Something is better than nothing! Thanks for giving me permission to just make a mark…done! My son uses your prompt “what’s the best thing….”at dinner to get his sons, 7 and 5, to have a real family discussion. Not a bad note for any of us in remembering our day (or year). And BTW, I find a paint version of just a mark works well in the studio when nothing inspires, I keep some arty-farty florals going to add to just to feel the squish of paint….that’s oil for the brain!!
Have a very happy birthday, Austin! This year marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of the novel that made your birthday, Bloomsday, an international literary event. I hope you have a marvelous day!
This is a topic near to me, as I really like to do “graphic one-liners” and gather information (aka trivia) and put it to paper. I am not faithful enough to commit to a diary, but I do work in my studio almost every day, more of an obsession than a commitment. If there is no particular project, then I can illustrate and write about something that I have often said “Why is…or Where did that….” Today it was about oatmeal, which I happen to like a lot. What used to take perhaps an hour, I now dote on, and even aspire to collect these thoughts into some kind of journal after the fACT. As it is today, I have heaps of pages; thank heavens I like to coptic stitch and can tie them all together and call it a “book.” I am rereading Steal Like An Artist, and find it comforting, as well as inspired.
I really like how easy you make it to do something creative everyday! I’ve recently started to think of some drawings I’m doing on the iPad as a series instead of berating myself for having no new ideas.
You probably are familiar with, but just a reminder… From The Writers Almanac: Today is the birthday of the man who once said, “The doodle is the brooding of the hand.” That’s cartoonist Saul Steinberg, born near Bucharest, Romania (1914). He studied sociology and psychology at the University of Bucharest, and then studied architecture in Milan. He never designed a single building, but began a career in art instead. He later said that the study of architecture was excellent training for art. “The frightening thought that what you draw may become a building makes for reasoned lines,” he said.
He left Italy when the Fascist government began enacting anti-Semitic laws, and while he waited for a U.S. visa, he started drawing cartoons and sending them to American magazines. In 1941, he published his first drawing in The New Yorker: a reverse centaur, with a horse’s head and a man’s rump. In 1942, the magazine sponsored his visa. He worked with The New Yorker for more than 50 years, drawing covers, cartoons, and hundreds of illustrations for the magazine.
He also served his new country during World War II. He taught Chinese guerillas how to blow up bridges, and he worked for the Office of Strategic Services, drawing anti-Nazi cartoons that were dropped behind enemy lines. He also served as a kind of war correspondent in cartoon form, sending illustrations home to The New Yorker. They were collected and published in a book, All in Line (1945). It was the first of several books, including The Passport (1954), The New World (1965), and The Discovery of America (1993).
One of his most famous — and most imitated — illustrations is “A View of the World from 9th Avenue.” It appeared on the cover of a 1976 issue of The New Yorker, and it embodies the stereotypical New Yorker’s view that Manhattan is the center of the world. Late in life he said that he would forever be remembered as “the man who did that poster.”
The funniest thing to me about posting these videos is that there’s always at least one comment asking me what pen I use! Still cracks me up after all this time.
What kind of shoes do you wear when you're doing your diaries? And do you wear socks too or do you sometimes do your diaries in your bare feet? Have you noticed any difference . . . or is the magic all in the pens and the color of the ink?
Hey Austin! I really enjoyed this post. It got me to thinking about starting a one page diary again. I had one when I was in college in the ‘70s, but that was ages ago. Who knows, maybe I’ll start again! Thanks
One of the things I've really appreciated about your work is the simplicity of filling up the page. Instead of feeling like I need to write really small because it all has to fit in a page which is just a daunting re-living of the day, I can draw, write one word, write 8 words, do whatever and just have fun. Last night I did an image transfer from a business journal and just pulled out the words that mattered to me. Really quick and similar to a blackout poem and definitely summed up the day. I also had some fun writing over the top of some COVID home test instructions and pasting that in. If someone opens up my journal, they'll know I'm an Austin fan. And, I feel like giving a collage video would be like Gilligan actually getting off the island. Then what?
Yes! I should probably write more about this — once I just thought about the diary as filling the page as well as I can, it sort of freed me up. I've also noticed that just pasting a sticker or a receipt in the diary can conjure the day as well as a bunch of tiny, cursive text...
Thanks Austin - appreciate you sharing how you create your diaries! The CMKY looks super cool too! Glad you’re still enjoying the bike, I just get out and go for a potter about on mine soon!
Hi Austin, I appreciate you sharing this because I can no longer view my Instagram account, and I refuse to get a TikTok account. (I refused to give Instagram my date of birth as if social media cares how old their users are.) Just an FYI, the spiraling out video doesn’t seem to be available in this post. Anyway, thanks for sharing and happy (early) birthday to you!
Getting a smartphone clamp after reading/watching this, thanks for sharing!
Something is better than nothing! Thanks for giving me permission to just make a mark…done! My son uses your prompt “what’s the best thing….”at dinner to get his sons, 7 and 5, to have a real family discussion. Not a bad note for any of us in remembering our day (or year). And BTW, I find a paint version of just a mark works well in the studio when nothing inspires, I keep some arty-farty florals going to add to just to feel the squish of paint….that’s oil for the brain!!
