The Painter Must Give A Completely Free

When I Look At A Body It Gives Me Choice Of What To Put In A Painting, What Will Suit Me And What Won't. There Is A Distinction Between Fact And Truth. Truth Has An Element Of Revelation About It. If Something Is True, It Does More Than Strike One As Merely Being So.

What Do I Ask Of A Painting? I Ask It To Astonish, Disturb, Seduce, Convince.

I Always Felt That My Work Hadn't Much To Do With Art; My Admirations For Other Art Had Very Little Room To Show Themselves In My Work Because I Hoped That If I Concentrated Enough The Intensity Of Scrutiny Alone Would Force Life Into The Pictures. I Ignored The Fact That Art, After All, Derives From Art. Now I Realize That This Is The Case.

It Is The Only Point Of Getting Up Every Morning: To Paint, To Make Something Good, To Make Something Even Better Than Before, Not To Give Up, To Compete, To Be Ambitious.

The Process Of Creation Becomes Necessary To The Painter Perhaps More Than Is The Picture. The Process In Fact Is Habit-forming