into your life. Many of the ideas are obvious, but a good reminder for those of us who tend to neglect our creative sides. I know I should create everyday -- "do the work"-- but life gets in the way, or I make excuses, etc. etc. This should be
By the way, did you realize Dr. Suess' 'Green Eggs and Ham' is filled with the same 50 words throughout? I didn't, even though I read this book pretty much every night when my son was 3-years-old. So, I did learn something new and surprising and impressive....
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one of my New Year resolutions -- to never neglect my art because it definitely always makes me feel better.By the way, did you realize Dr. Suess' 'Green Eggs and Ham' is filled with the same 50 words throughout? I didn't, even though I read this book pretty much every night when my son was 3-years-old. So, I did learn something new and surprising and impressive....
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LibraryThing member Jellyn
A quick read and lots of stuff worth stealing in it. :) I'm making my way through it a second time, taking notes this time.
LibraryThing member StefanieGeeks
The book is wonderfully uplifting for the creative soul. With witty words of wisdom from realistic life experience this book will get you fired up to create with abandon. Kleon's honest conversational tone laced with humorous hand-written notes and drawings make this a classic gift book. I will be
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giving it to all my college and high school grads in the future. Show Less
LibraryThing member Shelby_Kuzma
Steal Like An Artist is a book unlike any other I have ever read. Written by an artist/writer, it is designed to help the creative process in everyone, not just artists and writers. I would say that Steal Like An Artist is probably geared towards young adults, but I believe there is advice in this
I found this book very helpful. It was filled with creative ideas that do not require a lot of effort to apply into your daily life. I also liked the layout. It was very easy to read and I ended up finishing it in about 2 hours!
I really liked how at the end the author puts in a note saying that this is not a strict guide on how to be successful; some advice can be used, other information can be ignored. It's up to you what you take from this book.
In general, I think this is a great book to read if you are in college. I believe it will help me make the most of the experience!
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book that everyone can take.I found this book very helpful. It was filled with creative ideas that do not require a lot of effort to apply into your daily life. I also liked the layout. It was very easy to read and I ended up finishing it in about 2 hours!
I really liked how at the end the author puts in a note saying that this is not a strict guide on how to be successful; some advice can be used, other information can be ignored. It's up to you what you take from this book.
In general, I think this is a great book to read if you are in college. I believe it will help me make the most of the experience!
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LibraryThing member sturlington
A short book that can be read in one sitting that collects quick tips on how to integrate being creative into your life.
I found this to be pretty inspirational. I particularly liked the advice to start a logbook and to keep a praise file. Also: "write what you like" is so much more helpful than
At one point he says (paraphrasing) that what you do in your free time, when you're just noodling around, is what you should really be doing. In that case, I need to figure out how to build a career on cataloguing books in LibraryThing.
Read in 2015.
I found this to be pretty inspirational. I particularly liked the advice to start a logbook and to keep a praise file. Also: "write what you like" is so much more helpful than
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"write what you know." I think our culture is so focused on making money, being productive and crafting a personal brand that we've forgotten how to do things just for the joy of it. This book helps bring our minds back to that first principle.At one point he says (paraphrasing) that what you do in your free time, when you're just noodling around, is what you should really be doing. In that case, I need to figure out how to build a career on cataloguing books in LibraryThing.
Read in 2015.
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LibraryThing member Daniel.Estes
Austin Kleon's original blog, Steal Like an Artist, which was freely available on the internet until recently, was one of the greatest presentations on being creative I've ever read. Kleon's book of the same name, this book, is merely a pretty good expansion of said blog. All the original content
The book is organized around 10 points of wisdom—all of which are inspired. My favorites are #1 - Steal Like an Artist, #5 - Side Projects and Hobbies are Important, #9 - Be Boring and #10 - Creativity is Subtraction.
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seems to be there though plenty of filler has been added presumably to justify a book publication.The book is organized around 10 points of wisdom—all of which are inspired. My favorites are #1 - Steal Like an Artist, #5 - Side Projects and Hobbies are Important, #9 - Be Boring and #10 - Creativity is Subtraction.
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LibraryThing member AuntieClio
True story. I once worked with a song writer. We were doing data entry from traffic tickets into a new traffic court database. This song writer talked on and on about his songs. One day I asked who his influences were, who he listened to, who inspired him. His response makes me giggle every time I
You know what? That guy is probably still doing odd jobs for temp agencies because he isn't willing to open himself up to the world.
