# Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland

4 Hacker News commenters recommended Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** A short read on the creative process that people recommend for non-artists and software builders alike, with a useful set of opening questions.

## Why people recommend it

- Quick read useful for non-artists (1 comments): "A quick read and worth it for people that don't consider themselves artists." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47363276))
- Opening questions worth the price (1 comments): "Those first two questions alone are worth the price of admission." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49080703))
- Better model for creating software (1 comments): "gives a much better model for creating software than most books" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45971471))
- Cited for capturing a key idea (1 comments): "This idea is captured nicely in the book "Art and Fear"" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47184868))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Creative Act by Rick Rubin](https://hackerapproved.com/p/creative-act.md): 6 recommend
- [Impro by Keith Johnstone](https://hackerapproved.com/p/impro.md): 5 recommend
- [The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron](https://hackerapproved.com/p/artist-s-way.md): 5 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0961454733?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780961454739) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland", https://hackerapproved.com/p/art-fear/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).