The Best Advice for Artists

We all sometimes need a bit of reaffirmation that we “have it in us.” That little nudge that reminds us why we create and why we should continue to do so. Who better to inspire us with their words than those who have truly inspired us with their art or their actions?

Thoughts for Today to Inspire your creativity.

“Creativity takes courage” ~ Henry Matisse (1869-1954)

“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” ~ Edgar Degas (1834-1917)

A Young Tiger Playing with Its Mother by Eugene Delacroix (1830)

What moves men of genius, or rather what inspires their work, is not new ideas, but their obsession with the idea that what has already been said is still not enough. ~ Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863)

“I am happy to be alive as long as I can paint.” ~ Frida Kahlo (1907-1954)

“If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.” ~ Michelangelo (1475-1564)

“When I say artist I mean the one who is building things. . . some with a brush – some with a shovel – some choose a pen.” ~ Jackson Pollock (1912-1956)

“Go and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here. Make. Good. Art.” ~ Neil Gaiman (1960- ), English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre, and films

‎”Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention on the part of the actor. It’s a gift to the world and every being in it. Don’t cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you’ve got.” ~ Steven Pressfield (1943- ), American author, of historical fiction and non-fiction, and screenplays

“A piece of art is never a finished work. It answers a question which has been asked, and asks a new question.” ~ Robert Engman (1927- ), American sculptor

Jealousy by Edvard Munch (1907)

No longer shall I paint interiors with men reading and women knitting. I will paint living people who breathe and feel and suffer and love. ~ Edvard Munch (1863-1944)

“No artist is ahead of his time. He is his time, it’s just that others are behind the times.” ~ Martha Graham (1894-1991), American modern dancer and choreographer

“If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)

“Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.” ~ William Faulkner (1897-1967)

“Do something wonderful, people may imitate it.” ~ Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965), French-German theologian, organist, philosopher and physician

“Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.” ~ Bob Marley (1945-1981)

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” ~ Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

“The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can.” ~ Neil Gaiman (1960- ), English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre, and films

Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it. ~ Salvador Dali (1904-1989)