Quotes About Artistry

I take my time to understand the nuances of a character and prepare for a role, which is why I take time to do films. I work hard on myself to fit the character.

Directors only have instinct to work out of, because there is no formula. Formulas don't work. Actually, if you follow a formula, you will probably end up with a bad movie.

When you're young and starting out, a lot of artists think they know exactly who they are. There are others who come out in someone else's skin. They learn to take it off bit-by-bit and work out the core of what they're trying to say.

You are carving out a story. You and your colleagues are trying to make something that is bigger than yourself. Although it can be a scary experience because you're putting your work out on the line, it's also incredibly rewarding because a lot of it comes from you.

I never work out my leads. Everything I do is usually totally spontaneous. If someone says, 'That was good; play that again,' I'm not able to do it.

When you write a song you have an idea of how it should be sung but it doesn't work out that way if someone else records it.

I don't analyze what I'm doing. I've read convincing interpretations of my work, and sometimes I've noticed something that I wasn't aware of, but I think, at this point, people read into my work out of habit. Or I'm just very, very smart.

I don't work out a lead section and practice it for a day and then lay it down. I don't do that. The first time I do something I think is expressive or really cool, that's what's actually on the recording.

There's no real high like finishing a new song, playing it a thousand times in your car, and freaking out with your co-writers.

You have to make thousands and thousands of drawings before an illustration is perfected.

England is a profoundly bizarre place that has produced thousands of bands the world has worshipped.

Over the years I must have spent thousands of hours silently brushing on the liquid coatings, preparing each sheet in anticipation of reaching the perfect print.

I learned so much watching my dad write songs and perform in front of thousands of people, and people were singing along to songs that I watched him write; it stuck with me.

The thing about doing gigs is you make music, and then it is gone and that is being watched by thousands of people.

He can thread a needle with a well-turned phrase.

I don't think couture will die. But it should have no pretension that it will conquer the world. It's not something that will disappear because all you need is a thread and a needle to start making something couture.

I've always had a teenage thread running through my music.

If you look at 'Coraline' and you look at 'ParaNorman' certainly you can tell that there are threads of the same DNA between those two movies, but they're two very different kinds of movies. They look different, they feel different, they are very different kinds of movies.

The greatest threat to any artist is surrounding themselves with people who love everything they do.

If you look at pop culture as the main picture you see of black men, all these kind of threatening pictures and - I think those of us who are artists and who are in media have to think carefully about what those pictures are.

Writers are always sort of threatening to direct, and sometimes they do, and sometimes they don't.

I have three assistants, but there isn't a head assistant. All the important drawings I do myself. Every single character is also done by me.

In my career, there have been three things that were challenging: playing gay; playing a Jewish woman; and playing Chekhov. The scariest part was playing Chekhov!

I have three alter egos.