Wednesday, January 2, 2013

The Art of Stealing


I'm reading a book that was recommended by someone in my internet circle called Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon. In the book the author hi-lights various ways to unlock your creativity. The first chapter is about how nothing is completely original and that all "...creative work builds on what came before". And with that piece of knowledge you are free from being stressed out about creating something original because everything is a "mashup" of a few ideas. Some people might be offended with the thought about their stuff not being original. For me though I always was afraid to copy others work for fear that the plagiarism police would come after me. But now I know that to develop my own style, I need to study from other artists that I like. So I've chosen a few artists that have always appealed to me and with the help of the local library, will learn about their lives, pour over their styles and copy some of their paintings. And in a sense I'll be developing my own style by the teachings of the best.
Here are the first two artists that I have chosen to mentor me in style, light and colors.

4 comments:

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    1. Thanks Lynn. I'm finding out Van Gogh has some really wild strokes in his paintings and maybe I'll need to come up with some for my own.

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  2. Jude I love this. I think copying the great masters is a form of complimenting and enriching your craft.

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    1. Thank you IA. I have to say, I'm having a great time learning from them too.

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