Steal like an Artist

We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.

.

.

Chew on one thinker- writer, activist, artist, role model- you really love. Study everything there is to know about that thinker. Then find three people that the thinker loved and find out everything about them. Repeat this as many times as you can. Climb up the tree as far as you can go. Once you build your tree, it’s time to start your own branch.

.

• Whether you are in school or not, its always your job to get yourself an education.

• You have to be curious about the world in which you live. Look things up. Chase down every reference. Go deeper tha n everybody else. That’s how you’ll get ahead.

• See something worth stealing? Put it in a swipe file. Need a little inspiration? Open up the file.

IT IS BETTER TO TAKE WHAT DOESNOT BELONG TO YOU THAN TO LET IT LIE AROUND NEGLECTED.

MARK TWAIN.

It is in the act of making things & doing our own work that we figure out who we are. You’re ready, start making stuff!

.

• Fake it till you make it! There are 2 ways to read it.

1. Pretend to be something, you are not until you are- fake it till you are successful, until everybody sees you the way you want them to,
2. Pretend to be making something until you actually make something.

.

YOU ACT AS A PHONY AND BECOME REAL.

.

All the world is stage. Creative work is kind a theatre. The stage is your studio, your desk. The costume is your outfit- or your business suit or that funny hat that helps you think. The props are your materials, your tools, and your medium. The script is just plain old-time.- FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT.

.

Nobody is born with a style or voice. We learn by copying.

.

Plagiarism- trying to pass someone else’s work as your own. Copying- reverse engineering- its like a mechanic taking apart a car to see how it works. Imitation is about copying. Emulation is when imitation goes one step further breaking through into your own thinking. First you have to figure out who to copy. Second, you have to figure out what to copy. Don’t just steal the style, steal the thinking behind the style.

.

The best advice is not to write what you know, its to write what you like.

.

Manifesto: Draw the art you want to see, start the Business you want to run, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use- Do THE WORK YOU WANT TO SEE DONE.

.

Take time to mess around. Get lost. Wander. You never know where its going to lead you.

Enjoy your obscurity while it lasts. Enjoy it.

Step 1. Wonder at something

Step 2: invite others to wonder with you

If everybody’s wondering about apples, go wonder about oranges.

.

If you are not into the world you lie in, you can build your own world around you. Surround yourself with books and objects that you love. Tape things on the walls. Create your own world.

Distance & Difference are the secret tonic of creativity. When we get home, home is still the same. But something in our mind has been changed, and that changes everything.

Bad weather leads to better art. You don’t want to go outside, so you stay inside and work.

You have to find a place that feeds you- creatively, socially, spiritually and literally.

Remember garage in, garbage out. You’re going to surround yourslef with good people.

You will need:

1. Curiosity
2. Kindness
3. Stamina
4. A willingness to look stupid

If you ever find that you’re the most talented person in the room, you need to find another room.

Complain about the way other people make software by making software.

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

Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent & original in your work.

Telling yourself that you have all the time in the world, all the money in the world, all the colors in the palette, anything you want- that just kills the creativity.