Austin Kleon

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  1. This is the most inspiring thing I’ve read in a very long time. Thank you so much!! I feel like I’m going to have a really creative day (which have been rare lately) today.

  4. You have no idea how much I needed to read this. I recently said that, sometimes we forget how much of our art is simple about perseverance – and your post just highlights this beautifully. What I failed to mention is that I totally suck at perseverance! *laugh. At least I’m aware of it now and I’m making an effort to hanging in there and work through my creative issues, instead of just giving up.

    Thanks for this, much needed and well said.

  5. Thank You!, Ever so much for visiting the BCC campus. You inspired a bunch of people. Thank you for posting this I wanted to get this for my son who is a budding artist I think he will get a lot out of it.

  6. Thanks for this–so inspiring and thought provoking to me. This reminds me of Hugh McCleod (of Gaping Void fame) and his book “Ignore Everybody.” I hope you don’t hear that a lot and thus get sick of hearing it, cause it’s meant to be a compliment :) Cheers, Austin–got a new Twitter follower and FB fan!

  7. Shouldn’t there be an extra step or two between Seeing Something You Like and Stealing It? (I’m asking honestly.) Like, trying to figure out what you like about it, and thinking about what you might add to it to make it better or different, or whether what you want to borrow fits visually or thematically into what you’re doing at all. Is it OK to steal from a peer? When is stealing artful and when is it rote regurgitation?

  13. LOVE this. But I’m not sure how “get a day job and keep it” encourages people to create. Especially if “side jobs and hobbies are important” and we’re “faking it ’til we make it”. Not sure Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe would agree with the whole day job thing. It’s the only thing in the whole article that gave me pause. But, as you also said, “all advice is autobiographical”.

  14. hey austin…i’m stealing this for my blog! and i’m bookmarking the page to finish reading later because i’ve got my granddaughter who wants my attention so i didn’t get to finish…but what I read excited my very inner being.
    thanks,
    annie!

  15. I agree with Ashlie. I’m in total agreement with most of this article, but I’ve had a day job and was either a)too exhausted or b)too depressed to create art productively.

    My rule would be: turn making art into your day job ;)

  17. This is wonderful! I especially love the part when you talk about how we are mashups of what we choose to let into our own lives. I’ve always thought that was true. Exactly what I needed to read right now! Thanks for being such an inspiration :)

  20. Austin, my man, this is brilliant brilliant brilliant. Very thoughtful, universal and personal. I agree with (and try to do) all ten of these items. I can see why you get asked to do speaking engagements. Well done and thanks for sharing this!

  23. Jeez, thanks y’all.

    @Toni – hugh is a mentor, and a friend, and a huge inspiration. I steal from him all the time.

    @JW – That’s all part of the “figure out what’s worth stealing” step. Check out this Jim Jarmusch quote of Godard: “It’s not where you take things from, it’s where you take them to.”

    @Ashlie – People always push back on the day job bit. Important to keep in mind: in the early days, Patti Smith worked in a bookstore to support herself and Robert. Kafka had a $90,000 a year job at an insurance company. Etc. All art needs funding. As Tommy Howells said, “The Renaissance, like everything else, had to be financed.”

  28. “If I waited to know “who I was” or “what I was about” before I started “being creative”, well, I’d still be sitting around trying to figure myself out instead of making things. In my experience, it’s in the act of making things that we figure out who we are.”

    I think the he doesn’t fully understand what Rainn was trying to say. What i get from Rainn is that through doing, you experience more and learn about yourself more in the process. I don’t think he means don’t do things, before you learn about yourself. He just means it’s an important step in creating and getting out of a creative block. You do things while you are out discovering, no? That’s the way i interpret it anyway. *shrug*

  35. It’s my birthday, THANKS for the best present I’ll ever receive. I’m glad that you are sharing your secrets like my patron saint of scenic art, Bob Ross.

  39. OMG Austin, you have written the story of my life! LOL, I have been saying some of these things for years, clever man that you are put them in writing…..Kudos to you sir, this is brilliant :)

  44. Thank you so much for this article Austin. I’ve been trying to implement a lot of these things in my own work. A lot of creators (I’m mainly speaking of COMIC BOOK creators) seem to play their cards close to their chest when working on personal projects. They’ll hint to a “secret” project or they’ll give a tease as to what they’re doing next, but like just like you said in #6 up there, I try to let out all my secrets and put it all on the table. When I start a new personal project I show as much as I can. I show that character designs, say what the story is about, and just show the process.
    When I get a new DVD I like to watch all of the special features and “making of” things first before I watch the movie. I appreciate the movie MORE when I see how it was done and the process behind it. It makes me more invested in the product, brand, etc.
    I’m pretty new to the illustration business, but I’m trying to be more involving with my work and get an audience before I’m even done.
    Anyways, thanks again for the article. You’re awesome.

  48. One of the best posts I’ve read in a long time. Almost every word stated resonated with me. Loved the Jay Z “Decoded” reference as well. Thanks for putting together this eloquent collection of inspiration.

  49. This is wonderful! Not to mention absolutely necessary for kids interested in a career in art, thank you for writing it! I only have one criticism, I feel like the word steal is kind of harsh. I have very strong feelings about copyright law and the artists who actually do make their living tracing other people’s art and selling them as their own. I feel like a lot of young artists don’t think this is wrong or are just ignorant about it. I know you clarify later on that stealing really means having an assortment of influences, but really stealing, weather it’s stealing another artist’s photos for your collage, or another artist’s design to sell is something that should be talked about with these kids more clearly. Having an influences or even copying a technique is not the same as directly taking someone else’s art.

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