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.
