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The Painter's Keys, a book by Robert Genn

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Richard Schmid Art Quotes - (26 quotes)

Richard Schmid - From the Abstraction category:

I honestly believe students of painting in the next century will laugh at the abstract art movement. They will marvel at such a drawn-out regression in the plastic arts. (Richard Schmid)

Richard Schmid - From the Beginning category:

Whenever I can, I paint the powerful and obvious things in my subject first. (Richard Schmid)

Richard Schmid - From the Change category:

There are times when I have started a work with an end in mind, but then, for one reason or another, as my picture unfolded, it emphatically suggested another direction... I always accept the risk and go for it. I'm convinced that at such times my painting is wiser than I am. (Richard Schmid)

Richard Schmid - From the Choices category:

Underlying all your choices, particularly subject matter and the way you represent it, should be your own personal scruples, the standards and rules that you voluntarily set for yourself, and which you may change or abandon whenever you choose - without explanation to anyone. (Richard Schmid)

Richard Schmid - From the Collaboration category:

It often takes two to do a good painting - one to paint it, and another to rap the painter smartly with a hammer before he or she can ruin it. (Richard Schmid)

Richard Schmid - From the Finishing category:

The strength and clarity of the picture you envision at the start will tell you when you are done. You are finished when you have said what you wish to say, when nothing added can make it better. (Richard Schmid)

Richard Schmid - From the Flexibility category:

Be flexible - the order in which you introduce the elements of a painting should not be a rigid system. What worked last time may not work this time. (Richard Schmid)

Richard Schmid - From the Idealism category:

My idealism is clearly one reason I'm an artist. I see art as one of mankind's more sublime acts, as a vital counterbalance to our base impulses (like violence as a solution). (Richard Schmid)

Richard Schmid - From the Impossibilities category:

Scan your subject for things that are clearly impossible. After all, paint isn't magic! If you see that certain elements in the subject are beyond the limits of your pigments, try to form an idea beforehand of how you are going to handle those areas when you get to them. (Richard Schmid)

Richard Schmid - From the Influence category:

Make your art a gift of inspiration to others to work toward better things. (Richard Schmid)

Richard Schmid - From the Innocence category:

All great art originates from the innocent child within us expressing itself through the wisdom, experience and skill of an adult. (Richard Schmid)

Richard Schmid - From the Listening category:

How often have we all come to that crucial point in a painting where it is practically "begging" us to stop before we ruin it? We have all had that experience and we risk failure, or at the least mediocrity, if we ignore the voice in our art. (Richard Schmid)

Richard Schmid - From the Materials category:

Do not just pick up the brushes you used and cleaned yesterday because they are there. Put those back, look at all of them, and then choose your weapon, like a type of gun or a certain type of sword. You are going into battle and you want the best weapon for the job. (Richard Schmid)

Richard Schmid - From the Mistakes category:

Never knowingly leave anything wrong on your canvas. (Richard Schmid)

Richard Schmid - From the Painting category:

Paint like a pig eats. (Richard Schmid)

Richard Schmid - From the Power category:

An incomplete sketch superbly executed is power. (Richard Schmid)

Richard Schmid - From the Preparation category:

Be prepared! All of your gear should be in a state of readiness so you can concentrate on painting. Choose your brushes as you would choose weapons before battle. (Richard Schmid)

Richard Schmid - From the Problems category:

I alone must solve my problem. I have to clear my mind of everything else, think hard, analyze, explore my options, plan a strategy for the immediate situation, and then do whatever it takes. Sometimes it means scraping off what I have done and starting over again and again. (Richard Schmid)

Richard Schmid - From the Rules category:

Your rules should arise out of your passions and your experience with what works for you. (Richard Schmid)

Richard Schmid - From the Simplicity category:

Don't go overboard with exotic or complex ways to paint. Stick to simple solutions, unless there is a good reason to do otherwise. (Richard Schmid)

Richard Schmid - From the Subject category:

I see the things and people and events in my daily world as an endless succession of paintings. (Richard Schmid)

Richard Schmid - From the Talent category:

Don't bother about whether or not you have it. Just assume that you do, and then forget about it. Talent is a word we use after someone has become accomplished. There is no way to detect it before the fact... or to predict when or if mastery will click into place. (Richard Schmid)

Richard Schmid - From the Thought category:

If we only thought of our feet as we walk, we'd miss everything else. (Richard Schmid)

Richard Schmid - From the Values category:

You can stick with a few clear-cut values, which are stronger than a multitude of values and will obviously yield a stronger painting. But not all subjects or light conditions appear that way... be sensible and paint with values that are appropriate and faithful to your subject. (Richard Schmid)

Richard Schmid - From the Vision category:

As painters...we must always remember that our precious poetic visions and spiritual insights will remain forever locked within us until we can boil them down to a complex arrangement of a few hundred or possibly even thousands of brushstrokes... (Richard Schmid)

Richard Schmid - From the Words category:

When we are bursting with some wordless experience, Art is our voice, the song of the heart. (Richard Schmid)

Editor: Robert Genn

Consultants: Sara Genn, Richard Thompson
Technical Support and Presentation: Andrew Niculescu

Associate Editors:
Scott Altman, Bonnie Austin, Karen Austin, Michele Becker, Joe Blodgett, Norman Brown, Alyce Bryson, Leanne Cadden, Penny Duane, Max Elliot, Derek Franklin, Mardy Grothe, Harry Hartley, Sue Holland, Shawn Jackson, Sue Legault, Tammy McManus, Eric Mewhinney, Bruce Miller, Laura Parrish, Andrea Pratt, Dan Roberts, Shirley Rochon, Gilbert Roy, John Sherlock, Victor Wong,

And many others who have so far contributed one or a few. Please join us and add more at