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Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative (Austin Kleon) Paperback – February 28, 2012

by Austin Kleon (Author)

4.6 17,595 ratings

Goodreads Choice Award nominee

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Unlock your creativity.

An inspiring guide to creativity in the digital age, Steal Like an Artist presents ten transformative principles that will help readers discover their artistic side and build a more creative life.

Nothing is original, so embrace influence, school yourself through the work of others, remix and reimagine to discover your own path. Follow interests wherever they take you—what feels like a hobby may turn into you life’s work. Forget the old cliché about writing what you know: Instead, write the book you want to read, make the movie you want to watch.

And finally, stay Smart, stay out of debt, and risk being boring in the everyday world so that you have the space to be wild and daring in your imagination and your work.

“Brilliant and real and true.”—Rosanne Cash

Print length

160 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Workman Publishing Company
Publication date

February 28, 2012
Dimensions

6.02 x 0.56 x 5.9 inches
ISBN-10

9780761169253
ISBN-13

978-0761169253
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Popular Highlights in this book

What are popular highlights?

Your job is to collect good ideas. The more good ideas you collect, the more you can choose from to be influenced by.
Highlighted by 10,432 Kindle readers
If you ever find that you’re the most talented person in the room, you need to find another room.
Highlighted by 9,734 Kindle readers
Establishing and keeping a routine can be even more important than having a lot of time.
Highlighted by 9,473 Kindle readers

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Brilliant and real and true."
-Rosanne Cash

"Austin Kleon is positively one of the most interesting people on the Internet... Kleon makes an articulate and compelling case for combinatorial creativity and the role of remix in the idea economy."
-The Atlantic

"Breezy and fun and yes, scary. Scary because it calls your bluff."
-Seth Godin

"A quick, easily digestible read that is particularly relevant in today's digital world."-School Library Journal

"Filled with well-formed advice that applies to nearly any kind of work."-Lifehacker.com

From the Back Cover

Unlock your creativity.

Steal like an artist.
Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started.
Write the book you want to read.
Use your hands.
Side projects and hobbies are important.
The secret: do good work and share it with people.
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.)
Creativity is subtraction.

About the Author

Austin Kleon is the New York Times bestselling author of a trilogy of illustrated books about creativity in the digital age: Steal Like An Artist, Show Your Work!, and Keep Going. He’s also the author of Newspaper Blackout, a collection of poems made by redacting the newspaper with a permanent marker. His books have been translated into dozens of languages and have sold over a million copies worldwide. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and sons. Visit him online at www.austinkleon.com.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

HOW TO LOOK AT THE WORLD (LIKE AN ARTIST)

Every artist gets asked the question,
“Where do you get your ideas?”

The honest artist answers,
“I steal them.”

How does an artist look at the world?

First, you figure out what’s worth stealing, then you move on to the next thing.

That’s about all there is to it.

When you look at the world this way, you stop worrying about what’s “good” and what’s “bad”—there’s only stuff worth stealing, and stuff that’s not worth stealing.

Everything is up for grabs. If you don’t find something worth stealing today, you might find it worth stealing tomorrow or a month or a year from now.

“The only art I’ll ever study is stuff that I can steal from.”
—David Bowie

NOTHING IS ORIGINAL

The writer Jonathan Lethem has said that when people call something “original,” nine out of ten times they just don’t know the references or the original sources involved.

What a good artist understands is that nothing comes from nowhere. All creative work builds on what came before. Nothing is completely original.

It’s right there in the Bible: “There is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

Some people find this idea depressing, but it fills me with hope. As the French writer André Gide put it, “Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again.”

If we’re free from the burden of trying to be completely original, we can stop trying to make something out of nothing, and we can embrace influence instead of running away from it.

“What is originality? Undetected plagiarism.”
—William Ralph Inge

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0761169253
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Workman Publishing Company; 1st edition (February 28, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780761169253
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0761169253
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.02 x 0.56 x 5.9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,168 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #8 in Popular Psychology Creativity & Genius
- #16 in Creativity (Books)
- #41 in Entrepreneurship (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.6 17,595 ratings

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Austin Kleon

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Austin Kleon is a writer and artist living in Austin, Texas. He's the author of two bestselling books: Steal Like an Artist, a manifesto for creativity in the digital age, and Newspaper Blackout, a collection of poetry made by redacting newspaper articles with a permanent marker. He speaks about creativity for organizations such as Pixar, Google, SXSW, TEDx, and The Economist. Visit him online at www.austinkleon.com.

