Review: Steal Like An Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon

Austin Kleon's book Steal Like An Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative presents inspiration in a small handheld book that fits in a purse, backpack, or simply under the arm on the go.  The book gives great unique ways to keep an artist drawing and offers creative boosts.

Austin Kleon Introduces His Book
Austin Kleon starts with explaining his belief that "when people give you advice, they're really just talking to themselves in the past." In his book, Kleon wrote advice from experiencing specific past incidences. He goes on to explain that the advice shared is comprised of advice to his 19-year-old self.

Kleon briefly shares that as he gave his insights, those insights applied to any person seeking creative inspiration. While writing for himself, he later realized that people that try to "inject some creativity into their life and their work" have a need for his book as well.

An Overview Of Steal Like An Artist
10 quick chapters summarize the entire book, designed in a way to read easily in many different ways. The reader has the option to read through the whole book in one sitting, or thumb through the pages for something particularly inspiring. A person can easily come back to Steal Like An Artist on a creative low the spark the brain into productivity.

On top of inspiration, anyone can afford the book. With art books or inspiration books, anyone can expect to pay from $15 and upwards from there—the high gloss and ink used to print the artwork typically runs up the price. Steal Like An Artist is available for only $7 on Amazon, included with imagery for the visual learners.

You can also continue to follow Austin Kleon on his tumblr. He continues to discover new ways to stay inspired as well as learn from other artists.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick pick-me-up on a less than productive day.



Kleon, A. (n.d.). Tumblr: Austin kleon. Retrieved from http://tumblr.austinkleon.com

Kleon, A. (2012). Steal like an artist: 10 things nobody told you about being creative. New York, NY: Workman Publishing Company, Inc.


Amazon. (n.d.). Amazon: Steal like an artist. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Steal-Like-Artist-Things-Creative/dp/0761169253