--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I could not paint at all if I had to…" description: "\"I could not paint at all if I had to paint slowly. Every effect is so transient, it must be rapidly painted.\" — Joaquin Sorolla" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dd/joaquin-sorolla-31054_artist_i-could-not-paint-at-all-if-i-had-to-pai_2124029.png" --- # I could not paint at all if I had to paint slowly. Every… ![“I could not paint at all if I had to paint slowly. Every effect is so transient, it must be rapidly painted.” quote by Joaquin Sorolla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dd/joaquin-sorolla-31054_artist_i-could-not-paint-at-all-if-i-had-to-pai_2124029.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dd/joaquin-sorolla-31054_artist_i-could-not-paint-at-all-if-i-had-to-pai_2124029.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7dd/joaquin-sorolla-31054_artist_i-could-not-paint-at-all-if-i-had-to-pai_2124029.png) > “I could not paint at all if I had to paint slowly. Every effect is so transient, it must be rapidly painted.” [Joaquin Sorolla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-sorolla/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The artist insists that speed is essential; lingering slows the fleeting quality of the scene, so rapid execution captures its transience. **In simple terms:** Paint quickly to capture fleeting moments. Key Takeaway Embrace swift creation to preserve immediacy. Themes art technique impermanence speed expression Mood urgent inspired Type artistic philosophical When to use this quote - Landscape painting - live sketching - performance art Key Concepts Temporal perception creative urgency visual spontaneity Questions to Reflect On - Can speed ever fully convey depth? - How do you balance haste with accuracy? A Different Perspective Risk of loss of detail and nuance in haste. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Effects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effects/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Paint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paint/) [Paint Paint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paint-paint-516862/) [Paint Slowly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paint-slowly-4347145/) [Rapidly Painted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rapidly-painted-4347146/) [Transient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transient/) [Transient Rapidly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transient-rapidly-4347147/) ## Related quotes > [Most people think I paint fast. I paint very slowly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-monet/most-people-think-i-paint-fast-i-paint-very-slowly/) [Claude Monet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-monet/) > [“You have to work with the paint and work with whatever the day brings you. If it's a wee bit dreary out, you paint…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kieran-kramer/you-have-to-work-with-the-paint-and-work-with-whatever-the-day-brings/) [Kieran Kramer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kieran-kramer/) > [As long as you can change paint, you don't change. For you to change - for paint to do something to you - paint…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-resnick/as-long-as-you-can-change-paint-you-don-t-change-for-you-to-change/) [Milton Resnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-resnick/) > [It's not what you paint. It's how you paint it. You don't have to paint elaborate things. Paint simple things as beautifully as you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-van-wyk/it-s-not-what-you-paint-it-s-how-you-paint-it-you-don-t-have-to-paint/) [Helen Van Wyk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-van-wyk/) > [Paint what you feel. Paint what you see. Paint what is real to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/paint-what-you-feel-paint-what-you-see-paint-what-is-real-to-you/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [There is never a question of what to paint but only how to paint.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ryman/there-is-never-a-question-of-what-to-paint-but-only-how-to-paint/) [Robert Ryman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ryman/) > [You don't paint what you see, you paint what you feel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romare-bearden/you-don-t-paint-what-you-see-you-paint-what-you-feel/) [Romare Bearden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/romare-bearden/) > [I did not know how to paint or even what to paint, but I knew I had to begin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-did-not-know-how-to-paint-or-even-what-to-paint-but-i-knew-i-had-to/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [There are so many good ones to paint and if you paint as well as you really can and keep out of all other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/there-are-so-many-good-ones-to-paint-and-if-you-paint-as-well-as-you/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [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 hesitate, I do not paint. When I paint, I do not hesitate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-riopelle/when-i-hesitate-i-do-not-paint-when-i-paint-i-do-not-hesitate/) [Jean-Paul Riopelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-riopelle/) > [l photograph what l do not wish to paint and l paint that which l cannot photograph.