Steal like an Artist

This is the book that I bought in the airport in Sabah. When I spent the time in a bookstore with chunchun, I read this book and I love the saying in this book. I decided to buy this even I finished 80% of the book in the bookstore. Well...because I found the saying in the book quite encouraging. I hope that it can encourage me every time when I or my kids are in need.

Even if I am not an artist, I think the saying in the book is also encouraging to someone who has a dream to pursuit. For me, even I don't have any big dream to pursuit, I am eager to improve myself day-by-day. 

l   Steal like an Artist

You are, in fact, a mashup of what you choose to let into your life. You are the sum of your influences. The German write Goethe said, “We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.”

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.

Google everything. I mean everything, Google your dreams, Google your problems. Don’t ask a question before you Google it. You’ll either find the answer or you’ll come up with a better question.

l   Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started

It’s in the act of making things and doing our works that we figure out who we are.

Fake it until you make it (i). Pretend to be something you’re not until you are, until you’re successful, until everybody sees you the way you want them to. (ii) Pretend to be making something until you actually make something

Start copying what you love. Copy copy copy copy. At the end of the copy you will find yourself.

Who to copy is easy. You copy your heros – the people you love, the people you’re inspired by, the people you want to be.

What to copy is a little bit trickier. Don’t just steal the style, steal the thinking behind the style. You don’t want to look like your heros, you want to see like your heros.

In the end, merely imitating your heros is not flattering them. Transforming their works into something of your own is how you flatter them. Adding something to the world that only you can add.

l   Write the book you want to read

The best advice is not to write what you know, it’s to write what you like. The same principle applies to your life and your career: Whenever you’re at a loss for what move to make next, just ask yourself, “what would make a better story?”

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 produces you want to use – do the work you want to see done.

l   Use your hands

“going through the motions” If we just start going through the motions, 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, and it’s really good for getting your ideas ready for publishing out into the world, but it’s ont really good for generating ideas. There are too many opportunities to hit the delete key. The computer brings out the uptight perfectionist in us – we start editing ideas before we have them.

“Things are on an inevitable path to being finished. Whereas in m sketchbook the possibilities are endless.”

l   Side projects and hobbies are important

It’s so important to have a hobby. A hobby is something creative that’s just for you. You don’t try to make money or get famous off it, you just do it because it makes you happy. A hobby is something that gives but doesn’t take. While my art is for the world to see, music is only for me and my friends. We get together every Sunday and make noise for a couple of hours. No pressure, no plans. It’s regenerative. It’s like church.

l   The secret: do good work and share it with people

l   Geography is no longer our master

Your brain gets too comfortable in your everyday surroundings. You need to make it uncomfortable. You need to spend some time in another land, among people that do things differently than you. Travel makes the world look new, and when the world looks new, our brains work harder.

l   Be nice (the world is a small town)

Make friends, ignore enemies

“There’s only one rule I know of: You’ve god to be kind.”

You’re only going to be as good as the people you surround yourself with. In the digital space, that means following the best people online – the people who are way smarter and better than you, people who are doing the really interesting work. Pay attention to what they’re talking about, what they’re doing, what they’re linking to.

So go on, get angry, But keep your mouth shut and go do your work.

The important thing is that you show your appreciation without expecting anything in return, and that you get new work out of the appreciation.

Life is a lonely business, often filled with discouragement and rejections. Yes, validation is for parking, but it’s still a tremendous boost when people say nice things about our work.

Keep a praise file and use it sparingly – don’t get lost in past glory – but keep it around for when you need the lift.

l   Be boring (it’s the only way to get work done)

Take care of yourself

Stay out of debt

Keep your day job – establishing and keeping a routine can be even more important than having a lot of time.

Amassing a body of work or building a career is a lot about the slow accumulation of little bits of effort over time.

Marry well – a good partner keeps you grounded

l   Creativity is subtraction

The same is true when you do your work: You must embrace your limitations and keep moving

In the end, creativity isn’t just the things we choose to put in, it’s the things we choose to leave out.