--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I begin painting and as I paint the…" description: "\"I begin painting and as I paint the picture begins to assert itself, or suggest itself, under my brush. The form becomes a sign for a woman or a bird a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8f/joan-miro-15041_artist_i-begin-painting-and-as-i-paint-the-pict_1622042.jpg" --- # I begin painting and as I paint the picture begins to… ![“I begin painting and as I paint the picture begins to assert itself, or suggest itself, under my brush. The form becomes a sign for a woman or a bird as I work... The first stage is free, unconscious... the second stage is carefully calculated.” quote by Joan Miro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8f/joan-miro-15041_artist_i-begin-painting-and-as-i-paint-the-pict_1622042.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8f/joan-miro-15041_artist_i-begin-painting-and-as-i-paint-the-pict_1622042.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8f/joan-miro-15041_artist_i-begin-painting-and-as-i-paint-the-pict_1622042.jpg) > “I begin painting and as I paint the picture begins to assert itself, or suggest itself, under my brush. The form becomes a sign for a woman or a bird as I work... The first stage is free, unconscious... the second stage is carefully calculated.” [Joan Miro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-miro/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The creative process starts with spontaneous expression, then evolves into deliberate refinement. **In simple terms:** Painting begins with free flow, then becomes intentional. Key Takeaway Embrace spontaneity before structuring your work. Themes creativity process artistic development Mood inspirational thoughtful Type artistic process When to use this quote - studio practice - sketching - final artwork Key Concepts intuition composition iteration Questions to Reflect On - What does the “free stage” feel like for you? - How do you balance intuition and calculation? A Different Perspective Over‑planning can stifle the initial spark of ideas. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Stage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stage/) ## Related quotes > [What you do when you paint, you take a brush full of paint, get paint on the picture, and you have faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/what-you-do-when-you-paint-you-take-a-brush-full-of-paint-get-paint/) [Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/) > [When I paint a picture of a house, that goes back to my roots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-ruscha/when-i-paint-a-picture-of-a-house-that-goes-back-to-my-roots/) [Edward Ruscha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-ruscha/) > [Life's a canvas you're an artist, Paint a picture of a garden then go and marvel at the harvest you created from your conscious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-s-a-canvas-you-re-an-artist-paint-a-picture-of-a-garden-then-go/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't think you can lightly paint a picture. It's an activity I take very seriously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-hodgkin/i-don-t-think-you-can-lightly-paint-a-picture-it-s-an-activity-i-take/) [Howard Hodgkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-hodgkin/) > [“You paint the picture of your surroundings. Paint it beautifully.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-d-posey/you-paint-the-picture-of-your-surroundings-paint-it-beautifully/) [A.D. Posey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-d-posey/) > [The trick is to paint a picture that doesn't exist, and yet that fits perfectly into an artist's body of work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-beltracchi/the-trick-is-to-paint-a-picture-that-doesn-t-exist-and-yet-that-fits/) [Wolfgang Beltracchi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-beltracchi/) > [A simple line painted with the brush can lead to freedom and happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-miro/a-simple-line-painted-with-the-brush-can-lead-to-freedom-and-happiness/) [Joan Miro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-miro/) > [Never, never do I set to work on a canvas in the state it comes in from the shop. I provoke accidents - a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-miro/never-never-do-i-set-to-work-on-a-canvas-in-the-state-it-comes-in/) [Joan Miro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-miro/) > [It's critical that we use a very dark brush to paint evil. When you bring the light into that darkness as characterized in John…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-dekker/it-s-critical-that-we-use-a-very-dark-brush-to-paint-evil-when-you/) [Ted Dekker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-dekker/) > [I used to flirt with fundamentalism, and I had this idea that creation was something that happened. Now I see creation as something that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-gungor/i-used-to-flirt-with-fundamentalism-and-i-had-this-idea-that-creation/) [Michael Gungor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-gungor/) > [The more you paint the more fluent you are with your brush.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/igor-babailov/the-more-you-paint-the-more-fluent-you-are-with-your-brush/) [Igor Babailov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/igor-babailov/) > [Somebody can paint with a fine brush like Monet and do millions of little dots or somebody can splatter it up there like Kandinsky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-wilson/somebody-can-paint-with-a-fine-brush-like-monet-and-do-millions-of/) [Patrick Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-wilson/) > [O, how much simpler things would be If eyes could paint or brush could see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/o-how-much-simpler-things-would-be-if-eyes-could-paint-or-brush-could/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Take your brush here and there like a bee in an alpine meadow. In other words, don't laboriously work on or try to finish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/take-your-brush-here-and-there-like-a-bee-in-an-alpine-meadow-in/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [It's as if a child with a brush and too much enthusiasm has been set free with a tin of black paint inside me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-downham/it-s-as-if-a-child-with-a-brush-and-too-much-enthusiasm-has-been-set/) [Jenny Downham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-downham/) ## More by Joan Miro > [The picture should be fecund. It must bring a world to birth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-miro/the-picture-should-be-fecund-it-must-bring-a-world-to-birth/) [Joan Miro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-miro/) > [As regards my means of expression, I try my hardest to achieve the maximum of clarity, power, and plastic aggressiveness; a physical sensation to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-miro/as-regards-my-means-of-expression-i-try-my-hardest-to-achieve-the/) [Joan Miro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-miro/) > [I think of my studio as a vegetable garden, where things follow their natural course. They grow, they ripen. You have to graft. