And, since the model he faithfully copies is not going to be hung up next to the picture, since the picture is going to be there on its own, it is of no interest whether it is an accurate copy of the model.

A painter must think of everything he sees as being there entirely for his own use and pleasure.

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.

I remember Francis Bacon would say that he felt he was giving art what he thought it previously lacked. With me, it's what Yeats called the fascination with what's difficult. I'm only trying to do what I can't do.

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

The paintings that really excite me have an erotic element or side to them irrespective of subject matter

Sometimes, when I've been staring too hard, I've noticed that I could see the circumference of my own eye.