5 Artists I’m Learning From.
You are the sum of the people you spend the most time with. I believe I got that from Austin Kleon who got it from someone else, because that’s how art works.
I was washing dishes, thinking about all the books, podcasts, and creators who inspire me, and I felt a combination of disappointment and overwhelm. There are many people I’d love to learn from, but most of the time I end up consuming rather than learning. There are so many books, videos, articles, and content. There’s no way I’ll ever be able to read it all, much less absorb it! Drinking out of a firehose is not really a great way to stay hydrated.
I could read all day long, and I’m sure I’d absorb something, but the real source of change is the action of changing things. Learning is a verb.
So, I decided I’m going to try an experiment. Rather than spending time in passive absorption, I’ve selected five artists, writers, or thinkers that I’m going to “spend time with.” I’ll read their books, blogs, listen to their podcasts, take actual notes, and look for ways to apply what I learn from them. After three months, I’ll pick five new ones.
The point isn’t exclusivity. I’m allowed to let them lead me to deeper subjects within their work, and hopefully the work of others. But this gives me a place to start, encouraging depth rather than mass, feeding research and future projects.
So without further ado, the artists:
God
Jesus is the one person I base my whole life on. If I emulate anyone, it should be him. He’s going to make the list every time. Since there’s so much to him, there are some specific goals I’d like to incorporate:
Read the New Testament asking questions about God’s character, my identity in him, and how to live for his glory.
Spend regular time in prayer, both speaking and listening.
Memorize scripture.
Learn a few worship songs by heart.
Brainstorm art based on meta-narrative.
Austin Kleon
I’ve been a big fan of Austin Kleon’s for a while now, but I’d really like to go through his books again, really spend time applying them, and create some good notes to reference. I’d also like to compile a list of books and influences that I’d like to steal from him for later. If he inspires me to make some cool doodly diagrams or collages in my journal, I’m cool with that too.
Seth Godin
I’ve only read one book by Seth: The Practice. I plan on reading it again, taking some notes, and maybe debating some of his points.
I also love his essay/ebook: Stop Stealing Dreams, and I’ve been planning on writing my own take on it for a while as well.
Otherwise, I’ll probably listen to his podcast from Akimbo, read his daily blog, and check out a couple more books and see where it takes me.
Malcolm Gladwell
Maybe it’s a little ambitious to put Malcolm Gladwell and Seth Godin in the same sprint, but I won’t be bored. I really want to re-read The Tipping Point, because I read it so fast last time and I’d like to take better notes.
He also has a bunch of other books and a really cool podcast I want to listen to more often. I’m not sure I’ll agree with all his takes, but he’s a really brilliant and deep researcher, which is something I’d like to mirror in more of my writing.
Sam Does Arts aka. Sam Yang
Sam Yang has beautiful color and lighting and mood in his paintings, and I really enjoy his characters. Probably the most low-key person on here. I picked him to study for art because I’d like to make illustration a regular practice again, and his work encompases most of the areas I’d like to improve in over the next three months. His Youtube channel also has pretty great breakdowns of other artists he admires.
The greatest obstacle is that, while I am pretty rusty and my work won’t look exactly like his, I am nervous it’ll start looking too similar after a month or two. That’s when using his study breakdowns will be handy so I can learn from other artists as well.
As afraid as I was of feeling restricted by selecting five main influences, I think there’s plenty of things to learn from them. I won’t be bored. In the end if I ever am bored, I’ll just go down a rabbit trail of their influences, or people they’ve influenced. It’s not the thing you start with, it's where that thing takes you to. (Probably also got that from Austin Kleon.)
