Austin Kleon

Having just finished Austin Kleon's previous book Steal Like an Artist, which I liked but didn't LOVE... I didn't expect anything different here. I mean, the book's exactly the same size and shape, the same layout, similar in approach. But this one hit me right between the eyes half a dozen times over.

I immediately started rereading this one, a library copy, and bought this one and Steal Like an Artist. I suspect that I didn't click with the first one because I read it too quickly and didn't show more really let it settle in. Or maybe it just speaks to a different stage of the artistic journey than I'm on. But Show Your Work... Oh, goodness. The second night I was reading it, I sat up four hours past my bedtime curating photo streams, removing the junk and the fluff, the "so what?" stuff that Austin speaks about. I kept in the stream photos of things-in-process, whether my new attempts at sketchnoting (and I'm NOT a drawing artist) or my attempts at yoga (I'm a middle-aged guy, inflexible and newb-like). I culled old photos of lattes and omelettes. I moved nearly two hundred photos of my family - fine snapshots, but not where I found creative inspiration for this stream - from my photo stream up to Facebook, where more folks are enjoying them as family photos anyway. Grandma and friends are there, not waiting on my photo streams. Four hours.

I also wrote six pages of journal notes, some by hand, some electronically; began to reshape my 9-year-old blog that I've left to die many times over. I revisited the great question of how I can find the metanarrative between all my distinct interests and outputs, to see what the main through-line is.

It's not just Show Your Work alone that sparked this - it was also much of David Whyte's poetry and lectures, as well as learning to doodle note and sketch note - but Kleon's book shaped and unblocked so much.

I can't recommend this book highly enough, and I'll be rereading Steal Like An Artist when my purchased copy of it shows up too. show less

This book landed in my lap at just the right time. I recently had a conversation with a friend about sharing techniques and the behind-the-scenes progress of our work. Maybe we're both old school, but we marvel at people who can share their "professional secrets" openly, without fear of their competition getting ahead based on that hard-earned knowledge.

Kleon's take on showing your work is rooted in the spirit of generosity and openness. He encourages artists to show every part of their show more process, because hey, maybe someone else could learn something too. This is so different from the way I've been taught to operate, and it's definitely going to require a mindset shift.

While I didn't find this book as thought provoking as STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST, I came away with a few great tidbits I can apply immediately, which is always a plus. I found it a quick, motivating, inspiring read, and I will definitely read more of Kleon's work in the future. show less

There's something to be said for picking up the right book at the right time. KEEP GOING is precisely what I needed at this phase in my life. As I write this, we're in the third wave of what seems to be a never-ending pandemic. A year in, my creative output has suffered like never before. I picked up this book expecting more of what's already so abundant in our media-laden world. Pithy quotes, vague "advice" couched in condescending language, and the same old ideas rehashed to death.

Instead, show more I found practical and infinitely approachable tips, tactics, and suggestions for actually leading a creative life in good times and in bad (just like the subtitle promises). I thought Kleon's previous books were fun but ultimately forgettable. This one, however, knocked me over the head with unexpected wisdom for a life philosophy that seems both urgent and incredibly relevant. I'm so grateful I grabbed this when I did. It's found a permanent spot on my home library shelf. show less

What a fabulous little book! It might be short on content, but it's long on wisdom - and that's exactly what I was hoping for when I picked it up. This is the kind of book I'll be reading over and over again. I got through it in under an hour, and that includes all the times I stopped to take notes, but I found myself nodding and smiling along every time I turned the page. Austin Kleon offers the kind of advice all artists would benefit from. It's straight-forward, no-nonsense advice, but show more with a touch of whimsy and humor. Basically, Austin gets us because he IS one of us. The book is both practical and inspirational, and it's found a permanent place on my keeper shelf. show less