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Steal like an artist
176 pages
A pocket-sized permission slip to stop worrying about being a genius and just start making things.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like sitting down for coffee with a wildly encouraging mentor who immediately strips away all your pretentious anxieties about making art. It is a brisk, highly visual experience, built on punchy maxims, sharp quotes, and playful hand-drawn illustrations that make the pages fly by. The atmosphere is entirely liberating, replacing the heavy dread of the blank page with a sunny, pragmatic optimism. It dismantles the intimidating myth of the solitary genius, offering instead a joyful invitation to remix, borrow, and play with the world around you. Perfect for anyone feeling creatively blocked or overwhelmed, it delivers a quick, potent jolt of energy that leaves you itching to get off the couch and get to work.
- Mood
- energizing
- playful
- liberating
- Tone
- encouraging
- pragmatic
- irreverent
- accessible
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- creative liberation · the myth of originality · embracing influence · everyday creativity
- The writing
- Punchy, conversational, and highly visual, relying on short maxims and hand-drawn illustrations to deliver its wisdom.
- The arc
- Moves from the paralyzing anxiety of the blank page to a liberating, fired-up readiness to just start making things.
- Who it's for
- Anyone feeling creatively stuck, intimidated by the pressure to be wholly original, or in need of a quick, practical jolt of inspiration.
About the book
When asked to talk to students at Broome Community College in upstate New York in the spring of 2011, Austin Kleon wrote a simple list often things he wished he'd heard when he was their age: 'Steal like an artist; Don't wait until you know who you are to start making things; Write the book you want to read; Use your hands; Side projects are important; Do good work and put it where people can see it; Geography is no longer our master; Be nice (the world is a small town.); Be boring (it's the only way to get work done.); and, Creativity is subtraction.' After giving the speech, he posted the text and slides to his popular blog, where it quickly went viral. Now Kleon has expanded his original manifesto into an illustrated guide to the creative life for writers, artists, entrepreneurs, designers, photographers, musicians, and anyone attempting to make things - art, a career, a life - in the digital age. Brief, direct, and visually interactive, the book includes illustrative anecdotes and mini-exercise sections calling out practical actions readers can take to unleash their own creative spirits.
Description from Open Library.
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