You Are an Artist : Assignments to Spark Creation

Author: Sarah Urist Green

Art techniques & principles

Published on 7 May 2026 by Penguin Books Ltd in the United Kingdom

Paperback | 256 pages
232 x 188 x 21 | 680g

Where do great artists get their inspiration? And how could they help you make something extraordinary? In You Are an Artist, over fifty artists from around the world share their creative techniques, and give you brilliantly imaginative exercises to inspire you to make your own art. Among other things, you'll invent imaginary friends, construct a landscape, find the quietest place, measure your history and become someone else (or at least try). You don't need special materials or experience. Your only challenge is to create art that reflects the world as you see it.

Curator Sarah Urist Green brings together more than 50 assignments gathered from some of the most innovative creators working today, including Sonya Clark, Michelle Grabner, The Guerrilla Girls, Fritz Haeg, Pablo Helguera, Nina Katchadourian, Toyin Ojih Odutola, J. Morgan Puett, Dread Scott, Alec Soth, Gillian Wearing, and many others.