Some will say the painting community needs to rediscover much of what has been lost since
Below is a compilation of quotes and ideas from many inspirational figures. I took to the time to bucket them by the following categories:
On Why We Paint – On the Power of Intention – On Getting Started – On the Importance of Practice – On the Primacy of Seeing – On the Act of Finishing – On the Importance of Art
Additionally, there is a downloadable, printable pdf copy of this content available on my Patreon site: https://www.patreon.com/thomasmichaelnieman
Discussion of the principals, the mindsets and techniques will be examined occasionally in video on my YouTube Channel as well: Click Here to View
On Why We Paint…
Painting is just another way of keeping a diary. - Pablo Picasso
When you accomplish something that you once believed was impossible, it makes you a new person. It changes the way you see yourself and the world. - John C. Maxwell
While drawing I discover what I really want to say. - Dario Fo
Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. - Pablo Picasso
I paint flowers so they will not die. - Frida Kahlo
Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one. - Stella Adler
What keeps my heart awake is colorful silence. - Claude Monet
On the Power of Intention…
A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art. - Paul Cezanne
A true artist is not one who is inspired, but one who inspires others. - Salvador Dali
To my mind a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful and pretty. There are too many unpleasant things in life as it is without creating still more of them. - Pierre-Auguste Renoir
If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing. - Marc Chagall
The Achilles heel of an artist lies in the hope that his art is good. - Kapil Gupta
The purpose of the painter is simply to reproduce in other minds the impression which a scene has made upon him. A work of art does not appeal to the intellect. It does not appeal to the moral sense. Its aim is not to instruct, not to edify, but to awaken an emotion. -George Inness
When I paint, I never think of selling. People fail to understand that we paint in order to experiment and to develop ourselves as we strive for greater heights. - Edvard Munch
On Getting started…
A painter should begin every canvas with a wash of black, because all things in nature are dark except where exposed by the light. - Leonardo da Vinci
Every artist was first an amateur. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Realize the value of putting down your first impression quickly. --Charles Hawthorn
It is only when we are no longer fearful that we begin to create. - J. M. W. Turner
If you hear a voice within you saying, ”You are not a painter,” then by all means paint… and that voice will be silenced. - Vincent van Gogh
The first line you put in a painting, is actually the fifth. The four sides of the picture are very important. - Nathan Oliveira
All you need to paint is a few tools, a little instruction, and a vision in your mind. - Bob Ross
This is your world You’re the creator. Find freedom on this canvas. Believe, that you can do it, ‘Cuz you can do it. You can do it. -Bob Ross
On the Importance of Practice…
If people only knew how hard I work to gain my mastery. It wouldn't seem so wonderful at all. -Michelangelo
Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get the work done. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you're not going to make an awful lot of work. -Chuck Close
As I work at my drawings, day after day, what seemed unattainable before is now gradually becoming possible. Slowly, I'm learning to observe and measure. I don't stand quite so helpless before nature any longer. - Vincent van Gogh
Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working. - Pablo Picasso
You can look at a picture for a week and never think of it again. You can also look at the picture for a second and think of it all your life. - Joan Miro
Practice what you know and it will help you to make clear what you do not know. - Rembrandt
Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do. - Edgar Degas
Stay firmly in your path and dare. Be wild two hours a day! - Paul Gauguin
The successful painter is continually painting from still life. - Charles Hawthorn
An artist must have his measuring tools not in the hand, but in the eye. – Michelangelo
Swing a bigger brush – you don’t know what fun you are missing. --Charles Hawthorn
Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist. - Pablo Picasso
Talent is a pursued interest. Anything that you're willing to practice, you can do. ― Bob Ross
On the primacy of seeing…
It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see. - Henry David Thoreau
Look around and select a subject that you can see painted. That will paint itself. Do the obvious thing before you do the superhuman thing. - Charles Hawthorne
In drawing, one must look for or suspect that there is more than is casually seen. -George Bridgman
The artist must train not only his eye but also his soul. - Wassily Kandinsky
Let’s build a happy little cloud. Let’s build some happy little trees. ― Bob Ross
Each day has its own individuality of color. --Charles Hawthorn
Drawing is not what one sees, but what one can make others see. - Edgar Degas
On the Act of Finishing…
Art is never finished, only abandoned. - Leonardo da Vinci
The weight and value of a work of art depends upon its big simplicity – We begin and end with the study of the great spots in relation one to another. --Charles Hawthorne
I have already settled it for myself, so flattery and criticism go down the same drain and I am quite free. - Georgia O’Keeffe
A true masterpiece does not tell everything. - Albert Camus
The intelligent painter is always making use of accidents. --Charles Hawthorne
We don't make mistakes, just happy little accidents. ― Bob Ross
The true end of art is not to imitate a fixed material condition, but to represent a living emotion. -George Inness
On the Importance of Art
More important than a work of art itself is what it will sow. Art can die, a painting can disappear. What counts is the seed. - Joan Miro
He who works with his hands is a laborer. He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist. - Saint Francis of Assisi
The painter has the Universe in his mind and hands. ― Leonardo da Vinci
The true use of art is, first, to cultivate the artist’s own spiritual nature. - George Inness
It would be possible to describe everything scientifically, but it would make no sense; it would be without meaning, as if you described a Beethoven symphony as a variation of wave pressure. - Albert Einstein
The artist sees what others only catch a glimpse of. - Leonardo da Vinci
Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth. - Pablo Picasso
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