What I am learning from books like Hugh MacLeod's "Ignore Everybody" and now, Austin Kleon's "Steal Like an Artist" is something I already knew. In order to be creative, one has to open herself up to the world. Read, watch tv, watch movies, listen to music, go places, see things, hang out with friends. Take it in. Find people who inspire you and study them.
I'll be doing odd jobs for temp agencies. The difference is I'm there make money to pay the bills so I can open myself up to new experiences and find interesting ways to take pictures. There's nothing pure about my art. I know it's derivative. Everyone's art starts out derivative. It's all derivative. It's what we do with it that makes it our own.
Oh, and I count Annie Liebovitz and Diane Arbus among my influences.
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think about it. "Oh no," he said with complete belief in himself and his work, "I don't listen to other music. I don't want it to pollute my work. My songs need to be pure."You know what? That guy is probably still doing odd jobs for temp agencies because he isn't willing to open himself up to the world.
What I am learning from books like Hugh MacLeod's "Ignore Everybody" and now, Austin Kleon's "Steal Like an Artist" is something I already knew. In order to be creative, one has to open herself up to the world. Read, watch tv, watch movies, listen to music, go places, see things, hang out with friends. Take it in. Find people who inspire you and study them.
I'll be doing odd jobs for temp agencies. The difference is I'm there make money to pay the bills so I can open myself up to new experiences and find interesting ways to take pictures. There's nothing pure about my art. I know it's derivative. Everyone's art starts out derivative. It's all derivative. It's what we do with it that makes it our own.
Oh, and I count Annie Liebovitz and Diane Arbus among my influences.
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LibraryThing member okdork
was okay. nothing game changing. a few nice digestible pieces but not sticking around on shelf.
LibraryThing member dtn620
A great little book about creating. Plenty to return to when feeling stuck at work, life, or creating.
LibraryThing member nmarun
I'll start by saying that this is a very thin, but a very heavy book. Thin in terms of the number of pages and heavy in terms of the topics the author discusses.
The author gives many examples for 'Re-mix seems to be the order of the day'. I was floored when he said 'Our failure to copy our heroes
Conventional thinking says 'keep yourself busy all the time', but the author goes the other direction to show why being bored is critical to be creative.
Kleon highlights the importance of getting an education even after your schooling days. It helps you to get curious about even the most commonplace. Being surrounded by books seems to be crucial for any kind of growth and I resonate with this very well.
There are people who crave for being in the lime-light and there are others who do silent, great work behind the screens. The book suggests being in the latter. Kleon tells the only way to become popular is to do good work and share it with people.
All-in-all this is a book that tells you how to add value to your life by adapting these ground-rules.
The author gives many examples for 'Re-mix seems to be the order of the day'. I was floored when he said 'Our failure to copy our heroes
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is where we discover where our own thing lives. That is how we evolve.'.Conventional thinking says 'keep yourself busy all the time', but the author goes the other direction to show why being bored is critical to be creative.
Kleon highlights the importance of getting an education even after your schooling days. It helps you to get curious about even the most commonplace. Being surrounded by books seems to be crucial for any kind of growth and I resonate with this very well.
There are people who crave for being in the lime-light and there are others who do silent, great work behind the screens. The book suggests being in the latter. Kleon tells the only way to become popular is to do good work and share it with people.
All-in-all this is a book that tells you how to add value to your life by adapting these ground-rules.
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LibraryThing member imjustmea
Inspiring. Goes very well with Neil Gaiman's "Make Good Art" speech.
LibraryThing member andreablythe
Steal Like an Artist is more of an inspirational, rather than practical, how-to book. It dispenses some of the epiphanies Kleon has come to discover over the course of his life as a creative artist and writer. He shares his advice with a mixture of plain-speak narrative, attractive black and white
Most of these epiphanies felt rather elementary to me, being things I already knew or had a sense of — such as, “Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use – do the work you want to see done.” And yet, though this is not new information, I still found it refreshing to hear this advice again. The easier or more common a piece of advice is, the easier it is to push that advice to the back or your mind. Reading them again, reminds me and reinvigorates me.
The titular bit of advice, "Steal like an artist," Kleon reveals is in a sense another way of saying, "There's nothing new under the sun." The idea isn't to enact plagiarism, but to know that every experience, every book read, movie watched, every debate with a good friend intensely discussed feeds the creative machine of your mind. This both frees up artists trapped in the desperate search for originality to just sit down and create work, while also urging them to seek out experiences that best feed their work, enacting a kind of selective inspiration.
Most of the advice in Steal Like an Artist is designed to free the artist from obstacles, so that they create. It's a perfect book to read when you're feeling stuck.
