Steal Like an Artist

Hello 1,750 friends, it’s Michael here!

Thanks for checking out this issue of the WISER Newsletter. Let’s get WISER together!

I’m a Thief…

And there I was, attaching my grappling hook back on to my utility belt having successfully scaled the gargantuan structure of the museum wall.

Why was I there? To reclaim what was rightfully mine: a prized jewel that my family lost decades ago in the fiercest game of tiddlywinks in history.

I pressed my face up to the glass of the window, and as the cold condensation met the searing sweat dripping down my brow, I saw it.

The ruby jewel in all it’s glory. It was time to steal what was rightfully mine…

I wish that my life were as exciting as the above text, but I’m afraid that’s where that fantasy ends! Thank you for allowing me to be a goof and be a fiction writer for a brief moment.

Today we’re talking about the topic of Stealing Like an Artist.

Those of you that are familiar with Austin Kleon’s work may already understand this sentiment, though many of us get this wrong (even those that are familiar with his work!).

But before we talk about one my biggest inspirations giving me permission to recreate on of their visuals, I want to share touch upon the key principles of

Steal Like an Artist

You might be familiar with this quote attributed to Pablo Picasso:

“Good artists borrow, great artists steal.”

As such, many have taken this encouragement to take other people’s work and take it as their own. This is what Austin would describe as the bad kind of copying.

Austin’s work more speaks about taking inspiration from many sources and making something new; recreating something in your own style or even innovating off of the back of someone else’s work.

That’s the important part though: you have to create something new. Steal the good parts, add your twist, share something new.

You can watch one of Austin’s TED Talk about this here:

Getting Permission to Steal Like an Artist

I recently had the most bizarre experience on Twitter after one of you tagged me in a post by one of our favourites: Sahil Bloom.

You’ll see here that Darren has encouraged us to produce a version of Carl Richard’s visual.

If you’re not familiar with Carl, he’s the genius behind Behavior Gap - simple, yet striking sketches that feature in such publications as The New York Times.

In response to Darren’s message, I responded that I would love to recreate this, but not without Carl’s permission.

Then Carl himself responded:

“Permission Granted”?! You don’t need to tell us again! Here’s our playful style with Carl’s brilliant idea:

Stealing like an Artist is not about just taking something and treating it as your own, but about creating something new after taking inspiration from other things.

The above example offered us an example to steal like a jerk; just recreating something in our style without permission and claiming it to be original enough to justify its existence.

Instead, we’ve recognised that it isn’t that original, so we invited Carl to give us permission to recreate it, and fortunately he did!

But Michael, why is this important?

Because this is Carl’s business, right? He sells licenses to his visuals, so by recreating it without his permission or giving him credit, I’m stealing from him the opportunity to generate revenue; I’m capitalising off of something he’s made whilst depriving him of potential income.

I’ll summarise this version of stealing like an artist by doing a playful twist on a quote that I usually hate:

“It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission. It’s also easier to be a jerk than it is to do the right thing. Don’t be a jerk - ask for permission.”