Clixby’s Wisdom
During his life, Clixby gave a lot of advice and counsel to many budding artist 'hopefuls'. He was always kind, honest, and encouraging. The following genuine quotations from his own pen, were entered into his personal 'diary' following meetings with those who sought his advice.
"Design is beauty, and it is the only beauty I know. The line between success and failure is so fine that it takes both time and genius to detect it".
"When we look at a work of art, we should be able to see the artist. Through his eyes the mind of the artist becomes greater, and the finer his mind the keener are his eyes".
"Painting should be the expression of living fully, and not simply the result of studying art. No work of chance can ever be a 'work of art' ....".
"The important thing in painting is what the artist is trying to say. Good painting alone is not enough - it is akin to good bricklaying, and about as interesting".
"Painting well done is the result of good craftsmanship, and seldom the result of an original experience. However, if a personal experience is fully understood and really felt, and then expressed with complete honesty, it cannot fail to be well painted".
"Many artists have looked upon the world, but only a few have seen anything. To invent a world of one's own on canvas is to admit blindness, and only a fool substitutes his imagination for Nature".
"Nature must form an artist's taste, not art itself. Apart from that which is created from Nature, nearly all painting is in bad taste".
"Things in themselves may not - necessarily - be beautiful, but by your arrangement of them, they can become very beautiful".
"Flesh is only interesting in its relation to some other material. A nude woman is like a desert without water - one gets tired of it, and may die of it. A white arm emerging from a rich velvet sleeve is like a flower bursting from the earth".
"I am interested only in outward form. The colour and shape of a building may appeal, but I care little about what holds it up. The shape of a man or a woman is what interestes me. What goes on inside them is their own concern".
"An artist can easily arrive at an ideal figure, but that is just an escape from what is real. The bones beneath flesh have little effect upon the outside shape, which changes with every movement. A woman who is plump has a bone structure which is very similar to that of a thin woman, but observe what different shapes they each present to an artist".
"The most important thing, when painting a hat, is the face under it".
"Only by investigating the past can we live in the future.
"The successful cripple is tolerated more easily than the lame beggar".
"All art is conscious. Otherwise, it is the ramblings of the feeble minded or the lazy".
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