Thought for the day

How pretentious: Thought for the day.

I should have titled this post: The Only Art Lesson You Will Ever Need

Because, actually, that's what I believe.

A while ago, maybe six or seven years, I was reading an interview with David Hockney. Apparently, the interview took place at his home. The interviewer noted how many pictures  on the walls were of Hockney's dachshunds. He said to Hockney something along the lines of: "You certainly paint a lot of pictures of your dogs."

Hockney's reply was this: "I don't paint pictures of my dogs. I paint my love for my dogs."

No matter how much I've read or thought about painting and painters, no other statement has better summed up for me what it's all about. It's not about painting your love for something, of course. It's about painting with an honest motive.

*****

There's a sort-of trite saying: "Dance as if no one is watching you." I would offer this as a corollary for painting: "Paint as if no one else will ever see the picture."