I Paint People, Not Because

The Only Secret I Can Claim To Have Is Concentration, And That's Something That Can't Be Taught.

I Have A Timetable, But No Routine.

What Do I Ask Of A Painting? I Ask It To Astonish, Disturb, Seduce, Convince.

Were It Not For This [dissatisfaction], The Perfect Painting Might Be Painted, On The Completion Of Which The Painter Could Retire. It Is This Great Insufficiency That Drives Him On. The Process Of Creation Becomes Necessary To The Painter Perhaps More Than It Is In The Picture. The Process Is In Fact Habit-forming.

The Aura Given Out By A Person Or Object Is As Much A Part Of Them As Their Flesh. The Effect That They Make In Space Is As Bound Up With Them As Might Be Their Colour Or Smell ... Therefore The Painter Must Be As Concerned With The Air Surrounding His Subject As With The Subject Itself. It Is Through Observation And Perception Of Atmosphere That He Can Register The Feeling That He Wishes His Painting To Give Out.