The only secret I can claim to have is concentration, and that's something that can't be taught.

The paintings live because their creator has been passionately attentive to their theme, and his attention has left something for us to look at. It seems a sort of miracle.

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

Everything is autobiographical and everything is a portrait.

My work is purely autobiographical... It is about myself and my surroundings.

The painting is always done very much with [the model's] co-operation. The problem with painting a nude, of course, is that it deepens the transaction. You can scrap a painting of someone's face and it imperils the sitter's self-esteem less than scrapping a painting of the whole naked body.

The only secret I can claim to have is concentration, and that's something that can't be taught.