Rest assured that if you work every day at your art, using the materials nearest at hand, you will gradually discover such beauty in them that they will fill you with happiness. — 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
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
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
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
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
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
If you're going to paint from photos, make sure you've painted for at least ten years. — John F. Carlson Copy Share
Clouds are fascinating to paint because they are the only element in a landscape that possesses free movement. — John F. Carlson Copy Share
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
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
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
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
Too much reality in a picture is always a disappointment to the imaginative soul. We love suggestion and not hard facts. — John F. Carlson Copy Share
Reserve is strength; overstatement is weakness. No one cares to hear the singer's topmost notes when the voice is 'nigh onto breaking. — John F. Carlson Copy Share
A picture is a work of art, not because it is 'modern,' nor because it is 'ancient,' but because it is a sincere expression… — John F. Carlson Copy Share
