Creativity Sucks: And 30 Other Things I've Learned while Living a Weird, Amazing, Crazy, Creative Life

by Phil Hansen

An essential guide for artists of all levels, on how to live and work as a creative, from a popular artist and TED speaker.

When we're kids, our parents tell us that being creative is fun, fun, fun. But when you decide to turn art into your career, whether that's painting, writing, drawing, or sculpting Edgar Allan Poe out of earthworms, that's when things get tough. Let's be honest. Creativity isn't always fun. It's also hard work.

In this insightful and heartfelt guide, artist and speaker Phil Hansen shares his hard-won wisdom from the frontlines of life as a professional creative. Paired with his edgy art, Hansen provides advice for the difficult moments--the slumps, the creative blocks, the times when something you love doesn't resonate with the world--and gives you the pep talk you need to get through the tough times. He also shares helpful tips on how to put yourself in the prime creative mindset, how to build a support system, and how to create art that sells.

Genres: Nonfiction, Art

208 pages, Paperback

Published October 20, 2020

Reviews

[Geri chesner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy reading and a few new ways to look at things were presented for me. Hansen is a really creative artist and has done some really innovative things with his art - loved the worm art he created and videotaped of Edgar Allen Poe as live worms were set in Poe's face. I like how he draws the works he talks about to give the reader another view of the process and product in a sketch. Valuable to me was his distinguishing between hand word (the actual making/doing) and head work (thinking, planning, imagining, getting ready for the hand work) for artists (or any creator). Motivational for me.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hello fellow art friends,

Have you feel that you are not creative enough, or you art is not good enough? Perhaps, you haven’t drawn in a few years, but feel intimidated. Or maybe, you feel lost and drowning at sea.

Well I got a book for you. “Creativity Sucks” and how painfully it relate to some of us. How we may have been in art college, but discontinued doing art work once we leave school. Instead we get full time jobs as (occupation) and never touch a sketchbook again. How about not drawing at all cause we art not inspired. Our muse are dead and all we can think about is how other artist are better and we cannot compare.

Welp, Phil gives us tips and how we can solve this problems. He tells us his experience and how he overcame his huddles. Also, it’s very relatable and humbling. In short, give this book a shot, you will not regret it.

[Ciara Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is truly truly a wonderful guide to creative professions & making art in a society that does not highly value or understand the art making process. Hansen does an incredible job of making a point, which you immediately want to refute and yell, “NO YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!” and then before you can, he explains the point further and reminds you that he too is an artist, and he DOES indeed understand.
Full of really applicable tips for inciting creativity, and helps you decide if you really want to pursue an artistic career. A must read for creatives in any artistic field!

[Rachel Pieters · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book!

I'm a fine artist, and read it with this in mind, although many creatives could find the advice very useful as well. I felt inspired and ready to go, ready to battle in roadblocks in my way. I'm not much of one to get creative block, but there were lots of stories from Phil's own career that gave me ideas I hadn't thought of as far as business goes, and also creative solutions to other issues. I'm very glad I read this, and although relatively brief, it's definitely a keeper to refer back to now and again.

Highly recommend!

[Emily Oster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good book & easy to understand. No matter what your profession is in the creative industry, this translates so well to art, design, production, theater. I’m a lighting tech by trade & found this incredibly helpful when needing to be creative in my job. I read this, because I felt like I was in a rut & out of ideas, but this sparked so many & has allowed me to actually be more productive at my job.

[Lacie Jo Aldridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started this last March (which I didn’t realize) and took a break from it and finally sat down and consistently read a little bit every day until I finished it. I love the ideas he has in this book and so many takeaway points about creating your artistic boundaries while also setting limitations for yourself so you can go over them and see what happens. Lots of exploration and pushing until you try something new just to see what happens. Don’t settle, there is always something new to try.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a chance to work on audiobook version. I read different books about creativity in the past. This one was speaking to me. Funny attitude, not making a big deal out of creative process. Plus few practical tips on how to handle different situations.
This book will give you boost of confidence in your creativity.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some good ideas in here. Reminded me I’d like to revisit Creative Thinkering.

[Kenzie Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This felt like it applied more directly to conceptual art rather than to what I experience as a graphic designer, but it still offered broad advice that anyone creative deals with!

[Brock Mclaughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks Phil for giving me a ton of inspiration for my next art show

[Annaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like 3.5 stars. This was nice and inspired me to work on my craft. Nothing life-changing though

[Justin Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

i will definitely revisit these pages over and over again throughout time. A kind lighthearted approach to getting out of your own head and actually making stuff again.

[jzmcdaisy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A breath of fresh air for aspiring creatives like myself. Hansen's Ted talk is supplemental to this book, please go watch it. It made me realize that my 'shake' is looking for a purpose through my writing. My perfectionism often gets in the way of my fiction, so I was pleased that he added passages about going easy on yourself and never giving up. This book helped me acknowledge I write well and have fun building paragraphs with sentences. Hansen encourages living a creative life on the realist route instead of an optimistic or pessimistic one. His light-hearted writing style went well with his drawings, which made his points more vivid. He also discusses how failure, perfectionism, and pressure are pervasive in all creative lives, but working through them is possible. Unfortunately the humor didn’t land much with me. References to Rihanna and Netflix and chill won't age well. But other than some lame humor, this was a stellar read.