Art Quotes

Johannes Vloothuis, artist & instructor

Talent is not essential to be a good artist. Talent is the ability to spot what looks right or wrong in a painting. Knowledge is knowing how to correct what doesn't look right."
~ Johannes Vloothuis, artist & instructor

Myrna Wacknov, self-portrait

“Art is in the doing. It isn’t important how it turns out. The process is where the pleasure, the learning and the experience take place. A day without some sort of creative endeavor is a wasted day.”
~ Myrna Wacknov, portrait artist

"The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life."
~ William Faulkner, author (both his mother and grandmother were painters)


"A picture is a poem without words."
~ Horace

portrait of a woman by Picasso

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."
~ Pablo Picasso

"An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision."
~ James Whistler

Delacroix self-portrait

"One always begins by imitating."

~ Eugéne Delacroix

“Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.”

~ Henry Van Dyke, poet

"Aspens in Winder"  Phil Starke

 "Painting and observing directly from life is the best way to learn to paint, but studying other paintings is essential also. Knowledge about painting and technique has been handed down through history so there's no sense in re-inventing the wheel...."
"Study paintings to see how other artists simplify shapes or how heavy or thin they apply the paint is helpful in developing your own view of nature. Don't study just one artist, but as many as you can. Look at how they treat edges, hard or soft. Look at how they see color, do they push temperature contrast or emphasize muted color harmony...." 

~ western artist Phil Starke


"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."
~ Scott Adams