Last week at the
Oil Painters of America exhibition, I had the chance to watch Tom Tierney of
Art of the West Magazine interview master artist,
David Leffel.
Here are a few of the quotes I jotted down during the interview as Mr. Leffel spoke:
Regarding the artistic gift being genetic:
"
Painting, unlike music, rarely runs in families"
Regarding selling:
"Even when I wasn't making much of a living, I didn't think about making a living"
About Abstract artists:
"How do they know when they're getting better?"
About abstract art vs. representational art:
"An abstract painting is exactly what it proports to be, whether it be paint splatters or stripes, while a representational painting has to give the illusion of the paint being air, or flesh, or flowers . . . therefore abstract paintings are rather concrete while representational paintings are rather abstract."
About the nature of painting:
"Painting as a discipline is an intelligent pursuit"
"A master artist requires patience and commitment because paintings is a rational pursuit"
About being in "the zone:"
"You know when you're out of the zone because your thinking and making decisions"
About Talent:
"Talent is overrated . . . there are thousands of people with talent and 'visual circuitry' -- it's what you DO with the talent that counts."
About motivation:
"Your motivation determines everything"
When asked, "Does the business of art get in the way of painting?"
"Yes"
When asked, "What motivates YOU to keep painting?"
"Beauty....the fun of trying to get it down . . . the fun of trying to get better"
About learning to paint:
"There is a difference between painting things and learning to paint"
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Re the quote: About Abstract artists:
"How do they know when they're getting better?"
His last quote answers that question: "There is a difference between painting things and learning to paint"
In other words, you don't know you're getting better unless you learn to paint. The more you learn, the more you realize how little you know. It works whether you're painting abstracts or realism. The more great art you see, the more you can measure your own level of achievement.