I don't dig beneath the surface for things that don't appear before my own eyes.

It is certain that at certain times talent entirely overcomes thought or poetry.

You can't do sketches enough. Sketch everything and keep your curiosity fresh.

I don't dig beneath the surface for things that don't appear before my own eyes.

Every time I paint a portrait I lose a friend.

Cultivate an ever continuous power of observation. Wherever you are, be always ready to make slight notes of postures, groups and incidents. Store up in the mind... a continuous stream of observations from which to make selections later. Above all things get abroad, see the sunlight and everything that is to be seen.

A portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth.