How To Copy As An Artist Without Plagiarism
Steal Like an Artist is a book written by Austin Kleon. Great book and I recommend this to every artist.
This is a fact: There’s nothing new under the sun and everything is a remix. Every idea is built upon an already existing idea to make a new creation. This is who we are as humans. We exist to create, yet we do not just wake up out of nowhere to create a thing which has never ever been done.
When I started out as a photographer, (check out my work here), I boasted in the fact that I did what nobody could do until I realized there were hundreds of people who were already doing or have done what I’m doing now. Mostly, when people say they are creating something new, an idea which has never existed, they probably have not researched extensively.
It does not matter whether you copy from another person, the idea still remains. I bet there have been people who thought they were creating originals, yet when we compare their works to some creators of the past, we cannot deny the striking resemblance. I can’t mention names because I know none. Wait, does that mean this article is of no use? Keep reading something useless for motivation then.
So, how do you copy without plagiarism as an artist? This is the question. In school, during exams, we were encouraged not to copy. The teachers were smart enough to notice a copied work, but they did not know the students were smart as hell. As students, we copied and replaced the original words with their synonyms. Voila! Original work!
Here is a quote by Austin from his book: Don’t just steal the style, steal the thinking behind the style. You don’t want to look like your heroes; you want to see like your heroes.
William Ralph defined originality as plagiarism undetected.
Dear reader, dear artist, be like the smart student. The world is the teacher, always ready to judge your work. Be always ready to go copying undetected.
If this brought you value, please do well to check out my books of art and photography. They will be of great help. My favourite so far has been Reclaim Your Creativity, which focuses on helping the artist overcome obstacles that hinder him or her from creating.
Also, you can subscribe to my YouTube channel (The Artists Shire) for videos instead of reading it all here.
