End of the Line

Here we are, the last blog post of the semester.

It was a quick journey, and at this moment there are only two weeks left of school. It doesn't make it any less stressful though. With one project left, my creativity and mental state has been spread thin. Being a perfectionist is difficult and one of those traits that sounds like a blessing, when in fact it can be really unhealthy and tears me apart. I just have to keep reminding myself that it is only one project and if I can't give it my all this one time, it will be ok.

The world still moves on.

All in all, Austin Kleon's Steal Like An Artist is wonderful. The advice is precious for beginners and insightful for the professional. I learned so much and don't think I've enjoyed a required textbook for class more than I have this one, nor have I found one as useful.

At the end of the book, Austin recommends more books for the reader. Earlier in the semester, I bought two different ones, What It Is by Lynda Barry and Ignore Everybody by Hugh MacLeod. I gave a small review of What It Is previously, stating that it's very stimulating and was hard for me to read because of it. I did finish Ignore Everybody though and found it really insightful. I kept my handy pen and sticky notes by me as I read, ready to highlight or bookmark a page I particularly liked.

A few underlines I have are, "If somebody in your industry is more successful than you, it's probably because he works harder at it than you do." (page 10) and "Trying to create when you don't feel like it is like making conversation for the sake of making conversation." (page 101) Hugh MacLeod can be pretty cynical but he gives good life advice for artists.

That's all. Thank you for reading.

— B

Choose Wisely

At twelve blog posts and ten chapters later, we finish Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon. Only a few short pages, Austin leaves us with some last advice which is: creativity is subtraction, put the right constraints on yourself, and (obviously) have fun.

Constraints can help a person become more creative because it provides enough guidelines where the persons brain can start thinking in the right direction. If there are no rules I usually find myself stumped at what I should create because it offers so many possibilities. In those situations where the client or project is giving me so much creative leeway, I try to come up with a few rules for myself.

We had to self-assign a project with our own constraints to challenge ourselves. I decided to try and come up with a logo for five different words which had to relate to the word in some way. It was a great exercise and a good change of pace to work on something that was just for fun. Taking the advice from above, I tried to create these using as little as I could, or finding the slightest change that makes a big difference.

Only one more blog post.

That's all for this week. Thanks for reading.

— B

Ramen Burps

This is going to be a short post because I am exhausted.

To summarize chapter 9 (the second to last chapter in this book) Austin advises us to lead "boring" lives. Get into a routine, get a day job, find a good partner, and do the extraordinary in your work because let's be honest, being creative is tiring enough as it is.

Everybody has somewhat of a routine: wake up, brush your teeth, eat, go to work. Something like that. My routine is pretty much the same, except with more coffee. I (try) to exercise every other day because it really helps keep my head clear and I usually end the day working on my computer or watching Netflix documentaries with my partner until we fall asleep. I think having a good, boring, everyday routine helps people be more creative. One of my favorite statements is: try to do as many menial tasks as you can because when you're doing something you don't want to be doing, your mind will start to wander to the work you actually want to be doing.

My logbook.

Kleon recommends staying organized and keeping a calendar. I live by my phone calendar, mostly because I have the memory of a shrimp. Being orderly helps get my thoughts together and lets me know exactly what needs to be done at the given moment.

Another thing he recommends is keeping a logbook, which I've been doing since I first finished the book back in January. It really helps me retain information even though I'm just writing down a few details. I've loved keeping a logbook and urge everyone to at least try it. My favorite part is looking back to read what I wrote about that day... and it's much less cringy than keeping a journal.

That's all for this week. Thanks for reading.

— B

Talənt

Steal Like An Artist, Austin Kleon (p. 101)

This weeks chapter was longer than previous ones and covered a lot of good topics: Make friends not enemies. Surround yourself with the smart and talented people. Instead of arguing about things that make you angry, use that anger to fuel your next project. Find people that you admire, write to them.

Something that I particularly liked was his statement "If you ever find that you're the most talented person in the room, you need to find another room." (p.104) I love it. It's not what most people want, and it's definitely not what I thought I wanted when I was younger (now it's only inevitable I won't be the most talented person in a room) but I love it because, not only does it take the desire of being the best off my shoulders, it allows me to learn from those whose who are better.

Le Crazy, Malika Favre

The people that I surround myself are the people that offer me their creativity without even knowing it. My list of inspiration are (in no particular order):
1. Malika Favre: she teaches me how to create beauty using few colors and simple shapes.
2. Rowland + Broughton: these guys fuel my creativity, not only because I have a nostalgia back when I wanted to be an architect, but because of their innovative designs.
3. Anything from Pentagram. Self explanatory.
4. My peers from school really push me to be better.
5. Lotta Nieminen
6. Alexis Eke: she's younger than me and already has a stunning and definitive style to her illustrations.
7. Na Kim: really great book covers.
8. AIGA Chicago

There's obviously so much more, I follow a lot of artists and designers on social media.

Kleon mentions you should write to your heroes. I don't have a particular hero, more like I cherish everyone that I discover and take in everything that they have to offer. I guess my only words to say would be that I hope one day I can repay everyone for the inspiration and creativity that they have given me in one way or another.

That's all for this week. Thanks for reading.

— B

Temporary Captivity Is Important

(p.91/p.92 Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon)

It's been awhile since I made my last blog post with spring break and all.

