July 28. Stealing as a Path to Inspiration

                                                                            

Blackout Poetry by Austin Kleon

I recently revisited Austin Kleon's Steal Like An Artist. The blackout poetry he writes resonates with millions of readers. He admits in his Ted talk the idea of blackout poetry has a very long history and he uses it as a way to express his own voice. 

His book is full of quotes from artists, writers, filmmakers and other creatives, that urge fellow makers to steal ideas and and use them as starting points in their own work.

Kleon reminds the reader nothing is original and it's a creative's job to collect good ideas and use them to make something authentic that speaks from the soul.

This morning I'm playing with something I saw a couple weeks ago. An artist had taken spilled coffee and added details with pencil to create little adventure scenes. I did my own version, dropping coffee splats on watercolor paper and adding details in ink.  A bit like a Rorschach Test but adding in the fun of doodling. 

Randall, mistaking termites for ants, takes a leap of faith to grab a snack, only to be challenged by Sheba, rare, armor plated poisonous spike fish who claims the termites for herself

                                                

Still thinking of a story to go with this image

                                                      

Celebration

Today, look around and see what you can swipe in the way of ideas and play with it. See where it goes.