Talent! There's no such thing as talent. What they call talent is nothing but the capacity for doing continuous hard work in the right way.
Winslow HomerRead
This making studies and then taking them home to use them is only half right. You get composition, but you lose freshness; you miss the subtle and, to the artist, the finer characteristics of the scene itself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Studying art techniques is valuable, but it can diminish the spontaneity and unique qualities of the original scene.
In this quote, Winslow Homer emphasizes the importance of experiencing art directly rather than solely relying on studies or composition techniques. He suggests that while formal studies provide a framework for understanding art, they can lead to a loss of the fresh and complex nuances that the artist experiences in the moment, which are crucial for genuine artistic expression.
Themes
ArtCompositionStudyFreshnessExperience
In practice
Example use cases
During an art workshop, participants can discuss how reliance on studies might affect their creativity.
More from Winslow Homer
All quotes →If a man wants to be an artist, he should never look at pictures.
Winslow HomerRead
Similar quotes
Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.
Coco ChanelRead
I feel like my job is to look at the world and to report what I see, to write what I see as honestly and directly as I can. I don't want to cut it or make it easy, but be as direct as I can.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesRead
I have never heard a dancer asking for advice about how to stay focused on her footwork, or a painter complaining about the dull day-to-day task of painting. What task worth doing isn't worth daily effort? Do you think Michelangelo was having fun the whole time he was on his back painting the Sistine Chapel's ceiling?
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
What I'm trying to do is just sing what comes to my body in the context of the song. And if you go by the emotion of the song, it's almost like stepping into a city. Cities have certain customs and rules and laws you can break, and that's what I was doing.
Jeff BuckleyRead
A crime is like a crack in reality, and it is the author's role to explore those cracks. As a writer, I like to see how they impinge on people.
Natsuo KirinoRead
In a way, Anglo-Saxon poetry cannot be translated.
Seamus HeaneyRead