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

The painter's obsession with his subject is all that he needs to drive him to work.

The character of the artist doesn't enter into the nature of the art

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.

I paint people, not because of what they are like, not exactly in spite of what they are like, but how they happen to be.

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

What do I ask of a painting? I ask it to astonish, disturb, seduce, convince.