Walter J. Phillips Quotes About Painting

Quotes about: Painting

• It is often said that the modern exhibition has ruined painting. It is an unfortunate fact that it does encourage competition, so that, to attract attention to his work, an artist is tempted to descend to sensationalism, whether it is expressed by strong colour, grotesque handling, unusual subject, or sheer size.

  Walter J. Phillips

  Strong, Artist, Competition

• In most natural scenes there is a prevailing colour, which the landscape painter must learn to identify, and which must prevail also in a slightly exaggerated form, in his painting, for the sake of truth, harmony and unity.

  Walter J. Phillips

  Unity, Landscape, Sake

• In large studio paintings... composition, or arrangement, may be better studied, and nearer perfection, washes may be more suavely graded.

  Walter J. Phillips

  Perfection, May, Painting

• The syllogism art for art's sake refers to that kind of painting which disregards, or is contrary to, public taste.

  Walter J. Phillips

  Art, Sake, Taste

• Rhythm is as necessary in a picture as pigment; it is as much a part of painting as of music.

  Walter J. Phillips

  Painting, Pigment, Rhythm

• In painting, whether colour reflection is apparent or not, every hue must echo neighbouring hues, so that homogeneity may be attained.

  Walter J. Phillips

  Reflection, Echoes, Hue

• The most interesting studio work, and perhaps the most practicable, is painting from pencil sketches and notes... It ensures the elimination of all facts but those essential to the effect.

  Walter J. Phillips

  Interesting, Simplicity, Essentials

• A landscape painting in which composition is ignored is like a line taken from a poem at random: it lacks context, and may or may not make sense.

  Walter J. Phillips

  Taken, Landscape Painting, Lines

• When technique is obtrusive it becomes mere mannerism, a conscious striving for effect. It is only a means to an end - the manner of putting paint to paper. It hardly embraces the expressive side of painting.

  Walter J. Phillips

  Mean, Technique, Paper

• The sincere artist is usually his own best critic, but continuous and prolonged work on one painting will sometimes dull his judgment... The critic is in demand, but he must be competent.

  Walter J. Phillips

  Artist, Demand, Dull

• Watercolour painting is notoriously difficult - so much depends on directness and speed, and certainty of intention. Tentative or fumbling touches are disastrous, for they cannot be obliterated easily.

  Walter J. Phillips

  Painting, Speed, Intention

• Pseudo-critics prefer to direct their remarks to the artist - Heaven forgive them - but one due rather to a common impression that such an attitude is the correct one, that all paintings should be figuratively mutilated, and that all artists are fair game, or really grateful perhaps for a few tips.

  Walter J. Phillips

  Attitude, Grateful, Artist

• A landscape painting is essentially emotional in origin. It exists as a record of an effect in nature whose splendour has moved a human heart, and according as it is well or ill done it moves the hearts of others.

  Walter J. Phillips

  Moving, Heart, Emotional

• facebook
• twitter
• googleplus
• email
• linkedin

• facebook
• twitter
• googleplus
• email
• linkedin