The artist’s playbook

Accessing childlike spirit in our art and our lives is worth aspiring to. It’s simple to do if you haven’t accumulated too many fixed habits and thoughts. If you have, it’s very difficult. Nearly impossible. A child has no set of premises it relies on to make sense of the world. It may serve you to do the same. Any label you assume before sitting d

One of the early mantras of CalArts was “No technique before need.” It used to be said that some art colleges instructed their students only “up to the wrist” (in other words, they focused on craftsmanship) while CalArts educated its artists only “down to the wrist” (its

an artist as a holistic being, a life comprised of thousands of decisions, influences, perceived options, and coincidences.

Art thinking is a framework and set of habits to protect space for inquiry.