Austin Kleon

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  3. Started reading this with jaded skepticism and was bubbling over with earnest passionate appreciation before I knew it. A truly truly great post! Thank you for sharing.

  7. Really inspiring. I’m at art school and I’ve been in a real slump the past few months. This addressed almost everything that has been weighing me down lately. I feel like I have a better perspective on things now. Thanks for sharing.

  8. This is quite possibly the best blog post I have read…. EVER! Ok, granted, most of the things that I read are the side journeys, the hobbies, but really this is amazing and so true. Only I would question…. faking it till you make it sounds almost … easy. I think that fake it till you make it means you’re working your as! off to be who and what you want sometimes and to stand strong by your ideals and beliefs. :-) but that’s just me. I LOVE THIS POST.
    http://WearNailPolish.blogspot.com

  9. Genius in its articulate simplicity. It totally sticks the pin of reality into the overinflated, pretentious “art” balloon, and demystifies what it means (as well as what it doesn’t mean) to be creative and to be an artist. So many of we “creative types” get bogged down by the bullshit myths of how we should be living our lives and doing our work and the ridiculous persona we should develop. Overthinking this crap totally stifles the real creative impulses, and so many of us lose the joy in our work by overcomplicating the process or forgetting the reasons why we’re doing it in the first place. Maybe some of us have the wrong reasons to begin with. I loved this post. It said, so succinctly and with such clarity, shit that took me a couple decades to figure out. I hope it inspires others and helps them avoid some of the pitfalls many of us have already been sidelined by. Awesome. righteousventing.com.

  12. This was a great article. I’m going to bookmark it, and hopefully use it to do something with my life after I graduate high school.

  14. I loved this, how did you get to be so wize? The only part I differ with was the job part. I gave up my job to do art and never looked back. I think you have great depth, so inspiring.

  15. Thanks for sharing these great insights. Though I’ve come to much of the same conclusions in life, it has taken me twice as long to get there. Had I known half this stuff in college, I think I’d be twice as far ahead now.

    May your words inspire those bombarded by the distractions of the physical world just long enough to find a semblence of quiet tranquility in their own thoughts.

  18. Dude, you made Lifehacker! Congrats. :) (And excellent post/speech – I’ve told bunches of people about it and you definitely inspired me.)

  19. If you like making music please check .thearraymbira.com out, I can testify that creating new but effective kinds of musical instruments involved doing just exactly what you say to the letter! Many people think art is about perfection but that is what practice is about. when I play on stage and I’m perfect and balanced in my performance everyone is relieved to discover its safe to ignore me, on the other hand when I make awkward mistakes everyone pays attention to see if I’ll get out of the predicament I’ve put myself in, and if in my adrenaline rush to recover I somehow find my way back to balance they love it. Even if I fail they find it gratifying that I tried something dangerous. People don’t want perfection, they want a human story with faults and pitfalls that they can relate to their own life. Many people never get up on stage fearing they will make “mistakes” and never quite realizing that mistakes are ones best opportunities, the great artists fall flat all the time because they take risks, NOTHING VENTURED NOTHING GAINED, even when ending in failure courage is inspiring.

  21. The way I got my masters and doctorate so fast was by doing what I did during my nearly 22-year army career: work a half-day schedule–6 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week!

  22. This was freaking awesome to read. I linked to it on my website — it was forwarded to me by my cousin on facebook. :) Thanks for sharing.

  24. Awesome! Love what you share and how you say it! I also wish I knew this in college. But it is never too late to learn. At the age of 59, it’s inspiring to collect good guides for this second half of my life adventure. May you have great success….and I hope you are lecturing at college campuses!

  25. Extremely interesting with inspirational points. I did not agree with it all, but with a lot of what was said……..
    Helpful suggestions and thought-provoking so what more could you expect. Thanks for this.

  27. Two things:
    Negative: Quoting the Bible? ick
    Positive: Another tip for writers, in fact the only one I have ever found any use for: PARK ON THE DOWNHILL

    Don’t write that last idea of the day. Save it for tomorrow to start t the ball rolling, to have SOMETHING to start with later.
    I won’t be back to read any reaction to this, so if you have one, please email to my junk account: elevatorlovers at yahoo

  29. Have fun and be boring – these are the 2 things I’ll take to heart. Who are we trying to impress anyway?

    I put this on my favourites and will be sure to reread from time to time because it’s a great reminder of what’s important. Thank you!

Trackbacks

  3. […] How to Steal Like an Artist (and 9 Other Things Nobody Told Me) – This is one of the best blog posts I’ve read in a long time and actually came from a talk Austin Kleon gave and then condensed for his blog. It appeared just after I published last week’s Something for the Weekend and I loved it so much I popped it on the SWBN Facebook page. If you missed it, then I recommend you sit down, grab a cuppa and have a read. […]

  10. […] How to Steal Like an Artist is an interesting edit of a talk given by the author about 10 things he wish he had heard in college.  The information he details is fascinating and inspirational, so I recommend giving the article a read, especially if you’re in any sort of creative slump. This entry was posted on Friday, April 8th, 2011 at 6:53 pm and posted in Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. « Quick Post LikeBe the first to like this post. […]

  13. […] TO STEAL: I’ve enjoyed few essays as much as Austin Kleon’s recent “How To Steal Like An Artist,”(h/t: Longreads). Maybe it sounds nefarious, but Kleon’s postulate that artists routinely […]

  15. […] ramlat över författaren Austin Kleons ”livsråd för den kreative” i blogginlägget ”How to steal like an artist (and 9 other things nobody told me) som handlar om 10 saker som Austin önskade att han fått lära sig redan på College. Intressant […]

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