Quotes from John French Sloan

Color is like music. The palette is an instrument that can be orchestrated to build form.

Sets of lines can say something about the direction and nature of the light. They are used by great fresco painters as a sign for shade.

The purpose of subject matter is to veil technique. The great artist uses the cloak of resemblance to hide the means.

Artists are the only people in the world who really live. The others have to hope for heaven.

Art is the result of a creative impulse derived out of a consciousness of life.

Art is the response of the living to life. It is therefore the record left behind by civilization.

The artist seeks to record his awareness of order in life.

...in the habit of watching every bit of human life I can see about my windows, but I do it so that I am not observed at it.

Don't be afraid to borrow. The great men, the most original, borrowed from everybody.

Be sensitive to your mistakes. Put it on the wall for a couple of weeks. It may be that you can learn more from the study of your own work than from others.

Many great works of art have only form, the sculpture of the thing. Color as used to signify realization by men like Titian and Rembrandt, gives greater life and tactile experience to the work.

Drawing is the cornerstone of the graphic, plastic arts. Drawing is the coordination of line, tone, and color symbols into formations that express the artist's thought.

In the hands of a master, light and shade is one of the great qualities of art.

The important thing is to keep on drawing when you start to paint. Never graduate from drawing.

There is a better chance of getting an exciting painting from a laboured study with texture than from a fine drawing without it.

Always think of drawing, getting the forms realized, emphasizing the design.