ASLU 008: Navigating Inspiration, Imitation and Plagiarism as a Creative For Hire

In Episode 8 of the And She Looked Up Creative Hour, we continue on with our April theme of Inspiration.

And we’re taking a little inspiration from Austin Kleon’s book, Steal Like an Artist, to talk about the differences between creative inspiration, imitation and the act of stealing another creative’s intellectual property - aka plagiarism - in your work.

Two of these - inspiration and imitation - can be very useful parts of your workflow, both artistically and from a business perspective. And one of theme - plagiarism - is one you should steer far away from.

So let’s get started. You can listen to the entire episode below (or on your favourite podcast app) and you can scroll down to the read the rest of the article and to get a list of all the resources we mention in the episoce.

Listen To the Episode

Here’s a direct link to Episode 8 or you can listen via the player below:

What’s the difference between Inspiration, Imitation and Plagiarism?

We’re going to start off with a baseline definition of each of these things before we get dive into the discussion so we’re all clear on what we’re talking about when we use these words.

Inspiration

Inspiration is the act of taking in and processing new ideas, new visuals and new content from the world around you. It’s equal parts consuming the world around you and mentally processing (either consciously or subconsciously) that content to help you jump start your own creativity. You’re taking those ideas and content and building upon them to create something that’s new.

It’s entirely possible to create something new from multiple sources of inspiration. Musicians often refer to their multiple influences when creating new work. It’s also possible that the source of inspiration and the finished product can appear to be completely disconnected.

Imitation

Imitation is the act of copying something that somebody else has produced but with a purpose. It could be to help you learn a new skill, or technique or to enhance your craft. It could be reverse engineering something you’ve seen to figure out how it was done - like a video editing technique or food styling setup.

If you’ve ever visited an art gallery and seen students sketching the paintings or sketches on the walls, that’s part of their learning process and it can be a very useful and acceptable way to learn. You are not creating anything brand new but you are developing your skills which you can then use to help you create something that’s yours.

This is a form of copying but it’s done without the intent to pass it off as your own work. You may choose to share it but you would always credit the work you were trying to imitate and make it very clear that you were simply copying it to learn the skills behind it.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the act of taking somebody else’s work or a very close copy of it and passing it off as your own idea and your own work - sometimes, but not always, with the intent to profit from it.

This is different from copying something you’ve seen in order to grow your skill set or tracing a piece of art or hand lettering to teach your hand the movements. Plagiarism is taking credit for something that’s not yours.

Letting inspiration bring you to something new

We’ve already talked a lot about cultivating inspiration as well as sharing some of our favourite sources of creative inspiration in previous episodes and we all know how important inspiration is for us to continually create and keep our businesses running.

But how do you know if you’re walking that thin line between being inspired by something and imitating something? You don’t want the fear of copying somebody to stop you from creating something new.

View The World Through Your Own Lens

One of the things to remind yourself is that we all see the world through a different lens. Figuratively and literally.

If you put a flower in front of two photographers and ask them to take a photo of it, you are going to wind up with two very different images - but they’re inspired by the same thing.

Both photographers will see the flower differently in their mind - they are viewing it through their own personal lens that is shaped by their experiences as well as their own physical and mental makeup (a friend and I have often pondered over a glass of wine the fact that many great photographers seem to have vision issues and maybe because they physically see the world differently that translates into their final images).

Both photographers might photograph the flower from a different distance or a different angle. They might also be using different equipment. One might use a 50mm lens, one might use a 100mm macro lens - in other words they’re literally viewing it through different lenses! Both of them will treat the photo differently in post processing. The final images were directly inspired by the same subject but they will look very different - they’re not imitating or copying each other.

Create the thing you want but can’t find

Are there any new ideas out there? Yes there are but most of us are busily working on old ideas - we’re just putting our own spin on them and pushing them forward to produce something new. This is what inspiration is all about - it gives us the kernel or the nugget of an idea that we can run with and put our own spin on.

One of the best ways to avoid copying somebody is to create what you want but can’t find. This is the spark that starts so many small businesses - they come out of the founder wanting something they can’t find so they make it themselves. If you have an idea, try it out - we guarantee you that you won’t be the only person out there looking for it. But you will be the person who had the drive to put it out there. We’re all creative but creators are the ones put the work into the world.

Tired of looking at coats in pastel colour palettes? Create a line of coats in bold, bright colours. Love embroidery but are bored of embroidery kits that look like your great-grandmother’s samplers and that you’d never hang on your wall? Make your own kits or patterns that have edgy graphics or bold designs. Your inspiration may be those old samplers or that coat you saw in a shop window but your take on it is what will make yours different.

When Melissa and her business partners started Food Bloggers of Canada their idea wasn’t new. There were similar on-line communities all over the web. But none of them focused on what they were craving - connection with other Canadian food bloggers with content that addressed their unique challenges of blogging outside of the USA. They were inspired by on-line communities but they put their own twist on it to fulfill a need they themselves had that wasn’t being filled.

the power of imitation

Don’t underestimate the power of imitation. While it can sound like something to avoid, it can play a very important role in your work.