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-miro/i-think-of-my-studio-as-a-vegetable-garden-where-things-follow-their/) [Joan Miro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-miro/) > [To gain freedom is to gain simplicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-miro/to-gain-freedom-is-to-gain-simplicity/) [Joan Miro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-miro/) > [The simplest things give me ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-miro/the-simplest-things-give-me-ideas/) [Joan Miro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-miro/) > [The works must be conceived with fire in the soul but executed with clinical coolness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-miro/the-works-must-be-conceived-with-fire-in-the-soul-but-executed-with/) [Joan Miro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-miro/) > [What I will no longer accept is the mediocre life of a modest little gentleman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-miro/what-i-will-no-longer-accept-is-the-mediocre-life-of-a-modest-little/) [Joan Miro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-miro/) > [Never, never do I set to work on a canvas in the state it comes in from the shop. I provoke accidents - a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-miro/never-never-do-i-set-to-work-on-a-canvas-in-the-state-it-comes-in/) [Joan Miro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-miro/) > [If you have any notion of where you are going, you will never get anywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-miro/if-you-have-any-notion-of-where-you-are-going-you-will-never-get/) [Joan Miro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-miro/) > [A modeled form is less striking than one which is not. Modeling prevents shock and limits movement to the visual depth. Without modeling or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-miro/a-modeled-form-is-less-striking-than-one-which-is-not-modeling/) [Joan Miro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-miro/) > [Poetry and painting are done in the same way you make love; it's an exchange of blood, a total embrace - without caution, without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-miro/poetry-and-painting-are-done-in-the-same-way-you-make-love-it-s-an/) [Joan Miro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-miro/) > [For me an object is something living. This cigarette or this box of matches contains a secret life much more intense than that of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-miro/for-me-an-object-is-something-living-this-cigarette-or-this-box-of/) [Joan Miro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-miro/) > [Throughout the time in which I am working on a canvas I can feel how I am beginning to love it, with that love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-miro/throughout-the-time-in-which-i-am-working-on-a-canvas-i-can-feel-how/) [Joan Miro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-miro/) > [My way is to seize an image the moment it has formed in my mind, to trap it as a bird and to pin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-miro/my-way-is-to-seize-an-image-the-moment-it-has-formed-in-my-mind-to/) [Joan Miro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-miro/) > [I begin my pictures under the effect of a shock which I feel and which makes me escape from reality... I need a point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-miro/i-begin-my-pictures-under-the-effect-of-a-shock-which-i-feel-and/) [Joan Miro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-miro/) [Explore all 44 Joan Miro quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-miro/) ## More Artist quotes > [One is a painter because one wants so-called freedom; one doesn't want to go to the office every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/one-is-a-painter-because-one-wants-so-called-freedom-one-doesn-t-want/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [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/) > [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/) > [“People in coats and ties were milling around the Talley gallery, and on the wall were the minimally rendered still lifes by Giorgio Morandi,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/people-in-coats-and-ties-were-milling-around-the-talley-gallery-and/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [“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 > [From as long as I can remember, I was always fond of drawing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-lucia/from-as-long-as-i-can-remember-i-was-always-fond-of-drawing/) [St. Lucia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-lucia/) > [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 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/) > [Designers shouldn’t design for museums any more than mummies should die for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-caplan/designers-shouldn-t-design-for-museums-any-more-than-mummies-should/) [Ralph Caplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-caplan/) > [I don't believe in competitions between artists. This is insane. Who has the authority to say someone is better?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/i-don-t-believe-in-competitions-between-artists-this-is-insane-who/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [I am not the avant-garde. I am the artist who comes after the advancing guard. I am more concerned with continuity of ideas and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-oliveira/i-am-not-the-avant-garde-i-am-the-artist-who-comes-after-the/) [Nathan Oliveira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-oliveira/) > [I am a horrible visual artist. I can't fix a car, sew, knit, cook, etc. Statistically, there is more I don't do than do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/i-am-a-horrible-visual-artist-i-can-t-fix-a-car-sew-knit-cook-etc/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) [Browse all 32,600 Artist quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I begin painting and as I paint the picture begins to assert itself, or suggest itself, under my brush. The form becomes a sign for a woman or a bird as I work... 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