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The phrase *steal and conceal* has been around for a while. Do not Google it as I just did because there were all kinds of things that have nothing to do with art. I hope I don't get myself in trouble for using the phrase. I first heard it from Peter Thornton, one of very favorite calligraphy instructors. His classes always included some thoughts on where we get our ideas. We get them from everywhere.
The world is full of ideas. We can find them in nature, in ancient books, on the grocery shelves. on calendars, in cookbooks, on fabric, on stamps - the list is endless. If we love a Mary Engelbreit design, we can use her work as inspiration. She has a lot of checkerboards in her designs. She doesn't own checkerboards. If you follow her on IG sometimes she'll post something that inspired her. If you click on the people that she follows you'll see all kinds of work that is in a similar vein - whimsical, cottage-y, bright, cheerful, etc.
There are two ways to go with steal and conceal - you can try for a very exact copy - or you can look at something to get the general drift and then do your own version from memory. Doing something from memory will probably be enough to conceal your source. Or, you can choose ways to specifically alter what your inspiration piece looks like. If it's bold and colorful with hard edges, you can switch to pastels and softer edges.
When I am stealing an idea, I usually go for fast and sloppy as my way to conceal where the idea came from. Then when I see that it is too sloppy I might go back and tighten it up - without looking at the original - and I might end up with something I like that is two steps removed from the original.
Do I need to reinforce the part where we only steal ideas for fun and we never sell our stolen designs?
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