Currently reading: Steal like an artist

I recently bought a copy of the renowned 'Steal like an artist, 10 things nobody told you about being a creative,' by Austin Kleon after watching his TED talk here. (TED is an organisation devoted to spreading ideas in the form of short, powerful talks. If you haven't seen any of their videos yet I highly recommend checking out their youtube channel its an amazing source of inspiration.) Austin talks about 'Steal like an artist,' and also his other best selling book 'Newspaper blackout.' (A book of poetry he created with a permanent marker and a newspaper where he eliminated the words he didn't need.)

In the book he refers to advice as autobiographical and that when people are giving you advice they are really just talking to themselves in the past. Its an interesting concept, I definitely believe it to be true and this is to be said about the whole book in general. I find the book to be optimistic with a 'glass half full' tone, it definitely left me reeling with ideas and positivity (and suggested actions to take to build a more creative life.) 'You don't need to be a genius, you just need to be yourself.'

The addition of Austin's illustrations and quotes from others reinforce his ideas. I really love this quote in the book by Jonah Lehrer "Distance and difference are the secret tonic of creativity. When we get home, home, is still the same. But something in our mind has been changed and that changes everything." 

At the back of the book there's a 'deleted scenes,' page that shows how the book began 'its life on index cards,' a doodles page and a recommended reading list. I'm looking forward to making my way through the list! 

I was also introduced to Edward De Bono last night and his book 'Six Thinking Hats.' The principle behind the six thinking hats is there is six metaphorical hats you can put on or take off and they indicate the type of thinking you are using. The system is meant to be simple and effective in increasing productivity. The six hats represent process, facts, feelings, creativity, benefits and caution. I think it sounds like a really interesting idea and I'm looking forward to reading about it soon after ordering it alongside two of his other books 'Lateral thinking: A Textbook of Creativity,' and 'How to have creative ideas: 62 exercises to develop.' Has anyone read any of his books or have any good reading recommendations for creative thinking books?

I hope you've enjoyed my quick book review, I'll be back soon to share my thoughts on 'Six Thinking Hats!' 

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Inspired by... Colour, in Paris

 

Yaacov Agam, Amenagement de l'antichambre des appartements prives du Palais de l'Elysee pour le president Georges Pompidou

Frida Kahlo, The Frame, Pompidou

Yves Klein, portrait en relief de martial raysse Musee De'Art Moderne

Yves Klein Grande anthropophagie bleue, Hommage à Tennessee Williams, Pompidou

Some of the artwork I saw on my Paris trip. Top: Yaacov Agam an Israeli sculptor and experimental artist exhibited an installation in the Pompidou analysing colour and form. I like the connection between the installation and the viewer, this piece was very energetic. 

Middle: the Pompidou was running a programme and workshop for children and families to explore the life and work of Frida Kahlo. I love her work and learning about her inspirational life and journey to overcome her physical suffering through her art. "I paint myself because I am so often alone, and I am the subject I know best,' and 'I paint my reality. I know only one thing: painting is a real need for me.'

Below: Yves Klein. Excited to see this piece (bottom) in the flesh and make out all the little human details from Klein's 'body' brushes (He covers female models in paint turning them into human paint brushes to create his artwork on canvas.) This piece references the artists' fascination with cannibalism parallel with nuclear threat. 

'We'll always have Paris.'

Next month I'm taking a trip to Paris. I'm really looking forward to 6 days in the city soaking up the inspiration and filling a sketchbook with some new work. I'm planning to go to the usual tourist attractions, The Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, Montmartre etc and hopefully take a river cruise down the Seine and see a show at the Moulin Rouge. There's also La Roseraie de l'Hay-les-Roses a rose garden that houses over 3000 species in 3 miles of flower beds that I would love to see.

In preparation of the trip I've been researching other artists sketchbook work. I found a really great book 'Paris Sketchbook,' by Jason Brooks (renowned fashion illustrator) that documents his fascination of the city in this 'part guidebook, part illustrated journal.' It's really interesting to observe his sketchbook practice in relation to his commercial work. Below are some extracts from the book that are particularly inspiring…

I love the playfulness of The Eiffel Tower made up of different typefaces, the shape is so iconic that less is more in this depiction. The postcard collection is so aesthetically pleasing, I love collections and it would be fun to start my own collection of something whilst on my trip.

I like how the book is split up into various sections: architecture, the street, le cafe, fashion, shopping, art, a to b and la nuit. It helps give a balanced view of the whole city but it would also be fun to focus on just one study of something. I'm excited by the idea of going into a Parisian cafe and ordering a table of French desserts and spending the day drawing them, eating them and sipping on coffee :) A few other things I love in the book were the little silver foil cut-outs of iconic landmarks of Paris. It's good to look at basic structures and have fun experimenting with different approaches, I'm going to try to incorporate this into my drawing. I also loved the inserts of translucent tracing paper type dividers with inked quotes - love this idea, the ink drawings on coloured pages with simple blocks of white, the collections and groups of objects - doorways, lampposts and the small quick studies of the people of Paris. So inspiring!