Steal Like an Artist Review and Summary

Steal Like an Artist Summary — Vanessa K. Eccles

If you’ve read my post on Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, you know how much I love reading works by creatives and finding how I can improve or enrich my own creative practice. This review and summary of Austin Kleon’s Steal Like an Artist details the book’s best advice for creatives.

Steal Like an Artist Review and Summary

At first glance, one may be put off by the title Steal Like an Artist. I was hesitant to pick it up because, as creators, one of our biggest fears is subconsciously taking other people’s ideas. As a writer, the absolute worst thing someone can accuse you of is plagiarism. I’m so paranoid about citing sources and making sure I don’t unknowingly steal something from someone else, I run almost all of my written content through a plagiarism checker. I feel it’s the best practice for me to respect and protect the ideas of others in that way.

But plagiarism is not what Steal Like an Artist is about. In fact, it’s about the idea of collective creation.

Good art begets good art.

Simple as that. I’ve been saying this for years. Artists build on each other’s works. We are all inspired by others. If we didn’t have artistic heroes, we may never would have become artists at all.

There is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

Author Austin Kleon talks about embracing and surrounding yourself with the work of those you admire. Follow them on social media, write about and share their work, and take from it what you can learn. You will find out that no matter how hard you try, your work will never look like theirs. Your work will always be different. Your skills, your vision, and your execution will be something new. Maybe it’s inspired by ______, but it’s not theirs.

This book is a reminder that all art is a culmination of our exposure, our environment, our experiences, and our skill. Sure, our favorite creators may bleed a little onto our own work. But instead of looking at that as a negative thing, we should embrace it and thank them for inspiring us—for encouraging us to create our own little works of art.

**Key pieces of advice from Steal Like an Artist:**

Don’t wait to begin creating. Do it now.
Create works that you can’t find anywhere else. Write the book you want to read.
Live below your means so that you never depend on your art to feed you.
Work with your hands. Go analog whenever possible.
Keep a notebook and a logbook.
Share your talent with others. Give good advice freely.
Give yourself limits. Nurture focus and do the best you can with what you have. And don’t worry about not being good enough.
Create daily.

Steal Like an Artist Book Giveaway

Steal Like an Artist is a book for all creatives. I enjoyed that it spoke the truth about artists. Maybe we’re all snowflakes in a way, but we’re not 100% original. We’ve been molded by those we’ve allowed into our hearts, minds, and space. I may never be able to write like Daphne de Maurier, Diane Setterfield, Alex North, Emily Carpenter, or Stephen King. Still, their works have lived in my space, occupied my thoughts and mind, and have inspired me to push my writing further, digging deeper, to hopefully touch readers in the same ways their works have touched me.

This little book truly is a source of encouragement and inspiration. The author encourages readers to give a copy of the book to someone, so I’ll be doing a giveaway over on Instagram this month. Follow me there to find out the details to enter (+ there will be future giveaways too).