Steal Like An Artist

Steal Like An Artist is a great book and like I said in previous blog posts it's going to be one I'm going to keep on the shelf. I actually have already giving it to my son to read. Everything from creating the book you want to read to playing the music you want to hear this book is really inspirational. Austin talks about using your hands, both in the digital and analog worlds. He also talks about how side projects and hobbies are important. They keep the creative juices flowing. Austin has also shown me throughtout the book how to really dive into something and not only learn the stuff on the surface but to go deeper and learn more than you ever thought was possible. The main feeling of the book is that it is a small world, you need to be nice and of course be boring.

Like the book Steal Like An Artist, Hugh MacLeod's book Ignore Everyone is a great little book about creativity. Hugh talks about how he started in the bustle of New York city and has ended up in a small town in Texas. Hugh is a well known cartoonist that got his start by doodling on the back of business cards in bars. He Says that "Doing something seriously creative is one of the most amazing experiences one can have in this or in any lifetime." Hugh also talks about how you have to put in the hours. Skill and natural talent matters less and less as you work more and more. In the long run, the people who work the hardest in the long run win. There are a lot of comparable ideas in both books. Since the book came out before Steal Like An Artist, I see in chapter nine that Austin completely takes Hugh's thoughts and runs with them. In fact I am now surprised that Austin doesn't directly quote Hugh in his book. There are more similarities between the books as well. "Work hard. Keep at it. Live simply and quietly. Remain humble. Stay positive. Create your own luck. Be nice. Be polite." is something that Hugh said. You can see the inspiration that Austin got from this book. "The sovereignty you have over your work will inspire far more people than the actual content ever will." this is one of my favorite quotes from Hugh MacLeod.

Chapter Ten

The last chapter in Austin Kleon's book Steal Like An Artist is about constraints and knowing what to leave out. Really if you think about it, if you don't give yourself any constraints the idea that you can do anything is really terrifying. Limitations mean freedom and the right limitations can lead to some of your best work. Working within parameters as a good idea when it comes to creativity. Austin says it the best "In the end, creativity isn't just the things we choose to put in, it's the things we choose to leave out."

I really believe that limiting yourself, or making constraints in your projects helps to focus and get a better end result. Jack White is absolutely right when he says, "Telling yourself you have all the time in the world, all the money in the world, all the colors in the palette, anything you want-that just kills creativity."  Can you image how hard it would be to create something without limits? 

Recently I had a past classmate of mine come to me and ask if I knew anyone that could do a caricature of her Dad. I immediately thought she might be asking me and was terrified because I do not have any kind of experience in this style of art. This so happened to happen at the same time I knew this week blog post was coming up. I sent her a sketch and for my project I will be giving it a try. I am going to work in strictly digital because I feel that I can produce something rather quickly in this medium. I also stated that I will be doing the art in grey scale, colorizing this would probably put me way over the time budget that I am thinking of. Below is my initial sketch. 

Chapter Nine

Steal Like An Artist will be a book that I am going to keep for my personal collection. I can see myself reading this book over and over again to get that little extra kick in the pants I might need from time to time.
Chapter nine is about being boring because it is the only way to get your work done. Austin starts this chapter talking about how he is a pretty boring guy. He states that if you so call burn the candle at both ends too long your bound to wind up less creative or even dead. He says "It take a lot of energy to be creative. You don't have that energy if you waste it on other stuff.
Another good point that Austin makes in this chapter is to stay out of debt. You have to learn about money as soon as you can. The art of holding on to your money is all about saying no to consumer culture. His Grandfather used to tell his dad, "Son, it's not the money you make, it's the money you hold on to."
My favorite part of this chapter has to be the part about keeping you day job. It is something that I have come to realize for quite some time now. It is true that your day job gives you money, a connection to the world and a routine. My job has even been known to be a inspiration for me every so often. It has taught me many valuable things over time.
Lastly Austin talks about getting yourself a calendar and a logbook. This is something that I have struggled with over the years, but when I do religiously keep a calendar I notice that benefits. It's just sticking to that routine that has been a problem. Now with the logbook, that is something that I have never really done before. As suggested I will attempt a logbook this week and post my entries on Saturday here. Come back and give it a look. Hopefully you all will find some good in keeping a logbook.
A calendar helps you plan work, gives you concrete goals, and keeps you on track. Keeping the chain going like it says in the book is a good way to create momentum when it comes to being creative.
With a logbook the small everyday details can help you remember the bigger details. This one is the activity that I am looking forward to the most. I really like how Austin has his laid out in his book, it seems more fun than a tedious everyday task.