Have a very happy birthday, Austin! This year marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of the novel that made your birthday, Bloomsday, an international literary event. I hope you have a marvelous day!
This is a topic near to me, as I really like to do “graphic one-liners” and gather information (aka trivia) and put it to paper. I am not faithful enough to commit to a diary, but I do work in my studio almost every day, more of an obsession than a commitment. If there is no particular project, then I can illustrate and write about something that I have often said “Why is…or Where did that….” Today it was about oatmeal, which I happen to like a lot. What used to take perhaps an hour, I now dote on, and even aspire to collect these thoughts into some kind of journal after the fACT. As it is today, I have heaps of pages; thank heavens I like to coptic stitch and can tie them all together and call it a “book.” I am rereading Steal Like An Artist, and find it comforting, as well as inspired.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce1298BuKmE/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
I really like how easy you make it to do something creative everyday! I’ve recently started to think of some drawings I’m doing on the iPad as a series instead of berating myself for having no new ideas.
Also the Campari cocktail is a banger. ❤️
I so enjoy these posts Austin - thank you so much for sharing.
You probably are familiar with, but just a reminder… From The Writers Almanac: Today is the birthday of the man who once said, “The doodle is the brooding of the hand.” That’s cartoonist Saul Steinberg, born near Bucharest, Romania (1914). He studied sociology and psychology at the University of Bucharest, and then studied architecture in Milan. He never designed a single building, but began a career in art instead. He later said that the study of architecture was excellent training for art. “The frightening thought that what you draw may become a building makes for reasoned lines,” he said.
He left Italy when the Fascist government began enacting anti-Semitic laws, and while he waited for a U.S. visa, he started drawing cartoons and sending them to American magazines. In 1941, he published his first drawing in The New Yorker: a reverse centaur, with a horse’s head and a man’s rump. In 1942, the magazine sponsored his visa. He worked with The New Yorker for more than 50 years, drawing covers, cartoons, and hundreds of illustrations for the magazine.
He also served his new country during World War II. He taught Chinese guerillas how to blow up bridges, and he worked for the Office of Strategic Services, drawing anti-Nazi cartoons that were dropped behind enemy lines. He also served as a kind of war correspondent in cartoon form, sending illustrations home to The New Yorker. They were collected and published in a book, All in Line (1945). It was the first of several books, including The Passport (1954), The New World (1965), and The Discovery of America (1993).
One of his most famous — and most imitated — illustrations is “A View of the World from 9th Avenue.” It appeared on the cover of a 1976 issue of The New Yorker, and it embodies the stereotypical New Yorker’s view that Manhattan is the center of the world. Late in life he said that he would forever be remembered as “the man who did that poster.”
The funniest thing to me about posting these videos is that there’s always at least one comment asking me what pen I use! Still cracks me up after all this time.
What kind of shoes do you wear when you're doing your diaries? And do you wear socks too or do you sometimes do your diaries in your bare feet? Have you noticed any difference . . . or is the magic all in the pens and the color of the ink?
Hey Austin! I really enjoyed this post. It got me to thinking about starting a one page diary again. I had one when I was in college in the ‘70s, but that was ages ago. Who knows, maybe I’ll start again! Thanks
One of the things I've really appreciated about your work is the simplicity of filling up the page. Instead of feeling like I need to write really small because it all has to fit in a page which is just a daunting re-living of the day, I can draw, write one word, write 8 words, do whatever and just have fun. Last night I did an image transfer from a business journal and just pulled out the words that mattered to me. Really quick and similar to a blackout poem and definitely summed up the day. I also had some fun writing over the top of some COVID home test instructions and pasting that in. If someone opens up my journal, they'll know I'm an Austin fan. And, I feel like giving a collage video would be like Gilligan actually getting off the island. Then what?
Yes! I should probably write more about this — once I just thought about the diary as filling the page as well as I can, it sort of freed me up. I've also noticed that just pasting a sticker or a receipt in the diary can conjure the day as well as a bunch of tiny, cursive text...
Thanks Austin - appreciate you sharing how you create your diaries! The CMKY looks super cool too! Glad you’re still enjoying the bike, I just get out and go for a potter about on mine soon!
Just got back from a 14-mile solo ride! There is a heavy amount of bicycle/diary overlap:
https://twitter.com/austinkleon/status/1536702821650911235
See, I am happy with an out and back! Hubby, though, prefers a loop!
Hi Austin, I appreciate you sharing this because I can no longer view my Instagram account, and I refuse to get a TikTok account. (I refused to give Instagram my date of birth as if social media cares how old their users are.) Just an FYI, the spiraling out video doesn’t seem to be available in this post. Anyway, thanks for sharing and happy (early) birthday to you!
Spiraling out video is working for me — try refreshing the page?
It worked! Thanks!
I don't like to give out my birthday online either. When one is "required" by a site I want to sign up for, I make it up.