Good Artist Copy, Great Artist Steal

“Good artists copy, great artists steal.”

This famous quote by Picasso is the premise for Austin Kleon’s renowned book, Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative.

In this educative, book Kleon shows us how to “steal” ideas from everything around us, combine them with each other and also our ideas to create something entirely new.
It is an informative read that is focused on being actionable, wastes no time, and uses graphic illustrations and typography to engage the reader.

The book is 10 chapters long, which act more like 10 secrets to achieving the same goal -- stealing like a great artist.

Below is a brief summary of each lesson and how you can implement them into your life as a marketer, designer, writer, or creative in general.

1. Steal like an artist
   It was King Solomon who once said: “There is nothing new under the sun”. This means that anything new we see is only a remix of something already existing. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations.

It is just like colors, all colors we have is only different combinations of the three primary colors (red, blue, yellow). Nothing is original. Every piece of art or creative work has and always will have been influenced by something else.

What you have to do is, try to be original, focus on how you can remix, transform, and improve existing ideas, and advance them.

I personally create art through things I collect daily. I steal ideas from my friends, family, peers, music, movies, books, current events, and everything else I encounter.

What I have found out is that by pulling inspiration from a variety of sources, I am able to create something rich and valuable in meaning.

2 Don’t wait until you know who you are to start making things
Whether you are writing, creating a new product, designing a website, or strategizing how to solve a problem, the only requirement to get started in creating is to forget who you are.

Eventually, you will adapt their ideas to your own approach and you will have evolved from copying. Once your own style is formed, others will begin copying you.

3 Write the book you want to read
There is a misconception that you should write a book based on the area you have the most knowledge. As an expert on a particular subject, the book will be a good read, right?

Not necessarily.

Many of us often have knowledge in areas of low interest to mainstream audiences -- perhaps our professions or things we learned in school.

Instead of succumbing to a textbook on these subjects, write the book that you’re dying to read yourself.

Your genuine enthusiasm and passion for the subject matter will make you dig deeper and create something greater than you originally thought possible. It will help draw more greatly from your personal thoughts and ideas than a professional piece reiterating what many have said before you.

4 Use your hands
According to Kleon, “computers have robbed us of the feeling that we are making things.”

We have two working modes, digital and analog, to stimulate all areas of your mind and he suggests that modern creative are losing sight of the latter.

Schedule time away from the computer and internet to use your hands. Write, draw, build, craft -- do anything physical that creates a tangible result.

Something as simple as taking notes on paper during your next team meeting rather than on a tablet can help you channel this energy.

5 Side projects & hobbies are important
Practice productive procrastination by working on side projects and hobbies that take your mind off work and serve no purpose to make money. Instead, let the aspects of what make you unique flourish and in turn, they will aid your ”required” tasks and projects.

6 Do good work & put it where people can see it
Appreciate the small audience you have in the beginning. Fewer eyes on your work relieves pressure and allows you to tinker and experiment until you get it right, but don’t be afraid to open up your audience.

Create great work, consistently improve, and share it with as many people as you can. Though there will be critics, sharing our work with others also helps us and like-minded people we wouldn’t likely have met. It helps us get new perspectives and improve our work even further.

Two of the most valuable ideas I have gotten on Steemit came from those who criticized my work.

7 Geography is no longer our master
“Travel makes the world look new, and when the world looks new, our brains work harder,” Kleon states.

So, don’t be contained to your once. The further you travel, the more insights you gain and can add to your work. However, he notes that constraints can often be a blessing in disguise.

A bad weather season can keep you locked in your once for months at a time, diligently creating your next masterpiece.

8 Be nice (the world is a small town)
Focus on making new friends and ignore the haters.
It’s easy to get distracted and worked up over negative comments about you or your work, but this is unproductive.
Surround yourself with creative and successful people who you aspire to be like. When you are around the best, you adapt to their level. Write fan letters to those you admire. Everyone needs praise from time to time and if you enjoy someone’s work, you should let them know.
Showing a genuine appreciation for someone else’s work (even if it’s that of a competitor) can open the door to co-branded webinars, or other forms of Mutually beneficial​ collaboration.

9 Be boring sometimes
The people who are most productive usually live the most boring lives.
All of the excitement and drama that’s typically associated with an artist’s life isn’t practical for long-term success.

Creativity requires the majority of your energy, so you have to take care of yourself through diet, exercise, and sleep. Predictable routines, good health and energy levels allow you to be most productive.

You also have to live within your means until you have money to spend. While it might be romantic to quit your job and thrust yourself into a new career as an artist, it’s not realistic. Stay out of debt and avoid being a starving artist.

10 Keep your day job: While it may not be your dream, it allows you to pay the bills and create a stable routine where you can work on your craft every day. It builds momentum and creates habits that will benefit you now and in the future.

Below is the ted talk by Austin about his book.