Chapter Eight

Chapter eight has probably been one of my favorite chapters so far in Austin Kleon's book Steal Like a Artist. Austin talks first about how to handling people on the internet. He says the best way to vanquish your enemies is to ignore them, and the best way to make friends is to say nice things about them. I really agree with Austin on this topic. In fact I have grown tired of all the negativity on the internet. It seems that people feel that since they can hide behind a screen that they can be downright vulgar on the internet. 

Austin also talks about surrounding yourself with the people that are way smarter than you and better than you, the people who are doing the really interesting work. My favorite part of this chapter is when he is quoting Harold Ramis. "Find the the most talented person in the room, and if it's not you, go and stand next to him. Hang out with him, Try to be helpful." Austin also adds that if that person that you find in the room to be the most talented, you need to find another room. I feel having a list of the "smart people" completely works in your favor in the creativity department. Seeing what they do and how they do it is quite inspiring. I follow a artist by the name of Jasper St Aubyn West. He superimposes his drawings over photographs that he takes. I will include a few of my favorites in this post. Another person I have followed on Instagram is Chip Kidd. I started following him because of our shared love of the caped crusader Batman. In following Chip Kidd I also started following Stefan Sagmeister.

The next part of the chapter kinda goes back to the first part. You're going to see stupid stuff out there and you're going to feel like you need to correct it. Well, keep your mouth shut and use that energy in your own work. 

The last part of the chapter talks about how you should write fan mail to your heroes. Austin recommends public fan letters. Write a blog post about someone's work that you admire. Make something and dedicate it to your heroes. Answer a question they've asked, solve a problem for them, or improve on their work and share it online. Maybe your hero will see your work, maybe they won't. Maybe they will respond to you, maybe not. The important thing is that you show your appreciation without expecting anything in return.

These are the pieces from Jasper that I was talking about. The last one is my first attempt in his style.

Chapter 7

Austin Kleon talks about how his peers live everywhere because he knows them from the Internet. This chapter is about how geography is no longer our master. Where you used to rely on the people in your community for inspiration and art-related fellowship. Now you have the Internet and social media to connect to those peers. Austin also talks about how if you're not into the world you live in, you can build your own world around you. Start by surrounding yourself with books and objects that you love.

This is my little work corner where I have things that I love mounted on the walls and in shelves.

Another thing that Austin talks about in chapter seven is the need to disconnect from the electronics, this way you can't be alone or captive. He suggests to work times in your day where you can spend it in a little self-imposed solitude and temporary captivity.

The last thing that Austin mentions is not to let your brain get too comfortable. When you spend too much time in your own world your brain gets too comfortable and you need to make it uncomfortable so it will work harder for you. Spend time with interesting people that might do something different from you. You have to find a place that feeds you – creatively, socially, spiritually, and literally.

Austin's thoughts about letting your brain get too comfortable actually makes a lot of sense. You don't want to get into a rut doing the same things everyday making your creative side shut down. I suggest that you try to do things outside of your comfort zone to keep your brain working hard. Go to an art show or a concert if that is not your normal thing. Try something new when you are working on a project, whether it's the way you research or come up with concepts. Not sure what those things might be? Search the Internet on how others accomplish the same tasks and you might be surprised at what you might find that would be inspiring.

