"Even The Beatles Started as a Cover Band"

Chapter 2, Steal Like An Artist

Chapter two of "Steal Like An Artist" by Austin Kleon features advice that defines the line of stealing and copying, imitating and emulating.

"We learn to write by copying down the alphabet. Musicians learn to play by practicing scales. Painters learn to paint by reproducing masterpieces." (page 35, Steal Like An Artist)

Nobody knows what style they'll develop which is why I like this quote so much.

When you learn to write as a child you start by copying letters. Our lines aren't straight and the words are barely legible. Once we learn, though, we aren't looking at the alphabet for reference anymore, we know how to do it, and thus our own style starts to come through. Over time our handwriting is as apart of ourselves as our personality. Maybe it's a curly cursive, or maybe it looks as illegible as when you started but you took something done thousands of times before and made it your own.

This is a key point that Kleon tries to get across, (though his explanation is much more elegant) you copy at first to learn the mechanics behind it, and then you take what you learned and transform it into something all your own. Or in other words: emulation.

The good artist emulates. The bad artist imitates.

Left: Teresa Sdralevich | Right: Brooke Armstrong

Above I've done a quick exercise of tying to emulate a piece by my mentor, Teresa Sdralevich. I tried to encapsulate her childlike imagery with her use of light colors. I translated the original text and used it for my emulation.

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

— B