Vincent Van Gogh on Talent: "the art trade brings with it certain prejudices ... particularly ideas that painting is a gift — well yes, a gift, but not as they make it appear; one must reach out and take it (and that taking is a difficult thing), not wait until it manifests itself of its own accord. ... one learns by doing. One becomes a painter by painting. If one wants to become a painter, if one has passion, if one feels what you feel, then one can do it, but this can go hand in hand with difficulty, worries, disappointments, times of melancholy, of powerlessness and all that."
Letter by Van Gogh to his brother Theo, 16 October 1883
"I am doubtful of any talent, so whatever I choose to be, will be accomplished only by long study and work" – Jackson Pollock, Abstract Expressionist
“Creation is the artist's true function. But it would be a mistake to ascribe creative power to an inborn talent. Creation begins with vision. The artist has to look at everything as though seeing it for the first time." -- Henri Matisse, French Fauvist
"What they call talent is nothing but the capacity for doing continuous work in the right way.” -- Winslow Homer, American artist
"Talent is so loaded a word, so full to the brim with meanings, that an artist might be wise to forget about it altogether and just keep on working.” –- Eric Maisel, creativity coach
“Talent is long patience, and originality an effort of will and of intense observation” – Gustav Flaubert, French novelist
"Self-discipline without talent can often achieve astounding results, whereas talent without self-discipline inevitably dooms itself to failure." -- Sydney Harris, American journalist
"Creativity is not the finding of a thing, but the making something out of it after it is found.” -- James Russell Lowell, American poet and critic
“Creative thinking is not a talent, it is a skill that can be learnt. It empowers people by adding strength to their natural abilities which improves teamwork, productivity and where appropriate profits.” –- Edward de Bono, creativity writer
“The misperception that creativity is a natural talent and cannot be taught actually very convenient because it relieves everybody of the need to do anything about fostering creativity. If it is only available as a natural talent then there is no point in seeking to do anything about creativity.” -- Edward de Bono, creativity writer
”That some people are naturally creative does not mean than such people would not be even more creative with some training and techniques. Nor does it mean than other people can never become creative.” -- Edward de Bono, creativity writer
“Beyond talent lie all the usual words: discipline, love, luck -- but, most of all, endurance.” James Baldwin, American novelist
“Art is not about thinking something up. It is the opposite -- getting something down.” – Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way
"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep." -- Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert cartoons
"Like everything else, some people will be better at it than others. However, doing something creative is a most rewarding activity, and will result in a great sense of satisfaction, no matter how good or bad the artist may be." -- British artist and TV presenter Tony Hart, "Tony Hart Reveals His Drawing Secrets" in The Times newspaper, 30 September 2008
"You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.” -- Rabindranath Tagore
"When I judge art, I take my painting and put it next to a God made object like a tree or flower. If it clashes, it is not art.” -- Marc Chagall
”What distinguishes a great artist from a weak one is first their sensibility and tenderness; second, their imagination, and third, their industry.” -- John Ruskin
”Art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life.” -- Picasso
”An artist is not paid for his labour but for his vision.” -- James MacNeill Whistler
”Every artist dips his brush in his own soul and paints his own nature into his pictures.” -- Henry Ward Beecher
”Happy are the painters, for they shall not be lonely. Light and colour, peace and hope, will keep them company to the end of the day." -- Winston Churchill
”Beginning with audacity is a very great part of the art of painting.” -- Winston Churchill
”Never leave a painting mediocre; it's better to take a chance with it.” -- Guy Corriero
”I am always doing things I can't do, that's how I get to do them.” -- Picasso
”I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them.” -- Picasso
”The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web.” -- Picasso
"You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget that errand." -- Woodrow Wilson
"I never finish a painting -- I just stop working on it for a while." -- Arshile Gorky
"Real painters understand with a brush in their hand ... what does anyone do with rules? Nothing worthwhile." -- Berthe Moriset
"Do not worry about your originality. You could not get rid of it even if you wanted to." -- Robert Henri
”No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main." -- John Donne
”An artist's early work is inevitably made up of a mixture of tendencies and interests, some of which are compatible and some of which are in conflict. As the artist picks his way along, rejecting and accepting as he goes, certain patterns of enquiry emerge. His failures are as valuable as his successes: by misjudging one thing he conforms something else, even if at the time he does not know what that something else is.” -- Bridget Riley
”Even at best talent remains a constant, and those who rely upon that gift alone, without developing further, peak quickly and soon fade to obscurity.” -- David Bayles and Ted Orland
”The seed of your next art work lies embedded in the imperfections of your current piece. Such imperfections (or mistakes, if you’re feeling particularly depressed about them today) are your guides -- valuable, reliable, objective, non-judgemental guides -- to matters you need to reconsider or develop further.” -- David Bayles and Ted Orland
”A painting in a museum probably hears more foolish remarks than anything else in the world.” -- Edmond and Jules De Goncourt
No comments:
Post a Comment