I bought a book named “How to steal like an artist” by Austin Kleon when I was at the GoMa gallery in Glasgow. The book’s purpose is to advise that it is a natural instinct to steal a piece of design from another, as nothing is original. Seeing as it was a New York Times bestseller, I had to read what all the fuss was about.
“Painters learn to paint by reproducing masterpieces” (p35). Although this is pretty accurate, I wouldn’t say I learnt a lot from school or college by recreating a piece of Lucian Freud’s or Howard Hodgkin. Unless you used the exact tools and materials, and have the same creative mindset, then you could recreate it perfectly. But it is not about stealing everything from an artist, it is more taking a part of their style, combine it with other style’s, and conclude with your official style. After all, “the human hand is incapable of making a perfect copy” (p35)
The best thing about “How to steal like an artist” is the advice. An example will be on page 81, where Kleon writes “Step 1: Wonder at something. Step 2:Invite others to wonder with you”. It suggests an beginning artist should learn to openly share their passions from their work, as it allows the audience to become more connected. If you are reserved and protective of your art style, then how can an art lover see you? In order to be a professional artist, you must learn to share most of your process to invite people in.
This is one of the most important pieces of advice I have learnt from this book. As an artist myself, I struggled to share my work openly to others, as criticism can be difficult to tackle. Also, the idea of sharing my ideas and development makes me believe it is then available for someone to steal. But this book advises a beginner like me of how the world of creative minds work, that people will take maybe just a small piece of your idea in order to start their own. With my work now showing on Instagram to the public, I feel more confident and happier to wonder with others.
(images taken by camera phone)