A Tool for Creative Influence

Start an artist book

The artist is a collector. Not a hoarder, mind you, there's a difference: Hoarders collect indiscriminately, artists collect selectively. They only collect things that they really love.

Austin Kleon

Look around you. What influenced you today? Your phone notifications? The endless scroll? The noise of a thousand voices? None of them yours.

Here’s a way to tune into to one clear voice, to catch your vision.

Start an Artist Book.

Not a sketchbook – though you'll sketch in it.

Not a journal – though you'll write in it.

Not a diary – though you'll record in it.

An Artist Book is simpler than all of these. It's a space where you choose what influences you, instead of letting the world choose for you.

The practice takes just ten minutes: Fill two pages with whatever catches your spark that day. That's it. No rules about what goes in. No pressure about what it becomes.

I discovered this by accident. I started the year with a sketchbook, making daily drawings with notes alongside. Halfway through, I switched to a notebook – more words, fewer pictures. Then one day, I realized: these pages weren't just recording my days.

They were shaping them.

Think of it as building a library of influence – one spread at a time, ten minutes a day. Your art might be making picture books, raising kids, designing gardens, or teaching math. Whatever it is, this book is your compass.

Ten Minute Artist Prompt:

Start an Artist Book

Choose a book that feels right. On the first page, write: "In these pages, I collect what influences me. Ten minutes a day. Building a library of inspiration. Making material for my art."

The world is fighting for your attention. Your Artist Book is how you fight back – gently, daily, ten minutes at a time.

PS: Have you reflected on the Year Yet? if you want to do this in a free guided workshop that I did with Katie Stack, click here.