My ten-year artist's block ended after reading Austin books. Awsome.

"The immature artist imitates. Mature artist steal." . Love this phrase, love the video. As an artist myself i can totally relate to it. Thanks. For some reason now, i feel very inspired.

i tried explaining this to my professor. she was pissed. she said ANY idea that didn't 100% come from just my head i had to "cite my sources".. seems simple enough, right???... WRONG. Because everything i know came from something else, whether it was from a parent, grandparent, teacher, or just experience. I said "Nothing is knew under the sun." Technically NOTHING we do is original, we are just imitating. Even our own creativity is nothing more than an outflow of our Maker.

It’s a shared language. We didn’t invent letters, but we all speak some sort of language we were taught. Love this video.

I think that the reason the word “steal” is so essential here is because to steal is to take ownership of something that previously belonged to someone else. Imitation is merely pretending to have something that belongs to someone else. Theft inherently involves transformation; what is theirs becomes yours. When something inspires you, you must *make it yours*.

Absolutely beautiful. I will steal this as best I can.

"Hoarders collect everything; artists collect selectively." 👏🏽

The art of art is to steal creatively - not to steal directly, steal from your subconscious.

Had I known this while studying architecture! I used to be so uber anxious about "plagiarism" that everything had to be original and nothing copied or transformed. But yes as an artist I've known for a long time, it's tough to get around intellectual property rights, but inspiration always comes from viewing something of personal interest, whether its in a magazine, on the street or a conglomeration of what we've seen in the real world presented in our dreams while we sleep. Thank you thank you thank you.. this is a great example of how to turn criticism into research that helps everyone else as well!

the book changed my life and i have just found this video after 3 years.. life is so unfair indeed

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources." -Albert Einstein

Inspiring and freeing concept. Not really to "steal", but instead use others' works as a tool to get your own creativity moving along. Turn and play with other people's words and ideas to find and make something new. Thanks Mr. Kleon for some history on the concept.

i have a writer's block for more than 10 years now and after watching this video i feel inspired for the first time in a long time and am amazed how many opportunities i suddenly see where i can draw inspiration from. And what i saw as one of my weaknesses, having no original thoughts but having a good capability to come up with my version of somebody else's work, is basically what an artist does.

His book is worth reading 10 times.

Creative Stealing = Creative Recycling. Thank you!

I've been experimenting with this philosophy in the Navy while serving as a Commanding Officer with great results. We call it "Best Practice Convergence" and our team has been "stealing" the best ideas from other commands, making them our own, and then exporting them back to Fleet. Talk about an enjoyable path to deliberate progress and a shared legacy. Thanks to Austin for packaging a similar message so very well...

"Transformation is flattery" I like this quote.

Hey this was my Speech!

We read, we look and we listen and we add our personal handwriting to our creations. If we don't we just copy. We want to create something new. We think we are original. At the beginning of this speech I was sceptic, but he has a point. This is really an eye opener.

He is absolutely right though, everyone emulates what they love (and even hate) whether it be music, drawing,painting sculpting writing. The way we speak and dress. What we eat and how we cook even. Everything is derived from something and it's up to us to use it tastefully. For someone to claim they're entirely original in any way is pretty ridiculous.

Love this short speech on stealing art...he explains it so well, and so truthfully.

this guy have memorised his whole book!

Read Steal Like An Artist. And i absolutely loved it. And loved this video!!

This book changed my life in half an hour

ohhhh man, i LOVE the idea of "creative lineage"

Thanks for sharing. There's something about this presentation that really clicked. I especially like the idea of referencing the people that inspire us. It's a great way to stay connected to our creative ancestors. So many clever people out there doing amazing things. A nice way to remind ourselves of their achievements, and also those from the dim and distant past.

This is the first time I see the idea of stealing in a positive way

I definitely looveeee this man´s work and speech!! he is a total stealer genius! Thanks Austin, big hug from Guadalajara, Mexico!

العرب هم من بدا هذا التلاعب بالكلمات وعندنا شعر يقراء عموديا وافقيا وعندنا ابيات تقراء من اليمن إلى اليسار وتعطي معنا وعندما تقراها من اليسار إلى اليمين تعطي معنا آخر وكل هذه الأشعار بدأت قبل كل هؤلاء حقيقة

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9

Hats off to you. I completely agree.

Love love love the message of this

Damn I wish modern copyright law took into account things like "love" and "respect". Unfortunately large corporations are incapable of either.

Sweet jesus, how freeing are Kleon's words and ideas!

The book is great too and this is a wonderful TED TALK. I love the book and refer to it every week, especially when I have creative blocks in my hobbies. Great insights, presentation, and book too!!

Creativity is the word. Excelente, es un banco de ideas permanente. Me encantó.

Love your new book and love this presentation. Informational and transformational. Can't ask for more. All the best.

You have summed up creativity.

his book and this talk is a true inspiration, it really makes me keep being an artist just to live by these tips

POV: You're in year 11 English and your teacher linked this video for an assignment

What is original though is what truly resonates with each one of us. That is what makes us unique. That is our unstealable fingerprint. Who you are can be mimicked and you can mimic others but that does no one justice.

Buy this book, buy it. Trust me

this is just phenomenal!!!

