Tuesday 19 March 2013

Best Art Advice Ever

I got the "Best Art Advice Ever" idea from a really great talk radio show Artists Helping Artists , where I listen to podcast interviews with artists. I asked my Oil Painting class to share their favourite piece of art advice and was so impressed with what they came up with that I wanted to share it further.
Here they are:

Jeff Worsnop :      “Keep your brushes clean. Keep your palette clean.” (Harry Caunce)


Ian Tidswell:      “Painting is a process, not a destination. “
“Don’t use cheap brushes.”

David Burrows :      “If you do something for a thousand hours, you will get good at it.” 

Louise Devonport :     “Just do it for yourself.”

Gay Crystal :     “If you hear voices within you say “You cannot paint,” then by all means paint and the voices will be silenced.”(Van Gogh)

Jean Alcorn:    “I do not literally paint that table but the emotion it produces in me.” (Matisse)
“Be generous with your paint. Put out twice as much as you think you will need - and use all of it.” (Chuck Rawle)

Patricia Ashcroft :     “An understanding of tone and light is the key to successful painting, because it is through the interplay of tones that we are able to reproduce in paint the extraordinary effects of light. Although we may not realise it, very often when we feel the desire to paint a particular subject, it is not so much the subject but the way the light falls on it that inspires us.”
When light works it’s magic, creating mysterious shadows, sparkling highlights and subtle reflected lights, it can transform even the most mundane object or place into one of infinite beauty.” (Anon)

Alison Angior :     “He who draws lines and then adds colour will never succeed in producing a clear intense colour effect. Colours have dimensions and directionality of their own, and delineate areas in their own way.” (Johannes Itten)

Helen Wilkinson:      “You must always work not just within, but below you means. If you can handle three elements, handle only two…In that way, the ones you do handle, you handle with more ease, more mastery, and you create a feeling of strength in reserve.” (Picasso)

Nasar Khan:       “Don’t waste your time with easy paintings; challenge yourself and you will find your style.”

Lynne Forshaw :     “No one is an artist unless he carries his picture in his head before painting it, and is sure of his method and composition.” (Monet)

Patrick Troughton:      “When I think of Art, I think of beauty. Beauty is the mystery of life. It is not in the eye, it is in the mind. In our minds is an awareness of perfection.” (Agnes Miller)
“There are no rules.” (Goya)

Bette Cooghan: “It’s not just what you paint, it’s what you leave out. Instead of painting every detail, aim to paint the cowness of cows.” (based on Stephen Sartin)
“The camera always lies.” (David Hockney)