make art...
If you enjoy my web site, please consider my $19.95 art how-to ebook, Art Head Start, for novice and intermediate artists.
"In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few."
— Shunryu Suzuki, Zen master
"If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?"
— Dogen, patriarch of Soto Zen
One day a man approached Ikkyu and asked:
"Master, will you please write for me some maxims of the highest wisdom?"
Ikkyu took his brush and wrote: "Attention."
"Is that all?" asked the man.
Ikkyu then wrote: “Attention. Attention.”
"Well," said the man, "I really don't see much depth in what you have written."
Then Ikkyu wrote the same word three times: "Attention. Attention. Attention."
Half-angered, the man demanded: "What does that word "Attention" mean, anyway?"
Ikkyu gently responded, "Attention means attention".
— Ikkyu, Zen master
“…If you aim to dispense with method, learn method”
“…If you aim at facility, work hard”
“…If you aim for simplicity, master complexity”
— Lu Ch'ai (Wang Kai), 17th century Master of Chinese brush painting
“Among those who study painting, some strive for an elaborate effect and others prefer the simple. Neither complexity in itself nor simplicity is enough.”
“Some aim to be deft, others to be laboriously careful. Neither dexterity nor conscientiousness is enough.”
“Some set great value on method, while others pride themselves on dispensing with method. To be without method is deplorable, but to depend entirely on method is worse.”
— Lu Ch'ai (Wang Kai), 17th century Master of Chinese brush painting
“You must learn first to observe the rules faithfully; afterwards, modify them according to your intelligence and capacity. The end of all method is to seem to have no method.”
— Lu Ch'ai (Wang Kai), 17th century Master of Chinese brush painting
"I must create a system or be enslaved by another man's. I will not reason and compare. my business is to create."
— Julian Schnabel, Painter
"Art is much less important than life, but what a poor life without it."
— Jasper Johns, Painter, Sculptor
"A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art."
— Paul Cezanne, Painter
"Great art picks up where nature ends."
— Marc Chagall, Painter
"You have to systematically create confusion, it sets creativity free. Everything that is contradictory creates life."
— Salvadore Dali, Painter
"I don't think art is propaganda; it should be something that liberates the soul, provokes the imagination and encourages people to go further. It celebrates humanity instead of manipulating it."
— Keith Haring, Painter
"Truth and reality in art do not arise until you no longer understand what you are doing and are capable of but nevertheless sense a power that grows in proportion to your resistance."
"Creativity takes courage."
— Henri Matisse, Painter
"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance."
— Aristotle, Philosopher
"An artist discovers his genius the day he dares not to please."
— Andre Malraux, Writer
"Ars longa, vita brevis."
"Life is short, but art lives forever."
— Marcus Tullius Cicero, Philosopher
"Art is making something out of nothing and selling it."
— Frank Zappa, Musician
"The painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through."
— Jackson Pollock, Painter
"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."
— Pablo Picasso, Painter
~ End ~
Wishing you a creative future!
