Imagination Comes In After We Have Experience.

It's No Easy Matter To Paint A Background. I Venture To Say That The Old Painters Had More Difficulty With Their Grounds Than With Their Figures. You Know The Story Of Vandyke Brought To Rubens With This Recommendation: 'he Already Knows How To Paint A Background.' 'that Is More Than I Can Do!' Was The Reply.

What Is Nobler Than A Man Wresting And Wringing His Bread From The Stubborn Soil By The Sweat Of His Brow And The Break Of His Back For His Wife And Children!

Elaboration Is Not Beauty, And Sand-paper Never Finished A Piece Of Bad Work.

I Tell You It's No Joke To Paint A Portrait. I Wonder That I Am Not More Timid When I Begin. I Feel Almost Certain That I Can Do It. It Seems Very Simple. I Don't Think Of The Time That Is Sure To Come When I Almost Despair, When The Whole Thing Seems Hopeless.

Inspiration Is Nothing Without Work.