Austin Kleon

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  1. This was pretty inspiring until we get to the part where you reveal that you’re not a full time artist. That’s kind of depressing. No offense meant, still a great article.

    But day jobs are one of the worst, most soul-sucking things in the world (as first-world problems go, anyway.)

    At least for me. I consider myself to have not succeeded yet if I’m still dragging my ass out of bed every day to go sit at a desk and be a slave for some rich asshole.

  3. A profound and heartfelt thank you!! Just as I was reflecting over my waning interest in FB as a source of new, touching and inspiring material, along came your post.
    It really resonates and has a lot of soul!
    You are wise beyond your years…..keep it coming!

  4. I am crushed by the idea that I will never produce anything original.

    My struggle to create that ONE great contribution to the world is not something I take lightly. Eat sleep and bleed process. I never stop as it is never shut off. This process IS me and if it is inevitably pointless to toil over then what’s the point of my life?

    I’m not OK with the life of a collector, developing great taste in music, literature, food and travel comes at a great cost. Strong opinions means that the majority of things you are presented with are inferior and annoying. It will never go away you are doomed to endlessly trudge the swampy mess of mass appeal. All you have in the end is your opinions that like minded collectors will hopefully congratulate you on. Is that it? Have you arrived? Have you made it?

    Who’s life is better? The average person who swallows what they’re fed or us artist/collectors that “know better”. I often find myself watching people who like insane clown posse with jealous eyes. Really? THIS is all it takes? Live, consume, and die in the same town and you’re totally OK with that.

    Must be nice.

  5. Great article.

    You know, I’d take corporate peon over starving artist any day. Not everyone has the ability to make a comfortable living from their art. Many artists and writers had other full-time jobs before “making it big.”

    Sometimes you have do what needs to be done, to pay the bills.

  6. I loved this article. I’m from Maysville, Ky and I think I can probably see the middle of a cornfield in Southern Ohio where you grew up. ;)

    After a lifetime of couture sewing, I’m now able to art in a different way. I thought I was doing things incorrectly at first but after reading your article, it seems I’m actually on the right path. That makes me and my books very happy indeed.

    love your work!
    diana

  7. Cool post. I esp like #’s 3 & 9. I’m almost finished with my second book, but it has dragged on for months. You gave me an idea of how to map it out to finish it over the next couple of weeks. Thanks.

  10. this is perfect for me today. i want to write a book; i want to write one so bad that i almost cry when i go to bookstores. and i’ve never really thought past that because i didn’t know what to think about.

  14. Loved this – really, really loved it. The visuals were so great. And I am so glad you pointed out the validity of the mundane aspects of life. Just this week someone told me “its ok to be unremarkable” – whenever I worry about being or making something remarkable, it naturally never words. Permission to be unremarkable always leads me to great discoveries.

  16. Very inspirational and moving! Makes me rethink the way I live my life and maybe even speaks to me about all the crap in my life and how it gets in the way of my own creativity.

  18. Really LOVE this post – it summarizes what it means to be an artist in art and in life. You’ve really captured the essence of that in so many aspects. I especially liked the part about the artist collecting only things they really love – I recently sold my house and most of my belongings and became an intentional nomad. That process was so powerful, of eliminating all that I didn’t love, or will need in future for a new place. That freeing up process was incredibly liberating from a creative standpoint. And it’s as true for day-to-day life as well as art. Thank you!

  19. So inspiring and so comforting at the same time. I admit, I’m a victim of “impostor syndrome”. Every time I think I shake it, it sneaks back. It’s so nice to know it’s real and it has a name. I’m off to do what I “like”. Live it. Love it!

  22. Thank you for the part about day jobs. It’s important for young artists to understand that the money’s got to come from somewhere. You can make art to sell products for corporations (advertising), you can find a patron (usually a wealthy spouse or family member), or you can get a day job. There used to be a small chance you could sell art directly to people, but that’s disappearing with the infinitely copyable nature of digital works. “Intellectual property” is a doomed imaginary construct, so stop counting on it. (This is obviously different if you create unique, physical art objects, like paintings, in which case your money must come from a small class of wealthy collectors, as always.)

