Do not be afraid that too much labour over the composition is going to kill the spontaneity. Those who absorb and digest their experiences are, of a sudden, mountains of strength and can produce pictures with spontaneous start and finish. — John F. Carlson Copy Share Image
We must not imitate the externals of nature with so much fidelity that the picture fails to evoke that wonderful teasing recurrence of emotion… — John F. Carlson Copy Share Image
You will learn to paint trees only by understanding them, their growth, their nature, their movement - and realizing that they are conscious living… — John F. Carlson Copy Share Image
A work of art in paint should be beautiful and expressive as abstract colour and form and should not interest us necessarily in any… — John F. Carlson Copy Share Image
The great paintings are the ones with the most subtle value relationships. The closer you could bring your values and still distinguish between them,… — John F. Carlson Copy Share Image
Art is a thing so much of the imagination, of the soul, that it is difficult to descend to the fundamentals of technique and… — John F. Carlson Copy Share Image
Good colour really means good taste; and 'powerful' colour means a reserve, to give a climax its full force, and not 'red, white, and… — John F. Carlson Copy Share Image
If you're going to paint from photos, make sure you've painted for at least ten years. — John F. Carlson Copy Share Image
Clouds are fascinating to paint because they are the only element in a landscape that possesses free movement. — John F. Carlson Copy Share Image
Trust your feelings entirely about colour, and then, even if you arrive at no infallible colour theory, you will at least have the credit… — John F. Carlson Copy Share Image
This art of conservation is strength, and makes the masterpiece a masterpiece. Otherwise, the man who simply brought all the different colors obtainable, and… — John F. Carlson Copy Share Image
The eye and soul are caressed in the contemplation of form and colour. The subtle changes of colour over a surface - transitions that… — John F. Carlson Copy Share Image
It is a curious fact that out-of-door nature is to the beginner an enormously overloaded 'property room.' He sees, for instance, the myriad of… — John F. Carlson Copy Share Image
