The first things to study are form and values. For me, these are the things that are the basics of what is serious in art.

Never lose the first impression which has moved you.

Beauty in art is truth bathed in an impression received from nature. I am struck upon seeing a certain place. While I strive for conscientious imitation, I yet never for an instant lose the emotion that has taken hold of me.

If my time has come I shall have nothing to complain of. For fifty-tree years I have been painting; so I have been able to devote myself entirely to what I loved best in the world. I had never suffered poverty; I had good parents and excellent friends; I can only thank God.

Don't imitate, don't follow the others, or else you will lag behind them.

I am never in a hurry to reach details. First and above all I am interested in the large masses and the general character of a picture; when these are well established, then I try for subtleties of form and color. I rework the painting constantly and freely, and without any systematic method.

The first things to study are form and values. For me, these are the things that are the basics of what is serious in art.