“These ideas apply to anyone who tries to bring some creativity into their life and work. (This should describe all of us.) In other words: This book is for you. Whoever you are, whatever you do.”

With these words Austin Kleon starts his book and I liked them very much. Such a friendly and motivating statement is not often found in prefaces. And so I began to read…

He speaks of “these ideas” and means how to create “art”. And as Austin began to share them, he describes, he realized that they are not just for artists, but for everyone.

I personally believe that many people are creative. Some obviously through recognizable artistic results like pictures, photographs, music, etc. Some with results that are not so easily visible, such as in companies, when it comes to creative solutions. These can also be found in families or in other communities. Thus, creativity is always needed when it comes to the shaping of togetherness (sometimes also to be found in opposition to each other) or simply said, just life as such.

Some people create excuses, arguments, regulations, ways around them, atmospheres. Some are creative when it comes to finding loopholes, avoiding problems, or winning someone over. Is there anyone who is not – now and then – creative?

But apart from that the book is interesting for artists because it wants to give ideas about how to “make” art. And I think that the one who is an artist knows that he is one.

It is a small book, all black with white writing on the outside, and vice versa on the inside. It has 10 chapters, 134 pages in total. There is not very much to read. I assume that Austin Kleon simply wanted to write such a book and fill it with drawings. I like the short and concise sentences and many quotations.

He writes (and draws) the book exactly as he advises the readers in this book. He “steals like an artist” and that is his very own result.

“Steal like an artist”, is an international bestseller and it was also published in Germany in 2013 under the title “Alles nur geklaut: 10 Wege zum kreativen Durchbruch”. And so I also knew why I hadn’t noticed it properly in Germany in the year of publication: I did not like the title at all. I suspected a flat and not very sophisticated book in a typical American style. This estimation is not professionally founded, nor could I justify it. It was simply not for me. The original title “Steal like an artist, 10 things nobody told you about being creative” is so much better from my point of view and the book is really not as flat as the German title might suggest.

Well, here in the USA this book was a suggestion of a participant for the reading list of our book club. A dear friend of mine once said that I probably like to read books that also look beautiful. And yes, that is true. I hadn’t noticed it that way. If someone recommends a book and describes it as totally great, I bring it over me to read it even if the cover is terribly ugly in my eyes. But yes, beautiful covers are beautiful, aren’t they? And yes: I have studied marketing and also recognize the sophisticated advertising effectiveness of design etc., but that doesn’t matter. So it was easy for me to read the book for this reason as well.

The book has 10 chapters and their title always describes quite well what it is all about.

1. Steal like an artist.

2. Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started.

3. Write the book you want to read.

4. Use your hands.

5. Side projects and hobbies are important

6. The secret: Do good work and share it with people.

7. Geography is no longer our master.

8. Be nice (The world is a small town).

9. Be boring. (It’s the only way to get work done.)

10. Creativity is subtraction.

Every chapter is worth reading from my point of view. Austin Kleon describes in more detail what he means by his statements of the chapter title and it is fun to follow his thoughts.

For me, the first chapter was the prelude and a tuning for the special tone and the special way of describing his (not original) ideas. It gave me a lightness and a desire for the joy of simply doing something. In short, it describes (and quotes others who have described it) that nothing is original. Every idea, every thought, every art already existed. By someone stealing them and making them his own, it becomes something new, because the person who does it does it in his own way.

So the artist, in his view of the world, does not divide it into good or bad. But into things that are worth stealing or are not worth stealing. Quite simply.

What do you think?