Art & Fear
Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orlandby David Bayles and Ted Orland
Ranked 4 of 4 creativity books by recommenders
A short read on the creative process that people recommend for non-artists and software builders alike, with a useful set of opening questions.
A short read on the creative process that people recommend for non-artists and software builders alike, with a useful set of opening questions.
4 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 4
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 4 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Quick read useful for non-artists
“A quick read and worth it for people that don't consider themselves artists.”
Comment from 13 Mar 2026 in “A willingness to look stupid is the most underrated moat in doing creative work” Opening questions worth the price
“Those first two questions alone are worth the price of admission.”
Comment from 28 Jul 2026 in “An Uncomplicated Man” Better model for creating software
“gives a much better model for creating software than most books”
Comment from 18 Nov 2025 in “Short Little Difficult Books” Cited for capturing a key idea
“This idea is captured nicely in the book "Art and Fear"”
Comment from 27 Feb 2026 in “NASA announces major overhaul of Artemis program amid safety concerns, delays”
Other creativity books people recommend
The three most recommended other creativity books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Creative Actby Rick Rubin | 6 | 1 | 86% | 5 | — | — |
| Improby Keith Johnstone | 5 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
| The Artist's Wayby Julia Cameron | 5 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Art & Fearby David Bayles and Ted OrlandThis page | 4 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
All 4 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Those first two questions alone are worth the price of admission.”
“A quick read and worth it for people that don't consider themselves artists.”
“This idea is captured nicely in the book "Art and Fear"”
“gives a much better model for creating software than most books”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.