Art That Only Comes From The Head Isn't Any Good

(page 56, Steal Like An Artist)

This week, Austin Kleon gives us even more priceless advice. He tells us to get out of our office chairs with the sunken cushion and into a different space where we can stand up and create something with our own two hands.

I've always loved working with my hands. I love to create projects that yield results I can touch, like sculptures or collages or paintings. I think as designers it's important to get that knowledge of how things stick together, cut and bend. Basically of how things work. It lets you see your work differently compared to someone who's only worked on the computer and expands your mind to what you know you can do.

In chapter four, Austin Kleon asks us to create a space away from technology, an analog space. I set mine up on my kitchen table and told myself to make a poster. Honestly I had no clue what kind of poster I was going to make, all I knew was that I had glue, I had an xacto knife, and I had my imagination.

My analog space

Generating ideas this way was so liberating. You can get so stuck on one concept if you start from the computer, and be unwilling to change decisions you've made. Doing things with my own hands meant making mistakes, and because I couldn't easily press ctrl+z, I had to make the mistake work. I was constantly making changes and when I did that generated a whole new line of ideas. Plus looking at a computer screen waiting for ideas to come to you isn't the most inspiring, don't you agree?

In the end this is what I made and I'm ok with that. Sure if I had done this on the computer it would probably look better and I wouldn't be stuck with all this glue on my fingers... but if I'd done it on the computer I don't think this piece would exist.

Now, I'm going to go back to sipping on water and hopefully fight off this stomach bug.

That's all for this week.

— B