More Than Just Stealing…
Returning to Steal Like an Artist but sometimes the same book meets you in a different place.
Some books are meant to be read once. And then there are books like Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon, the kind you keep returning to, and every single time, it says something different to you. Like it’s paying attention to where you are right now.
Here are 10 lines that caught me this time around:
“I don’t believe in art, I believe in artists.” — Marcel Duchamp
Sit with that for a second. Would art even exist without artists to create it, recognize it, name it? You are not an afterthought in this equation. You are the equation.
Don’t worry about doing research. Just search.
There’s something so freeing about this. Research says: I need to find the answer to this. Search says: I wonder what’s over here.
Curiosity doesn’t need a destination and honestly? It’ll take you somewhere far more interesting than the place you originally planned to go. You’re allowed to wander. You’re allowed to get wonderfully, productively lost.
It’s in the act of making stuff and doing it out that we figure out who we are.
Only after years of drawing, writing, and quietly reflecting did I begin to notice my own patterns — the feelings I kept returning to, the questions that wouldn’t leave me alone, the stories I was trying to tell without even realizing it. I started to see what I care about, what moves me, and what I want others to feel when they encounter my work.
That understanding didn’t come from thinking about art. It came from making it again and again and again.
So make what you want to make. Not what feels impressive. Not what feels correct. Not what you think will succeed. Just start with what feels honest.
It might not make you rich in the traditional sense. But it will shape you. It will deepen you. It will give you a richer inner world, a stronger voice, and a clearer sense of who you are.
And at some point, almost quietly, you realize:
You don’t find your work by waiting.
You find it by doing the work you want to be doing — even before you fully understand why.
“If you copy from one author, it’s plagiarism, but if you copy from many, it’s research.” — Wilson Mizner
Influence becomes originality when it’s filtered through your own mind. Every artist you love has loved other artists before you. The lineage is long. You’re part of it too.
Steal the thinking behind the style.
Don’t just look at what an artist makes — ask how they think. Who influenced them? Why did they make these choices? How do they see the world? That’s where the real treasure is. Style is the surface. Thinking is the gold.
Whenever you’re at a loss for what move to make next, ask yourself: “What would make a better story?”
And then follow that instinct. It’s a surprisingly reliable compass, especially when everything else feels foggy.
Take time to be bored.
You can have the best ingredients in the world: experiences, feelings, influences, ideas- but if you never give them time to cook, you’re just eating raw ingredients.
Boredom is the heat. It’s not empty time. It’s cooking time. And in a world that’s constantly handing us something to look at, choosing to be bored is actually a quiet act of creative rebellion.
The best way to get approval is to not need it.
Real validation starts from within. Only then can you decide what feedback to accept and what to let go. This one is a whole journey, I know. But it starts with trusting yourself just a little bit more today than you did yesterday.
Work gets done in the time available.
That’s it. That’s the whole thing. Deadlines aren’t the enemy — they’re the container. Give yourself one.
Try to be utterly schizoid about it all — using each personality as a refuge from the other.
Think about it this way: when the artist in you is exhausted and overstimulated, the homebody in you gets to rest, cook dinner, and exist quietly. And when the homebody gets restless and a little dull, the artist gets to come back out and make a mess.
Each version of you is a break from the other. You don’t have to be “on” all the time. You just have to keep rotating. This balance makes it possible to hold your various roles in life without losing yourself in any one of them.
If you’re somewhere in the middle of figuring out your creative voice: feeling a little lost, a little in-between, maybe a little like you’re not quite “there” yet — I just want to say:
that place you’re in? It’s not a waiting room. It’s the actual work.
Keep making. Keep searching. Keep showing up for the artist you’re becoming.
And if any of these lines sparked something for you- a thought, a memory, a question you’ve been sitting with, I’d genuinely love to hear it.
Hit reply and tell me. Every single message I get reminds me why this little corner of the internet is worth showing up for.
If this space helps you understand art a little better, feel less alone in your creative practice, or feel seen and validated in your inner creative landscape, you can support my work on Ko-fi.
Your support helps me keep writing and creating for artists like you — slowly, honestly, and with care.
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Every reader is part of what keeps this space alive.
Just reading this on a random morning and it helps you to move on in life. Every quote were meant to me . I wish to read such things to boost my morning.. Thanks much for putting out here