“Don’t steal the style, steal the thinking behind the style.”

This week we move on to Chapter 2 of "Steal Like an Artist." Chapter 2 is titled "Don't Wait Until You Know Who You Are To Get Started." In summary, Kleon is saying just do it. Just act like an artist. Talk like an artist. Do artist like things. Make stuff. People will start to think of you as an artist if you play the role. In other words, fake it until you make it. That's right. Play the role until you get the part. Understanding the difference between plagiarizing and practice is also important. 

On page 20, the author says, "Don't steal the style, steal the thinking behind the style." I think Kleon means he wants you to try and understand what is it the artist is trying to communicate. Understand how your heroes see, don't just copy their work. 

How would I do this? I would try to understand the message behind the style. What is the style trying to convey and how did the artist reach express that message. For example, Art Chantry likes outsider art. He likes pulp fiction, pop culture, comics and anything not seen as established or seen as fine art. He likes gritty work, so his work is gritty. 

Imitating and emulating can look similar but it's important to differentiate them. Kleon says imitating can lead to plagiarism. Imitation is copying. What we should be doing is emulating our heroes. Emulating is taking the essence of your heroes work, internalize it and then project your own interpretation.  

On page 39, Kleon uses a chart to talk about good theft and bad theft of ideas. Below, I tried to apply this concept as evidenced by Art Chantry's work on the left and my emulation on the right. The second column is my attempt to copy his style. Which one do you think emulates versus copy? How did I do?