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design, and illustrative artwork. Most of these epiphanies felt rather elementary to me, being things I already knew or had a sense of — such as, “Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use – do the work you want to see done.” And yet, though this is not new information, I still found it refreshing to hear this advice again. The easier or more common a piece of advice is, the easier it is to push that advice to the back or your mind. Reading them again, reminds me and reinvigorates me.
The titular bit of advice, "Steal like an artist," Kleon reveals is in a sense another way of saying, "There's nothing new under the sun." The idea isn't to enact plagiarism, but to know that every experience, every book read, movie watched, every debate with a good friend intensely discussed feeds the creative machine of your mind. This both frees up artists trapped in the desperate search for originality to just sit down and create work, while also urging them to seek out experiences that best feed their work, enacting a kind of selective inspiration.
Most of the advice in Steal Like an Artist is designed to free the artist from obstacles, so that they create. It's a perfect book to read when you're feeling stuck.
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LibraryThing member ElOsoBlanco
I loved this. It's simple, it's clear, it's concise, and the advice is relatively adaptable to suit the needs of any reader. I immediately started a few of the habits mentioned in the book and have found them quite useful.
Enjoy, and go create.
Enjoy, and go create.
LibraryThing member phlll
Quite possibly one of the best books aspiring (or burned out) artists can read. It shows some simple ways to get ideas from everyday life.
Plus, there aren't a lot of words, so this is a 20-minute read at best. But it's the kind of thing you'd pay to see at a college, or hear at a business seminar
I recommend this to everyone. Even you.
Plus, there aren't a lot of words, so this is a 20-minute read at best. But it's the kind of thing you'd pay to see at a college, or hear at a business seminar
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that would have a >$250 cover charge. And it's like $11.I recommend this to everyone. Even you.
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LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
Lots of food for thought. Along the lines of the Enemy of done is perfect. Just do things, forget about an audience, stop the doubt, just do it.
This comes at a mental sweet spot after a podcast talked about how buying the tools to do something creative isn't a substitute for doing creative
This is a quick read and I found it a useful spur.
This comes at a mental sweet spot after a podcast talked about how buying the tools to do something creative isn't a substitute for doing creative
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stuff.This is a quick read and I found it a useful spur.
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LibraryThing member tldegray
This was just the thing I needed to read right now, as I'm in a creative slump. It was a great antidote to impostor syndrome.
LibraryThing member paulsignorelli
Although Austin Kleon's playfully engaging new book jolts us all a bit with his use of "steal" in the title, his intent clearly is to help us understand that 'stealing like an artist' suggests a level of interaction with our sources of inspiration that leaves no room or encouragement for outright
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acts of plagiarism. Steal begins with David Bowie's admission that "The only art I'll ever study is stuff that I can steal from'; gathers steam with Yohji Yamamoto's advice to "Start copying what you love. Copy copy copy copy. At the end of the copy you will find your self'; and leads us to a list of recommended readings that should, if it is not already, be familiar to any of us interested in taking a creative approach to all we undertake. Along the way, Kleon leads us through his 10 thoughts on the theme of unlocking our creativity. And while much of what he has written is far from novel to those of us who have been exploring creativity for many years, the book is cleverly presented and serves as an homage both to sources he acknowledges and others he may not yet personally have encountered. Show Less
LibraryThing member Razinha
Delightful little book, filled with many good notions.
Recommended.
Recommended.
LibraryThing member bostonterrio
Kick start your creativity!
I am truly surprised that I enjoyed this book so much. It is a fast read and really triggered a burst of creative thinking for me. The ideas described are not new but serve as good reminders of how to encourage someone's creative growth. I rarely read a book more than
I am truly surprised that I enjoyed this book so much. It is a fast read and really triggered a burst of creative thinking for me. The ideas described are not new but serve as good reminders of how to encourage someone's creative growth. I rarely read a book more than
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once but I think this book will be the exception. Show Less
LibraryThing member bibliosk8er
Ha! Worked in one more book in 2013!
This little book is a very fast read, but I think it has some good thoughts in it. One might say "it's just motivational blah-blah-blah", but sometimes that is just fine. Sometimes it is what you need. I am interested in creativity and the creative process, and
This little book is a very fast read, but I think it has some good thoughts in it. One might say "it's just motivational blah-blah-blah", but sometimes that is just fine. Sometimes it is what you need. I am interested in creativity and the creative process, and
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Kleon has some good things to say on those topics. I dug it. Show Less
Language
Original publication date
2012-02-28
ISBN
9780761171256