Skip to main content

Inspirational Artist Quotes

”You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.” -- Rabindranath Tagore.

"As practice makes perfect, I cannot but make progress; each drawing one makes, each study one paints, is a step forward."
 --Vincent Van Gogh, in a letter to Theo van Gogh, c.29 October 1883

”Beginning with audacity is a very great part of the art of painting.” -- Winston Churchill.

“If you hear a voice within you saying, 'You are not a painter,' then by all means paint ... and that voice will be silenced, but only by working.” -- Vincent Van Gogh, in a letter to Theo van Gogh, 28 October 1883

“To escape criticism – do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.” -- Elbert Hubbard

“Creativity takes courage.” -- Henri Matisse

”Do what you feel in your heart to be right, for you'll be criticized anyway .” -- Eleanor Roosevelt

”Each one of us, in his timidity, has a limit beyond which he is outraged. It is inevitable that he who by concentrated application has extended this limit for himself, should arouse the resentment of those who have accepted conventions which, since accepted by all, require no initiative of application. And this resentment generally takes the form of meaningless laughter or of criticism, if not persecution.” -- Man Ray

"If what you want to paint is the emotive mood in all its strength ... then you must not sit and stare at everything and depict it exactly as one sees it. You must paint the way it must be, exactly the way it appeared when you responded emotionally to the motif." -- Edvard Munch

“Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right.” -- Henry Ford

“Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal: my strength lies solely in my tenacity.” -- Louis Pasteur

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” -- Martin Luther King
Magnolias in the Sky

Ralph Waldo Emerson, excerpts from Self-Reliance


“I read the other day some verses written by an eminent painter which were original and not conventional. The soul always hears an admonition in such lines, let the subject be what it may. The sentiment they instill is of more value than any thought they may contain. To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, that is genius. Speak your latent conviction, and it shall be the universal sense; for the inmost in due time becomes the outmost, and our first thought is rendered back to us by the trumpets of the Last Judgment. Familiar as the voice of the mind is to each, the highest merit we ascribe to Moses, Plato, and Milton is, that they set at naught books and traditions, and spoke not what men but what they thought. A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his. In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts: they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty. Great works of art have no more affecting lesson for us than this. They teach us to abide by our spontaneous impression with good-humored inflexibility then most when the whole cry of voices is on the other side. Else, to-morrow a stranger will say with masterly good sense precisely what we have thought and felt all the time, and we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another.”

“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string."


Chinese Proverbs

Add legs to the snake after you have finished drawing it.

Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.

Great souls have wills; feeble ones have only wishes.

He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.



More quotes can be found on About.com

Comments

Marlene said…
Great and inspirational post, thank you.
Bridget said…
Thank you so very much for compiling such a great group of quotes. I'm going to put a link to this post on my blog...ok?
April said…
Great compilation!
readingsully2 said…
Great inspiration here. :)
The day that you discover that you are in charge of your life is the day you turn your life around.
GalleryJuana said…
Romantic, so true!
Kathleen said…
Great quotes - I love the one by Winston Churchill =)
Unknown said…
these are amazing. thanks for sharing.

i've been slacking on visiting my favorite blogs lately, but whenever i do, i always feel a sense of peace and relaxation when i come to yours.
Unknown said…
I like Winston Churchill's, too - especially knowing that he was an artist as well. Inspiring, all. I love quotes.

Popular posts from this blog

bird watching and staying home for the summer

Usually summer means several bicycle-camping trips, but with COVID19 still around, we are staying home. In the meantime, I have been pretty productive with my 100 Self Portraits project. Watching the birds that come to the bird feeders has been my daily dose of joy. fledgling House Finch  Chestnut- backed Chickadee Dark-Eyed Oregon Junco Usually summer means several bicycle-camping trips, but with COVID19 still around, we are staying home. In the meantime, I have been pretty productive with my 100 Self Portraits project. Watching the birds that come to the bird feeders has been my daily dose of joy. View my art blog here: https://www.juanaalmaguer.com I have my art works available here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/galleryjuana

Blue-eyed Siamese Cat flies to Japan

Today was filled with my art and time with Sputnik. She was bathing herself which gave me the chance to catch a photo of her. I actually adopted Sputnik as a kitten in 1998 when I was living in Mexico. She made the long trip with me to Japan on July 25, 2004. It took me about 6 months to plan the logistics of bringing her from Mexico to Japan. Since I had to fly via the U.S. on Mexicana Airlines and Korean Airlines, that meant 4 countries and two airlines would need to approve her transport. There were many details to keep track of for each country and airline. After 6 months of stressful planning, 16 hours of two airline flights and layovers, She made it to Japan safely! Korean Air allowed her to fly with me as my carry-on luggage, which was a relief for me. No worrying about whether she was scared or left at the Los Angeles airport! I didn't give her any tranquilizer to sedate her. Yet, she was quiet the entire flight and went unnoticed by other passengers. I h

Cat Drawing, Sunday Sketches

Sputnik, February 05, 2011, pencil on paper While Sputnik was getting ready to curl up on her bed, I drew this quick sketch of her. To view more sketches, hop over to Sophia's blog .