Technique plays a part - you have to know how to play.

The secret is planning your work and working your plan. If you don't know where you are going, how will you know when you arrive? You can't stumble upon your destination.

Great work comes from great joy. Leave the angst for the movies; do art - that is fun.

What you think is fake in your head comes off as not enough on camera, a lot of times. You almost have to overdo it, in this overly, sort of Broadway, large-gestures kind of way to come off as being realistic on camera. It's strange. You almost have to act really fake to come off looking real.

The wonderful news is that when a person with my lack of art background can be successful, then anyone can. I'm not super talented and had no art training. Nothing, nada, zip. No workshops or classes.

Telling yourself you have all the time in the world, all the colors in the palette, that just kills creativity.

With the White Stripes we were trying to trick people into not realising we were playing the blues. We did not want to come off like white kids trying to play black music from 100 years ago so a great way to distract them was by dressing in red, white and black.