--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Painting is self-discovery. Every good…" description: "\"Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is.\" — Jackson Pollock" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c0/jackson-pollock-8264_art_painting-is-self-discovery-every-good-ar_2018879.jpg" --- # Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what… ![“Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is.” quote by Jackson Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c0/jackson-pollock-8264_art_painting-is-self-discovery-every-good-ar_2018879.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c0/jackson-pollock-8264_art_painting-is-self-discovery-every-good-ar_2018879.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c0/jackson-pollock-8264_art_painting-is-self-discovery-every-good-ar_2018879.jpg) > “Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is.” [Jackson Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pollock/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art reveals the painter’s inner self; each work reflects the creator’s identity and emotions. **In simple terms:** Painting shows who you are. Key Takeaway Explore your inner self through art. Themes self-discovery identity creativity Mood introspective inspired Type reflective creative When to use this quote - art therapy - personal journaling - creative workshops - mindful painting Key Concepts psychology expression authenticity Questions to Reflect On - What does your current work say about you? - How can you use painting to uncover hidden feelings? A Different Perspective May be limited by technical skill or external expectations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Good art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-art/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Self discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-discovery/) ## Related quotes > [Something in me knows where I’m going, and - well, painting is a state of being. ... Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pollock/something-in-me-knows-where-i-m-going-and-well-painting-is-a-state-of/) [Jackson Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pollock/) > [“every good artist paints what he is”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pollock/every-good-artist-paints-what-he-is/) [Jackson Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pollock/) > [Painting is self-discovery. You arrive at the image through the act of painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolph-gottlieb/painting-is-self-discovery-you-arrive-at-the-image-through-the-act-of/) [Adolph Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolph-gottlieb/) > [The canvas upon which the artist paints is the spectator's mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/okakura-kakuzo/the-canvas-upon-which-the-artist-paints-is-the-spectator-s-mind/) [Okakura Kakuzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/okakura-kakuzo/) > [A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving. A good artist lets his intuition lead him wherever it wants.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/a-good-traveler-has-no-fixed-plans-and-is-not-intent-upon-arriving-a/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [A Good artist has less time than ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-kippenberger/a-good-artist-has-less-time-than-ideas/) [Martin Kippenberger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-kippenberger/) > [When I propose a candidate for a job I don't do it because the person in question is the best but because he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-nesbo/when-i-propose-a-candidate-for-a-job-i-don-t-do-it-because-the-person/) [Jo Nesbo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-nesbo/) > [“Convincing myself I was a “good artist” while also knowing how pointless it was to be one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillaume-morissette/convincing-myself-i-was-a-good-artist-while-also-knowing-how/) [Guillaume Morissette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillaume-morissette/) > [I just wanna be a good artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kat-graham/i-just-wanna-be-a-good-artist/) [Kat Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kat-graham/) > [A good artist's always got his hand in his zipper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/a-good-artist-s-always-got-his-hand-in-his-zipper/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [Let the writer take up surgery or bricklaying if he is interested in technique. There is no mechanical way to get the writing done,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/let-the-writer-take-up-surgery-or-bricklaying-if-he-is-interested-in/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [Only a bad artist thinks he has a good idea. A good artist does not need anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ad-reinhardt/only-a-bad-artist-thinks-he-has-a-good-idea-a-good-artist-does-not/) [Ad Reinhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ad-reinhardt/) > [The malady of civilized man is his knowledge of death. The good artist, like the wise man, addresses himself to life and invests with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-malady-of-civilized-man-is-his-knowledge-of-death-the-good-artist/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [I'm just a fan of all music. My family owned a record shop so I grew up taking it all in on a daily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ab-soul/i-m-just-a-fan-of-all-music-my-family-owned-a-record-shop-so-i-grew/) [Ab-Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ab-soul/) > [A real good artist learns to be a better person through all the changes they've been through. They keep their loving and honesty growing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bradley/a-real-good-artist-learns-to-be-a-better-person-through-all-the/) [Charles Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bradley/) ## More by Jackson Pollock > [If people would just look at the paintings, I don't think they would have any trouble enjoying them. It's like looking at a bed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pollock/if-people-would-just-look-at-the-paintings-i-don-t-think-they-would/) [Jackson Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pollock/) > [The modern artist... is working and expressing an inner world - in other words - expressing the energy, the motion, and other inner forces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pollock/the-modern-artist-is-working-and-expressing-an-inner-world-in-other/) [Jackson Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pollock/) > [He drove his kind of realism at me so hard I bounced right into nonobjective painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pollock/he-drove-his-kind-of-realism-at-me-so-hard-i-bounced-right-into/) [Jackson Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pollock/) > [When I'm painting, I'm not aware of what I'm doing. It's only after a get acquainted period that I see what I've been about.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pollock/when-i-m-painting-i-m-not-aware-of-what-i-m-doing-it-s-only-after-a/) [Jackson Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pollock/) > [I have no fear of making changes, destroying the image, etc., because the painting has a life of its own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pollock/i-have-no-fear-of-making-changes-destroying-the-image-etc-because-the/) [Jackson Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pollock/) > [I can control the flow of paint: there is no accident.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pollock/i-can-control-the-flow-of-paint-there-is-no-accident/) [Jackson Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pollock/) > [The modern artist is living in a mechanical age and we have a mechanical means of representing objects in nature such as the camera…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pollock/the-modern-artist-is-living-in-a-mechanical-age-and-we-have-a/) [Jackson Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pollock/) > [As to what I would like to be, it is difficult to say. An artist of some kind. If nothing else I shall always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pollock/as-to-what-i-would-like-to-be-it-is-difficult-to-say-an-artist-of/) [Jackson Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pollock/) > [It is only when I lose contact with the painting that the result is a mess. Otherwise there is pure harmony, an easy give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pollock/it-is-only-when-i-lose-contact-with-the-painting-that-the-result-is-a/) [Jackson Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pollock/) > [The strangeness will wear off and I think we will discover the deeper meanings in modern art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pollock/the-strangeness-will-wear-off-and-i-think-we-will-discover-the-deeper/) [Jackson Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pollock/) > [Every good painter paints what he is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pollock/every-good-painter-paints-what-he-is/) [Jackson Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pollock/) > [Modern art to me is nothing more than the expression of contemporary aims of the age that we're living in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pollock/modern-art-to-me-is-nothing-more-than-the-expression-of-contemporary/) [Jackson Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pollock/) > [I don't paint nature. I am nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pollock/i-don-t-paint-nature-i-am-nature/) [Jackson Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pollock/) > [With experience it seems to be possible to control the flow of paint, to a great extent, and I don't use - I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pollock/with-experience-it-seems-to-be-possible-to-control-the-flow-of-paint/) [Jackson Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pollock/) > [When I am in my painting, I'm not aware of what I'm doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pollock/when-i-am-in-my-painting-i-m-not-aware-of-what-i-m-doing/) [Jackson Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pollock/) [Explore all 82 Jackson Pollock quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pollock/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jackson Pollock" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pollock/painting-is-self-discovery-every-good-artist-paints-what-he-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pollock/painting-is-self-discovery-every-good-artist-paints-what-he-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c0/jackson-pollock-8264_art_painting-is-self-discovery-every-good-ar_2018879.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c0/jackson-pollock-8264_art_painting-is-self-discovery-every-good-ar_2018879.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c0/jackson-pollock-8264_art_painting-is-self-discovery-every-good-ar_2018879.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is.” — Jackson Pollock", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jackson Pollock", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pollock/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pollock/painting-is-self-discovery-every-good-artist-paints-what-he-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pollock/painting-is-self-discovery-every-good-artist-paints-what-he-is/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```