William Morris Hunt Quotes

Quotes about:

• The artist is an interpreter of Nature. People learn to love Nature through pictures. To the artist, nothing is in vain; nothing beneath his notice. If he is great enough, he will exalt every subject which he treats.

  William Morris Hunt

  Artist, People, Enough

  William Morris Hunt (1976). “William Morris Hunt on painting and drawing”, Dover Pubns

  45 Copy quote

• Don't talk of what you are 'going to do!' Do it!

  William Morris Hunt

  Advice

  William Morris Hunt (1976). “William Morris Hunt on painting and drawing”, Dover Pubns

  10 Copy quote

• Strive for simplicity! Don't have the face a checkerboard of tints! Use such colors as nature uses, but not try to keep them distinct! Your work may be called monotonous, but one tone is better than many which do not harmonize.

  William Morris Hunt

  Color, Simplicity, Trying

  7 Copy quote

• Inspiration is nothing without work.

  William Morris Hunt

  Inspiration

  William Morris Hunt (1976). “William Morris Hunt on painting and drawing”, Dover Pubns

  4 Copy quote

• Give up the idea of 'color' for awhile! Consider masses - values, only... One dark and one light place in every picture.

  William Morris Hunt

  Giving Up, Dark, Light

  7 Copy quote

• Beauty is that little something that fills the whole world, and is contained neither in a single straight nose, a long eyelash, nor a blue mountain. Some see it in a leg of mutton, others in a compound fracture; and to expect others to accept one's own definition of it is as absurd as to expect all humanity to use the same toilet-brush.

  William Morris Hunt

  Blue, Eyelashes, Long

  William Morris Hunt (1878). “W.M. Hunt's Talks about Art: With a Letter from J.E. Millais”

  6 Copy quote

• Don't put needless expense into painting a head! Don't try to match tints! Rose and pearly colours blend into each other so that no one can unite them if painted separately. Keep the impression of your subject as one thing!

  William Morris Hunt

  Rose, Trying, Painting

  William Morris Hunt (1976). “William Morris Hunt on painting and drawing”, Dover Pubns

  6 Copy quote

• 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.

  William Morris Hunt

  Simple, Thinking, Despair

  4 Copy quote

• Imagination comes in after we have experience.

  William Morris Hunt

  Imagination

  8 Copy quote

• Art teaches you the philosophy of life, and if you can't learn it from art, you can't learn it at all. It shows you that there is no perfection. There is light, and there is shadow. Everything is in half tint.

  William Morris Hunt

  Art, Philosophy, Light

  William Morris Hunt (1878). “W.M. Hunt's Talks about Art: With a Letter from J.E. Millais”

  4 Copy quote

• Let me give you a few simple rules for learning to draw. First, see of what shape the whole thing is. Next, put in the line that marks the movement of the whole. Don't have more than one movement in a figure; you can't patch parts together. Simple lines; then simple values. Establish the fact of the whole. Is it square, oblong, cube, or what is it?

  William Morris Hunt

  Simple, Squares, Giving

  William Morris Hunt (1976). “William Morris Hunt on painting and drawing”, Dover Pubns

  6 Copy quote

• 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.

  William Morris Hunt

  Venture, Matter, Stories

  William Morris Hunt (1976). “William Morris Hunt on painting and drawing”, Dover Pubns

  7 Copy quote

• Believe that time is going to help you do what you want.

  William Morris Hunt

  Believe, Want, Time Management

  William Morris Hunt (1976). “William Morris Hunt on painting and drawing”, Dover Pubns

  7 Copy quote

• You can't do a fine thing without having seen fine examples.

  William Morris Hunt

  Example, Masters, Fine Things

  William Morris Hunt (1976). “William Morris Hunt on painting and drawing”, Dover Pubns

  7 Copy quote

• There is force and vitality in a first sketch from life which the after-work rarely has... In your sketches keep the first vivid impression! Add no details that shall weaken it! Look first for the big things! 1st. Proportions! 2nd. Values - or masses of light and shade. 3rd. Details that will not spoil the beginnings!

  William Morris Hunt

  Strength, Light, Looks

  7 Copy quote

• It's impossible to make a picture without values. Values are the basis. If they are not, tell me what is the basis.

  William Morris Hunt

  Impossible, Bases, Ifs

  William Morris Hunt (1976). “William Morris Hunt on painting and drawing”, Dover Pubns

  4 Copy quote

• How are we going to make painters by lecturing to them? We are going to make questioners, doubters, and talkers. We are going to make painters by painting ourselves, and by showing the paintings of others. By working frankly from our convictions, we are going to make them work frankly from theirs.

  William Morris Hunt

  Doubters, Painting, Conviction

  9 Copy quote

• The mission of art is to represent nature not to imitate her.

  William Morris Hunt

  Art, Missions, Art Is

  10 Copy quote

• You can always draw as well as you know how to. I flatter myself that I feel more than I express on canvas; but I know that is not so.

  William Morris Hunt

  Knowledge, Canvas, Wells

  William Morris Hunt (1976). “William Morris Hunt on painting and drawing”, Dover Pubns

  7 Copy quote

• How are things visible? Can you see an egg against a white background? Not by drawing a line around it can you make it evident.

  William Morris Hunt

  Eggs, White, Drawing

  William Morris Hunt (1976). “William Morris Hunt on painting and drawing”, Dover Pubns

  4 Copy quote

• Compare constantly, lines and angles... Hold looking-glass before your model and your drawing. Take a second's glance only, and see if the impression be the same. If it be not, ask, 'What is the difference?

  William Morris Hunt

  Drawing, Differences, Glasses

  William Morris Hunt (1976). “William Morris Hunt on painting and drawing”, Dover Pubns

  7 Copy quote

• You are to draw not reality, but the appearance of reality!

  William Morris Hunt

  Reality, Appearance, Realism

  William Morris Hunt (1976). “William Morris Hunt on painting and drawing”, Dover Pubns

  8 Copy quote

• Painting is the only universal language. All nature is creation's picture book. Painting alone can describe every thing which can be seen, and suggest every emotion which can be felt. Art reaches back into the babyhood of time, and is man's only lasting monument.

  William Morris Hunt

  Art, Book, Men

  7 Copy quote

• When an artist leaves his work to amuse people, he loses his time and their respect. If people are to be amused by artists, it must be by employing them in their legitimate occupation.

  William Morris Hunt

  Artist, People, Occupation

  4 Copy quote

• Children should learn to draw as they learn to write, and such a mystery should not be made of it. They should be encouraged, not flattered... then [later in life] double the effort is required to get the facility which might have been gained insensibly.

  William Morris Hunt

  Children, Writing, Later In Life

  7 Copy quote

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