Steal Like An Artist

 

I recently read Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon and this book is definitely the fastest one I have read to date. I read it in under 30 minutes. I think it is the writing style that is so easy to read it reminds me of comic books. I loved reading it and got a lot insight when it came to realm of creativity and work. Below are the main points I got from the book.

Steal Like An Artist

Nothing is original in this world and just like it says in the book of Ecclesiastes verse 1:9

What has been will be again,

what has been done will be done again;

there is nothing new under the sun.

All creative work builds upon what has already being done before.Every new idea is just a mashup or remix of previous ideas. Just like how you are mashup of various genes from your parents, so too should your ideas be. Taking one idea and combining it with another often leads to interesting results.

You should have a book where you "steal" things from the creators you love.

“Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic.” —Jim Jarmusch

You should focus on one person whose content you love ..go in deep and see their process, what inspires them etc. Then go further and pick 3 people who inspire your role model and repeat the process. Do this as much as possible.

Steal great ideas, methods etc and be very selective on them. Remember, garbage in, garbage out.

Don't Wait Until You Know Who You Are To Get Started

You have to dress for the job you want and start doing the job you want basically fake it till you make it. In the process of doing, you will discover what works and what doesn't but the key thing is to just start.Do not wait until you know yourself to start. The irony is that by starting is when you get to truly know yourself

No one knows who they are truly and in the beginning, we all start by copying people we look up to. Copying in this context is about practicing aka reverse engineering trying to see how various things came to be. It is not plagiarism which is passing off someone's work as yours

“Start copying what you love. Copy copy copy copy. At the end of the copy you will find your self.” —Yohji Yamamoto

You have to figure who you want to copy then you figure what you want to copy. You then take it a step further and add your own spin to it. You will come to realize you cannot fully replicate your heroes work perfectly nor do you want to as that defeats the purpose. You will just be cheap knockoff.

By adding your own spin, you make the work yours as it is only you who can do it. Conversely, someone else will do the same to your work and add their own spin.

Side hobbies and projects are important

“The work you do while you procrastinate is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life.” —Jessica Hische

It's a novel idea to have a lot of side projects going on because that's where the good stuff happens. What you do when you're not working is probably your best work and you should spend more time there.

If you have multiple side projects, you can bounce between one and the next if you get bored keeping the creative momentum going.

Work With Your Hands and share it

Get dirty and work with your hands. Spend time away from the computer and build stuff. This is where the hobbies and passions come in. By building stuff using your hands, you find yourself to getting happier the more you work on your hobbies/work/passions. You gain experience faster when you build things with your hands. That’s why I like project-based learning because it forces you learn what you need to in order to solve the problem you have at hand.

After you have done great work, share it with others. This is crucial if you want to get feedback on the work you do. Feedback helps you iron out the flaws in your work and in the long run, makes your work become better and better.

Thanks for reading all the way to the end. If you have any feedback, please let me know in the comment section. See you next time!