Steal Like an Artist – by Austin Kleon
Date read: 5/27/19. Recommendation: 9/10.

Short read on creativity and the importance of your influences. It reminded me of Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art. Kleon discusses the creative struggle, where to find inspiration, and how to leverage influences. Anyone can imitate style on a surface level and copy what’s been done. But the most talented artists take it one step further. They steal the thinking behind the style–the mindset of their influences–to emulate and create something of their own. Great reference for smart creatives who want to hone their craft and build the endurance to play the long game.

See my notes below or Amazon for details and reviews.

My Notes:

Your Influences Matter:

• “The only art I’ll ever study is stuff that I can steal from.” David Bowie

• “We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.” Goethe

• Start with a single thinker you love. Find and study three people that influenced them. Begin to build branches of your own.

• “It’s not the book you start with, it’s the book that book leads you to.” AK

Ignore Style, Look Deeper:

• “Don’t just steal the style, steal the thinking behind the style. You don’t want to look like your heroes, your want to see like your heroes.”

• Similar to quote from Marcus Aurelius: "Take a good hard look at people's ruling principle, especially of the wise, what they run away from and what they seek out."

Imitation:

• Imitation = copying. Emulation = one step further, creating something that is your own.

• “It is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique.” Conan O’Brien

• “Our failure to copy our heroes is where we discover where our own thing lives. That is how we evolve.” AK

Inspiration to Create:

• Step 1) Wonder at something. Step 2) Invite others to wonder with you.

• “Complain about the way other people make software by making software.” Andre Torres

Power of routine and systems: 

• “Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.” Gustave Flaubert

• Mark art your main relaxing activity (Derek Sivers). A day job gives you financial freedom, human connection, and routine. Use it to your advantage. 

Creativity is subtraction:

• Limitless possibilities can be paralyzing, place constraints on yourself. 

• “What we respond to in any work of art is the artist’s struggle against his or her limitations.” Saul Steinberg

• “It’s often what an artists choose to leave out that makes the art interesting.” AK