Let’s be very clear here - we are not talking about copying somebody’s work and passing it off as your own or as your own idea.

What we’re referring to is the power of imitation as a tool for learning.

One of the reasons a lot of people resort to copying other people’s work is because they lack the skills to create something that’s their own. Being creative is one thing - as we say a lot around here, everyone is creative. But don’t confuse creativity with being skilled. A strong foundation of skills can take a long time and a lot of hard work to develop and there are no shortcuts. We all have to do the work.

Imitation is a great way to develop your skills. Emulating techniques helps you solidify your mechanics. Copying something or using reference material is a way to learn. Think of it as an exercise. Just like we all had to write the letter B over and over again in our elementary school notebooks or the way a golfer spends hours at the driving range practicing their swing or a musician spends 20 minutes warming up with scales - these exercises help us develop our basics through repetition and constant tweaking of form and technique.

Once you have your form and mechanics down you’ll start to pull away from imitating other work. This is because you’ve developed the skills to get the ideas in your head out into the world. Knowing the rules and having the skills required for your work also put you in a position where you can break the rules and have something really cool come out.

how to avoid copying

As we mentioned above, one of the best ways to avoid outright copying somebody is to build up your own skills so you don’t have to.

Be Curious And go Wide

Cultivate multiple sources of inspiration. Musicians are never shy about saying who their work is influenced by and often it’s quite a long list of other musicians across multiple genres. A little pop, a little country, some opera, throw in some death metal…

Go wide with your inspiration - look in your niche and your genre and then move outside of it to completely different worlds. And they don’t have to be “artistic” sources. Look to sports, business, tech, food, education.

Reference Materials

Collect reference materials to work from. Melissa keeps a file folder on her hard drive full of photos of houses she loves that she wants to draw or paint one day. You might have a file of colour palettes that intrigue you or interesting flavour combinations from meals you’ve experienced while traveling.

Fan Art

Try creating fan art. This is art based off of characters - usually from movies, comic books, manga or animation. But you put the characters into new situations or reproduce them in different mediums. It’s similar to fan fiction where you take characters from a known “universe” like Star Wars of Game of Thrones and create new stories for them based off of what you know about them from their original stories. While you can’t sell this art - you don’t own the characters and you are imitating the original work - it can be a fun way to practice your skills while creating something that’s new.

Do This In Your Style Challenges

Draw this or photograph this in your style challenges have become quite popular on Instagram and YouTube. An artist will share a drawing or photo that they’ve done and invite followers to draw it in their own style and then share it - often with a hashtag or a credit line of some kind. This is a sanctioned way to copy somebody else’s idea and share your work and connect with the original artist and a larger art community. A lot of food bloggers will encourage follower to make their recipes and share photos of the finished dish with any tweaks they’ve made. Bullet journalers will create monthly spread ideas and ask their fans to share their spreads if they go with the same theme.

Give Credit Where Credit is Due

If you choose to share your work that’s based on imitation of somebody else’s, credit them! Be clear about what your purpose in imitating their work was. Something like “Today I did a sketch based off of this photo by Artist X to try and improve my line drawing.” Be transparent about what you’re doing and why and make it very clear that this was not your original concept. DO NOT TRY TO PASS THIS WORK OF AS YOUR OWN IDEA OR CONCEPT OR SELL THIS WORK. That is plagiarism.

Be a Finisher - do the work

Sometimes, your best ideas will come out of failed ideas. Mistakes can often trigger something in your brain or a new way of looking at something and that can send you down a new and unexpected rabbit hole with your brain popping ideas out at you left, right and centre. Too often people quit or don’t even start because they’re afraid of making a mistake or creating something crappy.

When Lisa wrote her book, she was dismayed at how much of it landed on the editing room floor. While at first it was hugely disappointing to see work she’d put a lot of effort into not get used, upon reflection she realized that the recipes that didn’t make it to the final draft could still be used for other projects where they were a better fit. They just weren’t a good fit for this project.

Don’t be afraid to be a prolific creator. When you put all your efforts into creating one perfect thing you will never get there. Because it will never be perfect. But when you finish projects you can put them out into the world. Finishing means you’re constantly improving your skills and learning from your mistakes. Your constantly creating iterations and improving on the last finished piece.

At the end of the day, creating is about doing the work. There are no shortcuts. Forcing yourself to sit down and go through the process is what creating is all about. Practicing your skills and learning new skills it what allows your creativity flourish and grow. It’s what lets you get the ideas in your head out and turn them into reality. It’s what takes you from imitation and inspiration to fresh ideas and new work and what helps you develop your own style.

Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

Editor's Note: This list contains affiliate links — full disclosure is at the end of the article.

• Steal Like An Artist - by Austin Kleon
• The Creative Penn Podcast (with Austin Kleon)
• Austin Kleon's website

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