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Matthew Jablonski

Once in my hands, couldn't stop reading

Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2024

Verified Purchase

Using negative space on each page is Mr. Kleon's most showcased talent. As others have said, the methods he has visually laid out the content vs. his efforts in keeping the reader absorbed is immediately evident and deliberate - very simple but to the points.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone struggling with creative block while trying to apply their passions and more...

2 people found this helpful

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Lean

For artists and creators

Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2024

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Encouraging and a must have for any artist out there.

One person found this helpful

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Conrad Ko

Well Done and Its an Adrenaline Rush

Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2015

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I bought this book on 10Feb2015 and finish it the night I bought it.

“Steal Like an Artist” by Austin Kleon.
Creative/dp/0761169253/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_yI

I must confess I bought the book solely because of the Title. Since I was fasinated by the idea of stealing and the status symbol of being an artist, I bought it without second thought.

Steal Like an artist is a short and easy read, I finished the whole book in less than 2 hours and did some notes in the process. Anyone with reasonable reading skills should be able to finish the book in less than an afternoon.

The primary objective of the book is to persuade you to reverse engineer the work of others and improvised it into your own model. Start a Phony and become a real artist is the premise of the whole book. Austin defines copying as the act to absorb and reverse engineer the word of others and immersing oneself into a space where one can blend multiple ideas into a complete set of idea and create something out of it, be it a piece of art, a product or a business.

Austin Kleon also suggest the readers to find out who to copy, what to copy and the reason of copying, since the world is a GIGO (Garbage In and Garbage Out).

Another interesting point he point out is that humans are more able to create content on paper or by physical actions rather than hitting the keypad. He believe that is because the muscle actions will stimulate the brain more thoroughly, thus unleashing the power of creativity. This view resonante by another book I read “The Anti Education Era” written by James Paul Gee. In this book, James Paul Gee also recommends the use of multi sensory input. The more sense involve, the better the memory will register. So I guess as a writer, I will try to include more sensory input to entice the audience to a higher level of engagement.

As of now I am pretty obscure, that could be an Advantage according to Austin Kleon. Because I am in obscurity, I can afford to experiment and be focused on doing good work instead of handling social task. And the readers can feel more engaged in my works since its imperfect. The readers can discover and find the bits and piece by themselves, by filling the gaps between it, the audience can feel more engaged. That’s why incubation and obscure artist always sells better than a fully developed piece and a highly recognized artist.

In the book Austin also stresses the ability to remain stably euphoric. He suggest any artist to keep some praises from readers and audiences and reviewing them when one is having a struggle.

Last but not least, Creativity is subtraction, and creativity is the struggle against limitation. That’s why when you are facing a writer block, entrepreneur block or artist block, try to slash some elements and create something out of a lot of restrictions.

He validated this idea by actions quite well by finishing a poem book called “Newspaper Blackout”.

11 people found this helpful

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Alice

great read

Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2024

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Easy and short but a great one for all readers ! Well written and easy to follow - great one to keep next to your bed

One person found this helpful

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Paulange

The first of his trilogy

Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2024

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I bought this one and the other 2 by Austin Kleon. I love the advice, the art that comes with it and all the quotes chosen to support the mesage.

2 people found this helpful

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Michelle S.

Extremely insightful

Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2024

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I read this over 10 years ago and I still think about it. It's full of glorious insights that will stick with you and change your view of how creativity actually works. I've recommended it to many.

2 people found this helpful

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Andrew Everett

Words (and pictures) of wisdom for a creative life

Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2015

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Austin Kleon writes, “All advice in autobiographical… This book is me talking to a previous version of myself… These ideas apply to anyone who’s trying to inject some creativity into their life and their work. (That should describe all of us.)” The book is thoughtfully written and designed in a creative six-inch by six-inch format.

The idea behind stealing like an artist is that “nothing is completely original… All creative work builds on what came before... If we’re free from the burden of trying to be completely original, we can stop trying to make something out of nothing, and we can embrace influence instead of running away from it.”

“We learn by copying. We’re talking about practice here, not plagiarism—plagiarism is trying to pass someone else’s work off as your own. Copying is about reverse engineering… Remember: Even The Beatles started as a cover band.”