I love this man

Fantástica palestra! 👏👏👏👏👏

Perfect summary of his book

I already knew of this on a basic level, but I really liked the speech as it put it into more perspective!

Maravilloso, Austin! Totalmente de acuerdo contigo 😜 Muchas gracias*************

This is such a good, modern view on art. One of the best made arguments for appropriation. Thanks!

Brilliant, genius, bravo!

I was going to buy the book then I got into this review saying that the whole book was explained here in this video.

The beautiful concept applies to everything we do in this world.

Thank you all very much

Exactly! Love it. And whenever and where ever possible, give credit to the artist/person from whom you got your idea, inspiration, or tutelage. Cuz we would want the same. :) Then it truly is a win-win (etc -win).

For all those let me tell you there was a time in the beginning when there was something created out of nothing. Just the thing now is that we don't have enough time to explore world and get ideas which will take upto 40-50 years.

exactly what i needed to hear

What an excellent video! Absolutely loved it 👍🏼

true originality comes from The Universal mind.After that nothing is original.

Wow! Incredible 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽

That's how we learn and grow.... From everyone and everything around us! Hahahaha! I absolutely love this!!! So basic to human existence! Sooo INSPIRING!!!

My favorite author

Thank you for this.

Brilliant and so very true!

Fantastic, Some videos hit you at the right times of your life This one reassured something that I was doing

I love his book!!!!

Read his book 'SLAA' today, excellent thought provoking book. Gave me the so much to think about. Thank you

Thoughtful presentation - and one that blends easily into the new ideas of multi-media mashup. Having just written a mash-up of martial arts philosophy I'm reassured that its a more global and chronologically consistent approach than some of the more contemporary conversations would have us believe

great TED Talk. Inspired my animated summary videos.

Thanks for sharing that quote.

So Inspiring!

his ideas are now in my swipe file, well saved.

to be clear, ak didn't steal anything, except newsprint. i mean, he used redaction creatively, without knowledge of similar 'art' that might already exist. originality is relative to the creator. newspaper blackout was an original idea to AK, but only a variant on the larger scale. it doesn't invalidate the art or the artist to invent something that isn't entirely new. and it isn't all simply outright stealing. the expectation that whatever one thinks up is fresh and new and never seen before is the illusion, not the originality or creativity of one's thoughts. the expression is what matters to the creator, and that is always valid. he's right tho. creation is often inspired and propelled and channeled by what has gone before, and thievery is a legitimate part of the trade, in proper contexts. As Bono said, 'every artist is a cannibal, every poet is a thief. All kill their inspiration and sing about the grief.' See also the South Park episode, "The SImpsons already did it." Maybe the best guideline is if you the creator know that your ideas were inspired by others, you should label them as such. If it was your idea without prior knowledge, tell critics to stfu. also, it's invalid to say that you're following in the footsteps of someone you never heard of, whose work never even brushed your life, tho it isn't wrong per se to place yourself in the company of similar creators. (lineage is a different issue.) Credit where credit is due, but don't lie or lie down. And face it: no matter what you the creator do or say, the haters gonna hatehatehatehatehate.

um artista sempre terá artistas como inspiração e roubar sua essência sem roubar quem se é

You are brilliant love your way of thinking and speaking

I read his other book, Show Your Work in my friend's villa in Bali. It's a good handy book that I think we've used it to promote agriculture product from our garden. Like it. I hope to read this Steal Book too.

We all stand on the shoulders of giants.

I have your books ! Thanks for them. My friend just bought your journal. Love your work

Just read the book, now enjoying Austin's TEDx talk on the same subject - 'Steal Like an Artist'. Watch >>

Today is 2022 and am watching, Amenikaribisha kwenye fikra njema

Thank you. Gave your book to my artist teen son.

thanks for inspiring me! i'm gonna start keeping a newspaper or magazine with me at my kitchen table so i can do a blackout poem instead of use a phone while i eat

Ain’t no shame in picking up something and make it better for the greater good, starting with you

Keith Richards and Mick Jagger cut up newspapers to come up with the lyrics for Casino Boogie when they were recording Exile on Main Street in France. I think Richards wrote that they had simply run out of ideas after doing so much recording, so they used the newspaper method.

Nailed it! Been an artist since I was a kid and even I can admit this lol. I express my art through music, sketching, comics, and photography. All of my ideas I get for my art are from other things/people. For example, when I used to make beats, I would get inspiration from other beats. I'd essentially combine multiple beats together to make an entirely "new" beat. OR, I'd hear a song and then I'd edit the song based on specific melodies in the song to make an entirely "new" song. OR, i'd hear a melody from some random song I came across and use that to make a beat. The same case applies to my other art forms lol.

haha that was definitely a nice end! Great video!

Belated thank you :)

This is brilliant!

that is why art is an imitation of life. we just need to make a new innovation of the existing piece of art. :-?

He’s absolutely right! I think live in this era there’s no original idea 😂

This was amazing

Love this

Thank you for teaching me to steal from people 🤯❤❤

this is easily one of my favorite books :)

amazing!

love austin

I love this

This is a "How to be an artist" masterclass in 11 minutes

amazing

Fantastic thank you

Wow such a powerful word