The character arc of Austin Kleon
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born on 16 June 1983 in Circleville, Ohio. Between then and now sit Miami University in Ohio, a public library job in Cleveland, web design work for a law school in Austin, copywriting, Newspaper Blackout in 2010, Steal Like An Artist in 2012, Keep Going in 2019 and Don't Call It Art in 2026. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Austin Kleon?
He found the poem already in the page.
He grew up in Circleville, Ohio, was valedictorian of his high school, and studied at Miami University in Ohio. He worked in a public library in Cleveland, then as a web designer for a law school in Austin, then as a copywriter at a digital agency. None of that is a conventional artistic apprenticeship, and all of it turns up in the work.
The thing that started it was small and strange. He took a marker pen to a newspaper article and blacked out most of the words, leaving the ones that made a poem. Newspaper Blackout was published in 2010. It is the sort of project that is either a party trick or a whole method, and in his hands it turned out to be a method: use what is already there.
Steal Like An Artist followed in 2012 and is a short book of ten notes about creative work, built on the idea that nothing is original and that is good news. Show Your Work came in 2014, about the discipline of putting the process out in public rather than waiting for a finished thing. A journal followed in 2015, Keep Going in 2019 and Don't Call It Art in 2026. His books have been translated into more than a dozen languages and several have been New York Times bestsellers. He writes a weekly newsletter to about three hundred thousand readers, and lives in Austin, Texas.
The moments
Austin Kleon's timeline.
The 2000s
Miami University
Milestone, and it changed his direction. A small Ohio town, and the state university down the road.
The library job
Milestone, and it changed his direction. Surrounded by other people's finished work, which is a useful place to start.
Web design in Austin
Milestone. Two ordinary jobs, both of which taught him something he later used.
The 2010s
Newspaper Blackout
Milestone, and it changed everything. A marker pen, a newspaper article, and the poem that was already in it.
Another art book, or the advice
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: write the ten notes, taken, or more blackout poems. Steal Like An Artist reached more than a dozen languages and is the book he is known for everywhere.
Steal Like An Artist
Milestone, and it changed everything. Nothing is original, and that is good news. Ten short notes that reached a dozen languages.
Show Your Work
Milestone, and it changed everything. Put the process out in public instead of waiting for a finished thing.
The journal
Milestone. The same idea, handed over as blank pages.
Keep Going
Milestone, and it changed everything. Ten ways to stay creative in bad times, which is the harder book of the three.
The 2020s
Three hundred thousand readers
Milestone, and it changed his direction. A letter every week, to a readership the size of a city.
Don't Call It Art
Milestone, and it changed his direction. A sixth book, sixteen years after the marker pen.
The line reaches today still adding to itself, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it has set moving is permission, handed to a great many people who were waiting for it: nothing is original, use what is already in front of you, and show the work before it is finished.
What he wrote
Books by Austin Kleon
- 2010
Newspaper Blackout
Poems made by blacking out most of a newspaper article and keeping what was left.
- 2012
Steal Like An Artist
Ten things nobody told you about being creative. Nothing is original, and that is good news.
- 2014
Show Your Work
Ten ways to share your creativity and get discovered. Put the process out before the thing is finished.
- 2019
Keep Going
Ten ways to stay creative in good times and bad. The hardest of the three, and the most useful.
- 2026
Don't Call It Art
His most recent book, sixteen years after the first marker pen.
Your turn
Every line draws a unique story.
His began with a marker pen and a newspaper somebody else had already printed. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Austin Kleon: frequently asked questions
What people ask about his line.
What is Austin Kleon's character arc?
What is Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon?
What are Austin Kleon's blackout poems?
What is Show Your Work by Austin Kleon?
What jobs did Austin Kleon have?
Does Austin Kleon write a newsletter?
Where is Austin Kleon from?
Where does this timeline of Austin Kleon's life come from?
More character arcs
Lives that rhyme with his.
Sources
- Austin Kleon, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
- Publisher records for Newspaper Blackout, Steal Like An Artist, Show Your Work, Keep Going and Don't Call It Art.