“You are the sum of your influences… Your job is to collect good ideas. The more good ideas you collect, the more you can choose from to be influenced by… Seeing yourself as part of a creative lineage will help you feel less alone as you start making your own stuff… You don’t want to look like your heroes, you want to see like your heroes… That’s what you really want—to internalize their way of looking at the world… It is the act of making things and doing our work that we figure out who we are.”

“You have to be curious about the world in which you live… Always be reading…. Don’t worry about doing research. Just search.”

“You’re only going to be as good as the people you surround yourself with… If you ever find that you’re the most talented person in the room, you need to find another room.”

“The manifesto is this: Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use—do the work you want to see done.”

The author urges readers to “step away from the screen… You need to find a way to bring your body into your work… If we strum a guitar, or shuffle sticky notes around a conference table, or start kneading clay, the motion kickstarts our brain into thinking… The computer is really good for editing your ideas… but it’s not really good for generating ideas. There are too many opportunities to hit the delete key.”

Kleon points out the value of side projects and hobbies in sparking creativity. “By side projects I mean the stuff that you thought was just messing around. Stuff that’s just play. That’s actually the good stuff. That’s when the magic happens… I think it’s good to have a lot of projects going on at once so you can bounce between them. When you get sick of one project, move over to another… Practice productive procrastination.” The author quotes playwright Steven Tomlinson about having diverse interests: “Let them talk to each other. Something will begin to happen.”

“Creativity is subtraction.” The answer to information overload is to “figure out what to leave out” so you can focus on what’s most important to you. “It seems contradictory, but when it comes to creative work, limitations mean freedom… Establishing and keeping a routine can be even more important than having a lot of time.”

Kleon touches on the theme of his second book, Show Your Work. “If there was a secret formula for becoming known, I would give it to you. But there’s only one not-so-secret formula that I know: Do good work and share it with people. It’s a two-step process… Not everyone will get it… So get comfortable with being misunderstood, disparaged, or ignored—the trick is to be too busy doing your work to care.” That said, the author says to, “enjoy your obscurity while it lasts… There’s no pressure when you’re unknown. You can do what you want. Experiment. Do things just for the fun of it. When you’re unknown, there’s nothing to distract your form getting better.”

On a final note, Kleon writes, “Your mileage may vary… Feel free to take what you can use and leave the rest.”

64 people found this helpful

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Brian Lam

Binding Fell Apart Immediately

Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2023

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The content of the book was pretty good. A little brief and general, but some good wisdom. But every time I turned a page, the page would fall out of the book. By the end, it was just a mess of pages and I was holding it together like a stack of loose papers. Since I don't really see it as the kind of book I'd go back to, I just threw it away when I was done. I see from other reviews that my experience with the quality of the binding was not unique. Maybe it's just the paperback. You can read this book in about 30 minutes. Good for a coffee table or toilet read if it weren't for the pages dropping out as you read it.

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

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Daniel

absolutamente fantástico

Reviewed in Mexico on January 11, 2024

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Un libro que te provoca e inspira a cada página. Un libro que te invita a leer una página y parar a pensar. Un libro que leerás decenas de veces y cada una te dirá algo distinto. Un libro fantástico.

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Julie

Thinking outside of the box!!!!

Reviewed in Canada on November 16, 2023

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I not sure stealing is a great to place in a title!!! Thieves don’t make the greatest neighbors. Anyways the book is so insightful and borrowing ideas is a great idea. I think it’s a great book to give as a gift. It’s well done and makes us think outside the box.

2 people found this helpful

Ricardo

A must to read

Reviewed in Brazil on September 7, 2022

Verified Purchase

É um “classic”. Ten que ser lido. Precisava em idioma inglés e consegui com esse fornecedor um preço menor do que na livraria. Chegou em boas condições e no tempo certo sem pagar taxa extra.

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Majeed Kalandariya

Inspirational

Reviewed in India on January 24, 2024

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"Steal Like an Artist" by Austin Kleon is quite an enlightening read. It encourages readers to embrace influence, remix others' ideas creatively, and discover their unique path. It's not about plagiarism, rather, it's about understanding that all creative work builds on what came before. It's a guide that encourages the artist in everyone to look to the world around them for inspiration. Remember, as we journey through life, we're all artists, painting our own unique masterpiece.