63 Quotes by Ellsworth Kelly

In drawing, I don’t erase. I believe the original gesture has to be the best.

I’m not interested in edges. I’m interested in the mass and color, the black and white. The edges happen because the forms get as quiet as they can be. I want the masses to perform. When I work with forms and colors, I get the edge...

Shading is more like copying. And certainly I do copy, but I’m making drawings, and I’m not trying to make them with the shading.

I’m not interested in the texture of a rock, but in its shadow.

I don’t labor over my drawings. I want to get freedom in the line.

My forms are geometric, but they don’t interact in a geometric sense. They’re just forms that exist everywhere, even if you don’t see them.

My drawings have to be quick. If they don’t happen in 20 minutes or a half hour, then they’re no good.

I believe people have to be open to what’s happening when they’re alive.

I like silence.