  25. Bonjour,

    I really appreciate what you’re saying about the myth of the ‘bohemian artist ‘ who takes drugs and lives like a bad rockstar …
    I came from a cinema school where 90pourcent of the students believe that and try to look terribly cool and hip.
    For a moment I tough that I was the only one who just wanted to work on my movies …
    Héhé !
    ;)

  26. If I copied your style to somehow create a final paper for some of my long overdue papers, would you be okay with that? Seriously, all graduate research is, is spitting out other peoples’ crap. You may have given me the first inspiration I’ve had to finish them in 4 years.

    You know, that flattery thing…

  27. I think you make a lot of interesting points, but I’m sort of put-off by some of what you wrote. I think it’s a really good idea for people to write what they know, for example. This creative life isn’t just about having fun and enjoying everything we do, it’s about providing real insights that we can share with one another; what is it like to be you? I’m more interested in that question than “what are you into?”
    In keeping with the theme, I think it’s more important to try to learn about the world, and ourselves, than to make friends. Making lots of friends can help us learn, but it’s not the end; if the end were to simply be friends with everyone, everyone would just be friendly.Fake smiles all around, and no one has a *real* friend in the world ( the people who still like you when you’re ugly.).
    And it does take a certain degree of knowing oneself to be able to express things that transcend that kind of fake-smile best-blog-buddy level of interaction. Not everyone can get there, and that’s ok. That journey alone is worth it, but it’s not going to mean anything if we fool ourselves into thinking we’ve arrived.

  28. Thank you so much for this article! It’s so inspiring, one artist to another. This is just the type of motivation I need, after hitting a creative slump and especially before going off to college next year.

  29. i don’t have anything productive to add, but this list is freaking BRILLIANT! my people would laugh me out of a room for calling myself an artist; you make it seem like a simple life choice. and a fairly good one at that.\
    sorry i dont capitalize or punctuate well. i waited too long to go to the wrong college

  32. I propose we set up a Facebook page or something like that, and lobby school boards all over the country. If they really care about preparing students for the real world in a healthy way, this will be added to the curriculum of every school in the nation.

  33. I wish you didn’t confuse inspiration and stealing. Inspiration is about legacy. Manet didn’t steal from Goya. You don’t exist on your own, an artist is part of a society, of a long history of one artist doing one thing after an other. The idea of an artist doing anything without a background is stupid, and the better the background the better the artist. But it’s not stealing. Imagine if you were saying
    That anybody using the golden rule is stealing, anybody using Klein blue is stealing, etc. The more you know and study , the more ideas and art you can build on, the better the art. Getting inspired from one is stealing. Learning from all is getting inspired.

    Choose your legacy, learn it, live it. Be inspired. It’s not stealing. It’s work, it’s art.

  35. Well, simply good product. All the “i’m smarter than you” types that had to take the high road of theoretical debate…. i have but one word….. WHATEVER! Get a clue people, you don’t have to agree with everything in order to recognize brilliance.

    WELL DONE AUSTIN!

  36. Amazing!!! You should go on Ted.com and give this presentation. People would love it! (good way to promote yer book too! :) Fantastic breakdown of the way things ‘naturally’ should work, but also that we have to work at to accomplish! Well done my friend. ..I would change Step 3 a bit though, instead of “The sequel *always* sucks ” , I’d say the sequel generally sucks, as there are a lot of movies where the sequel is actually better than the original.
    Besides that though, this will definitely be food for thought for me for the next little while! Keep up the great work!!

  43. Dude :) totally awesome.
    did you read the last lecture? i loved the format of that book and this seems to have to same feel. BIG STATEMENT then description. really a fun way to read. love love love it :)

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