66 Quotes by Walter J. Phillips

A landscape painting is essentially emotional in origin. It exists as a record of an effect in nature whose splendour has moved a human heart, and according as it is well or ill done it moves the hearts of others.

Beauty, pleasure, and the good things of life are intensified, and perhaps only exist, by reason of contrast.

It is not in the nature of lenses to tell the whole truth. They are instruments of exaggeration and belittlement.

The character of the subject must influence the choice of the method of its representation.

The syllogism art for art’s sake refers to that kind of painting which disregards, or is contrary to, public taste.

Many a painter has lived in affluence, in high esteem, who lacked the divine spark, and who is utterly forgotten to-day.

Many of the old masters of watercolour painted from notes, with enthusiasm either unabated or renewed. It is hard to assume the same degree of concentration in the studio, but not impossible.

Appreciation is the breath of life to the creative artist, and in spite of modern conditions, there is enough abroad to sustain him. But his name is now legion; he competes with the dead as well as the living; and the rewards and honours seem attenuated by division.

Many rules for the creation of colour schemes have been published in recent years, but, while they are popular in commercial studies, I know of no creative artist who employs them. They are, per se, restrictive; their use precludes any chance of adventuring in this interesting field.