As far as I am concerned the paint is the person. I want it to work for me just as flesh does

Full, saturated colours have an emotional significance I want to avoid.

I have a hatred of habit and routine. And what dogs love is just that. They like regular everything, and I don't have regular anything. I have a timetable, but no routine.

I could never put anything into a picture that wasn't actually there in front of me. That would be a pointless lie, a mere bit of artfulness.

The aura given out by a person or object is as much a part of them as their flesh. The effect that they make in space is as bound up with them as might be their colour or smell ... Therefore the painter must be as concerned with the air surrounding his subject as with the subject itself. It is through observation and perception of atmosphere that he can register the feeling that he wishes his painting to give out.

The process of creation becomes necessary to the painter perhaps more than is the picture. The process in fact is habit-forming

Losing as much money as I can get hold of is an instant solution to my economic problems.