”nothing comes from nowhere. All creative work builds on what can before. Nothing is completely original.”

“You have to be curious about the world in which you live. Look things up. Chase down every reference. Go deeper than anybody else - that’s how you’ll get ahead.” - Austin Kleon

Dig Deeper

“Get comfortable with being misunderstood, disparaged, or ignored - the trick is to be too busy doing your work to care.” - Austin Kleon

Stay Busy

“The artist is a collector. Not a hoarder.” - Austin Kleon

Collecting Not Hoarding

“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 you from getting better.” - Austin Kleon

Experiment

“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.” - Austin Kleon

Your World

“Creativity isn’t just the things we choose to put in, it’s the things we choose to leave out.” - Austin Kleon

Creativity

“Every new idea is just a mashup or a remix of one or more previous ideas.” - Austin Kleon

Remix Your Ideas

“Your job is to collect good ideas. The more good ideas you collect, the more you can choose from to be influenced by.” - Austin Kleon

Collecting Source Material

“It’s the act of making things and doing our work that we figure out who we are.” - Austin Kleon

Art As Identity

One of my greatest influences as a creative…

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

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

creativity

books

Books

artsandculture

Society, Arts & Culture

You don’t need to be a genius, you just need to be yourself. That’s the message from Austin Kleon, a young writer and artist who knows that creativity is everywhere, creativity is for everyone. A manifesto for the digital age, Steal Like an Artist is a guide whose positive message, graphic look and illustrations, exercises, and examples will put readers directly in touch with their artistic side. When Mr. Kleon was asked to address college students in upstate New York, he shaped his speech around the ten things he wished someone had told him when he was starting out. The talk went viral, and its author dug deeper into his own ideas to create Steal Like an Artist, the book. The result is inspiring, hip, original, practical, and entertaining. And filled with new truths about creativity: Nothing is original, so embrace influence, collect ideas, and remix and re-imagine to discover your own path. Follow your interests wherever they take you. Stay smart, stay out of debt, and risk being boring—the creative you will need to make room to be wild and daring in your imagination.

I’m a writer who draws. I make art with words and books with pictures. Author of Steal Like An Artist and other bestsellers. Visit my website: http://austinkleon.com/

AUSTIN KLEON

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