It's a small world after all…

I love chapter eight of Steal Like An Artist! The title is: "Be Nice. (The world is a small town.)" If you've hung out in the world wide toy community of Instagram for any length of time, you know how very true this statement is.  

It is easy to be influenced by all the great toy photography being posted on Instagram, Flickr, G+, Facebook and misc blogs. I myself have borrowed an idea or two over the past few months; no one is above being influenced by their peers.

So lets review how to steal like an artist. (This handy little chart, from the book by the same name, is a great guide.) When you "steal" it is about incorporating, not recreating verbatum. If you take a great idea and put it through your own internal filters, it is bound to come out completely different. If you transform and remix your inspiration, especially if your inspiration comes from several sources, you will no doubt end up in a completely different place from where you thought you were going. In my experience it will be a better, truer place, which really is the whole point. Right?

Remember, it's a small world and social media sites like Flickr and Instagram have shrunk it just a little bit further. So follow this guide and your work will flourish and no one will be accusing you of being that guy or gal.

~ xxsjc

Monsieur Croissant

Today Shelly and me had an interesting discussion about influences, copyrights, inspirations and bluntly stealing (I should not have taken that donut from her).

I am sure we have not said the last here on this topic, and while I want to stay far away from big ticket items like copyright infringement and big Inc. owning the worlds of our dreams, there is a big difference between stealing and stealing.

Like Shelly wrote in her post earlier, steal like a real artist and get inspired but don't just copy without the credit.

So, if you are liking someones style or art work, and you work hard to recreate it in your own, then give credit by starting of with an homage.

Tell the world who is inspiring you and which dreams you want to explore ...

It not only gives you the chance of being recognized by those who have inspired you, it also makes the difference between stealing like an artist and being a douchbag.


 Me2

Footnotes to self:
Day XVI in my personal challenge.
As always, stay tuned and leave your view in the comments below or on your social platform of choice ...