The Great Lie All Artists Tell Themselves

Anyone who has spent time with kids knows that children learn to express themselves through imitating others. 

Somewhere down the line, we’ve been taught that imitating others, was bad. For artists and designers, it led us to believe that all work had to be completely original, unlike anything else out there.

This is clearly a lie we tell ourselves. There can be only so many original ideas, and it’s likely they won’t be yours (and that’s okay). 

Making great art doesn’t have to begin with a completely new, original idea. 

Instead, great art begins with an imitation. We learn through imitating the work of others.