Re-reading chapter seven was a reminder of how Austin's words fascinate and inspire me. At one moment he'll stress how important it is to do one thing, and then on the next page talk about how equally important it is to do the opposite. It's almost paradoxical. But, as complicated humans we are, he's right in saying that we need both contradictory things in our lives. 

For example, this chapter was about learning how to be happy in solitude: making the most out of it, giving yourself time for it, etc. Then, he told us to get out of our comfortable little world “Your brain gets too comfortable in your everyday surroundings.” he states on page 94, and encourages us to take a trip. Go to the next town over, the next state over, the next country over. Get your mind in an unfamiliar space because it makes the world look new. In a creative aspect, that unleashes thoughts and ideas that you would never have imagined if you hadn't forced yourself into a new perspective.

On page 96, Kleon mentions that being around interesting people helps motivate creative thinking. I completely agree with that. The people I love most in the world also happen to be the most interesting. Artists and chefs, photographers, foreigners, musicians, stamp collectors, manga readers, hippies, theater nerds and movie lovers. The list goes on and on. They are the people that get me into new environments, the people that make me envious of their talents and make me want to try harder to become better than them. They are the people who force me to play catch-up and inspire my most creative ideas. 

Onto another topic, here is a review of Sharpie Art Workshop: Techniques and Ideas for Transforming Your World by Timothy Goodman. While the people featured were all pretty successful and rightfully featured (I even went so far as to do a little more research on a few of them) and the images eye-catching, I found the writing of book to read like big Sharpie ad. It wasn't compelling and didn't have any solid content. He goes through the colors available in each pen, defines what a post-it note is, lists the colors of those too and even references Wikipedia (unfortunately, I've been guilty of this). It was a book that had so much potential, but besides being pretty to look at, was a big disappointment for me.

That's all for this week. Thanks for reading.

— B

Do Good Work & Share It

This weeks chapter of Austin Kleon's Steal Like An Artist was all about doing work and sharing it with others. He starts by giving you advice to take advantage of where you're at in your life. Maybe you're still in college; take advantage of how much attention your work has for the time being and take what you can out of it. Maybe you're out of college and on your way to starting your career; take advantage of your obscurity. Use that time to create whatever the hell you want because there are no consequences. When you start asking yourself "How do I become known?" that's when you start sharing your work with the world. Post online; One-up the person doing the same thing; Keep searching for the thing no one is paying attention to and make it the next trend. 

All in all, do good work and share it.

I like a lot of the advice Kleon gives us. It gives me a newfound appreciation for being so unknown right now and also motivates me to keep sharing the good work that I do, no matter how nerve-wracking it can be.

Near the end of the chapter, he says that the Internet can be an incubator for ideas that aren't fully formed, and that's right after writing that people go to the Internet to find something to say. I think an interpretation of this could be: the Internet is a good place to go to find other people who are passionate about the same things as you, but it's also a place to find new things that you're passionate about. Everyday millions of new topics, images, videos, ideas, and news gets circulated for people to find. For you to find. So, in a way the Internet is the place to go to find the topics that you didn't even know you cared about yet and to expose us to ideas that we didn't know we were thinking about.

At some points, Kleon feels that having a public online presence can be a kick in the pants. By this he means that because of how websites and blogs are set-up, online visitors that go to your domain are always going to see your latest post first. In Kleon's words "You're only as good as your last post." which is true. If you aren't trying to one-up yourself every time, you run the risk of losing viewers. The truth is, if people don't find your page interesting, then it's not worth their time to scroll through your blog until they get to the interesting part. There's not enough time in the day and with today's fast, fast, fast approach to everything, people just don't have the attention span. But by pushing yourself a little harder than your previous effort, you get to improve just a little more.

To start sharing my work and thoughts that don't usually leave my head, I've started a new blog. You can find it here.

That's all for this week.

— B

One Day It'll All Make Sense

Chapter 5 of Austin Kleon's Steal Like An Artist, appropriately named "Side project and hobbies are important." is about just that: explaining that people, creative people especially, need time to do other things besides work. They need time to do nothing. Kleon mentions that he never goes to the dry cleaners for this reason, he finds the boring and repetitive action of ironing great for stimulating ideas. I can't help but agree with this practice.

Boring work can be incredibly helpful because more than likely people are going to be thinking about what they'd rather be doing.

The things I do when doing nothing usually consist of cleaning my room, unloading the dishwasher, cleaning the cat box, and other various house chores. Lucky for me, I have a lot of free time at my place of work, inspiration doesn't come easier when avoiding actual work. (I promise I'm a great employee.)

My many plants alive at the moment.

Another key point in this chapter, mentioned in the chapter title, is having a hobby. "Don't throw any of yourself away." Hobbies are a part of your identity. What else could be said about the things you actually want to pour your time into? It's the part of your day just for you. Where you don't have to worry about a deadline or the happiness of a client. You do it for you and everyone needs that. Not only does it regenerate your creativity, but it shines through in your work.

My hobbies are vast and I do it on purpose. I try to introduce myself to as much as I can. Some things stick and others don't but at least I can say I've tried it. Right now I love to paint abstract, cook, I do photography, I keep a minimum of six plants alive at a time, read and write, of course I play video games, I run (yeah, like the exercise), I like to fix things, and I love, love, love collecting. There's three major collections I've had for years now. Coffee Mugs. Sweaters. And notebooks/sketchbooks.

That's all for this week.

— B