I believe I do much better for the time being by first copying some good things than by working without that foundation
Vincent Van GoghThe Mediterranean has the color of mackerel, changeable I mean. You don't always know if it is green or violet, you can't even say it's blue, because the next moment the changing reflection has taken on a tint of rose or gray.
Vincent Van GoghDon't lose heart if it's very difficult at times, everything will come out all right and nobody can in the beginning do as he wishes.
Vincent Van GoghBut what's your ultimate goal, you'll say. That goal will become clearer, will take shape slowly and surely, as the croquis becomes a sketch and the sketch a painting, as one works more seriously, as one digs deeper into the originally vague idea, the first fugitive, passing thought, unless it becomes firm.
Vincent Van Gogh