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when asked about how he thought his students could become better artists, Panter replied, "You have to copy and copy and copy and copy. And then you find yourself."
Last week while traveling to Pune heard audiobook from Austin Kleon - Steal Like An Artist. Book's main theme story is very fascinating to keep making your own stuff.
Kleon suggests that when you find an artist whose work you love, you should not just look at their work, but also study the work of the people who influenced them. He likens this to climbing your own family tree, but for ideas and inspiration. He calls this "climbing your own tree."
The story goes like this: Kleon once read an interview with the cartoonist Gary Panter, and when asked about how he thought his students could become better artists, Panter replied, "You have to copy and copy and copy and copy. And then you find yourself." This idea resonated with Kleon, and he started to explore it in his own work.
He began by copying his favorite artists, but he didn't stop there. He also researched who those artists had copied, and then who those artists had copied, tracing a lineage of creativity back through time. By doing this, he was able to see how ideas and styles evolved and were passed down from artist to artist. This helped him understand that nothing is completely original, and all creative work builds on what came before.
This story is a great example of the book's central theme: that it's not only okay, but essential to steal like an artist, meaning to be inspired by, borrow from, and build upon the work of others.