I really enjoy Austin's thoughts about being around interesting people, and not necessarily people who do what you do. I believe that it is really important and it only can add to your creativity. One of the things that I feel I would like to focus on is to actually get to know more creatives than I presently do. I think going to things like CUDO happy hours or becoming involved in some sort of group would be a good start at getting to know people that share your same interests.

The following are from my research and inspiration for the next project. I was looking for something that showed a helping hand, or some kind of support within the image. I would like to hear your thoughts on my findings.

My last thoughts on this weeks blog is the Aaron Draplin book that I am currently reading. It is a coming of age story about Aaron's life and how he grew up. Aaron talks about the many challenges that he faced and how when he was old enough he moved across country with his friends to make a fresh start. It really reminded me a lot about how Austin talks about in his book that sometimes you might need to set up a new home and leave where you are now and then.

https://jaredpetersonart.wixsite.com/website

The Secret:

Do good work and share it with people.

Chapter seven in Austin Kleon's book Steal Like an Artist is all about the not so secret formula of getting your work out there for people to see. He starts talking about how when your new to this whole thing it might not be such a bad idea that people aren't paying attention to you. You want to receive a lot of attention only after you're doing really good work. There is no pressure when you're unknown, you can do what you want and there is something beautiful about that. Austin explains that if there was a secret formula for becoming well known he would share it with everyone. Since there isn't he shares a not so secret formula. It's to do good work and share it with people. Basically he talks about how easy it is now to get your work on the internet, so do it.

When you think about just putting yourself online because you feel that you have something to say, it is just actually the beginning. You will find out that when you put yourself online you actually might find something to say. The internet is full of creatives with thousands upon thousands of ideas. When you start to wonder at something that no one else is wondering it can breed into multiple ideas. The more open you are with sharing your thoughts, the closer people will feel to your work.

Having a public presence will keep you on your toes because you are only as good as your last post. Austin talks about this being a kick in the pants, because it keeps you on your toes. He says that a lot of artist worry about being online will cause them to make less work. What Austin is saying though is that he has found that it is a kick in the pants, and you have to keep up with what you're going to post next.

Please take the time to check out my other site. It is mainly under construction, but I will be adding things to it often to get it where I envision it to be. You can follow the link below.

www.jaredpetersonart.com

Side Projects and Hobbies are Important

In Austin Kleon's book Steal Like An Artist, Austin talks about productive procrastination. He is basically saying when you are procrastinating from the main job that you're supposed to be doing, those procrastinations might turn into the thing you should be really doing. He says that the stuff that is just the play stuff is actually the good stuff. If you have a lot of projects going at once you can bounce back  a forth between them to keep the creative juices fresh. Practice productive procrastination is what he explains. He also talks about how he gets some of his best ideas when he is doing nothing and actually bored. Austin say if you're out of ideas, wash the dishes. Rake a really long walk. Stare at a spot on the wall for as long as you can. It's basically a good way to focus your mind.

When I tend to do nothing is when my minds starts to race. At first I thought it was great, but now I have realized I can't get all of my thoughts down or into something that I can recall later. This is kind of frustrating so I now try and keep busy in my down time. Keeping my hands busy is a good way for me to come up with creative thoughts. Whether if its playing with a puzzle or clicking the remote buttons, this always seems to help.

One of my most recent hobbies is sports magnets for the fridge. Below are an assortment of some of the NFL magnets I have done. I have also created baseball and hockey busts. I started out doing them thinking I could sell them and make some money off things I really enjoy. It makes me really happy because I throughly enjoy watching sports in my down time, especially football.

Project 3 is a menu design project for a local restaurant. The following images are one that I selected for my research. My peers and I really enjoyed the illustrative aspects of a few of the menus that I found. The one design that stayed with me the most is the second from the top. This is menu has a really sophisticated look to it. You know when you go to this restaurant you are going to be spending some money. At first the leaf insert caught my attention, but them I was really impressed with the clean overall look of this menu design. This is the one that I will try to draw inspiration from.