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/man-ray/l-photograph-what-l-do-not-wish-to-paint-and-l-paint-that-which-l/) [Man Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/man-ray/) > [My work is not about paint. It's about paint at the service of something else. It is not about gooey, chest-beating, macho '50s abstraction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/my-work-is-not-about-paint-it-s-about-paint-at-the-service-of/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [One could go on for ever as to whether the paint should be thick or thin, whether to paint the woman or the square,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-krasner/one-could-go-on-for-ever-as-to-whether-the-paint-should-be-thick-or/) [Lee Krasner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-krasner/) > [If you're a painter, paint. But you don't have to put Jesus in every picture. Paint well, and if you paint well enough, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-slade/if-you-re-a-painter-paint-but-you-don-t-have-to-put-jesus-in-every/) [Isaac Slade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-slade/) ## More by Joaquin Sorolla > [I do not care to paint portraits indoors. I cannot feel sympathetic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-sorolla/i-do-not-care-to-paint-portraits-indoors-i-cannot-feel-sympathetic/) [Joaquin Sorolla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-sorolla/) > [My only ambition was to create an honest picture that would interpret nature as she really is, as she ought to be seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-sorolla/my-only-ambition-was-to-create-an-honest-picture-that-would-interpret/) [Joaquin Sorolla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-sorolla/) > [How long did it take me to delimit this art? Twenty years! ... It was a laborious process, but a methodical and rational one;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-sorolla/how-long-did-it-take-me-to-delimit-this-art-twenty-years-it-was-a/) [Joaquin Sorolla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-sorolla/) > [The older I become, the more I realize that drawing is the most important of all the problems of picture-making.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-sorolla/the-older-i-become-the-more-i-realize-that-drawing-is-the-most/) [Joaquin Sorolla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-sorolla/) > [All inspired painters are impressionists, even though it be true that some impressionists are not inspired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-sorolla/all-inspired-painters-are-impressionists-even-though-it-be-true-that/) [Joaquin Sorolla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-sorolla/) > [Go to nature with no parti pris. You should not know what your picture is to look like until it is done. Just see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-sorolla/go-to-nature-with-no-parti-pris-you-should-not-know-what-your-picture/) [Joaquin Sorolla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-sorolla/) > [As far as outdoor work is concerned, a studio is only a garage; a place in which to store pictures and repair them, never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-sorolla/as-far-as-outdoor-work-is-concerned-a-studio-is-only-a-garage-a-place/) [Joaquin Sorolla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-sorolla/) > [If ever a painter wrought a miracle of illusion with brush and pigment that painter was Velazquez in his Las Meninas, at the Prado…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-sorolla/if-ever-a-painter-wrought-a-miracle-of-illusion-with-brush-and/) [Joaquin Sorolla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-sorolla/) > [All the mistakes committed by artists are due to their having separated themselves from truth, believing that their imagination is stronger. There is nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-sorolla/all-the-mistakes-committed-by-artists-are-due-to-their-having/) [Joaquin Sorolla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-sorolla/) > [The great difficulty with large canvases is that they should by right be painted as fast as a sketch. By speed only can you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-sorolla/the-great-difficulty-with-large-canvases-is-that-they-should-by-right/) [Joaquin Sorolla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-sorolla/) > [I hate darkness. Claude Monet once said that painting in general did not have light enough in it. I agree with him. We painters,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-sorolla/i-hate-darkness-claude-monet-once-said-that-painting-in-general-did/) [Joaquin Sorolla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-sorolla/) > [When an artist begins to count strokes instead of regarding nature he is lost. This preoccupation with technique, at the expense of truth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-sorolla/when-an-artist-begins-to-count-strokes-instead-of-regarding-nature-he/) [Joaquin Sorolla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-sorolla/) > [Nature, the sun itself, produces color effects... instantaneously. The impression of these evanescent visions is what we make desperate attempts to catch and fix…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-sorolla/nature-the-sun-itself-produces-color-effects-instantaneously-the/) [Joaquin Sorolla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-sorolla/) > [A studio is a good place to smoke your pipe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-sorolla/a-studio-is-a-good-place-to-smoke-your-pipe/) [Joaquin Sorolla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-sorolla/) > [No, mes amis, impressionism is not charlatanry, nor a formula, nor a school. I should say rather it is the bold resolve to throw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-sorolla/no-mes-amis-impressionism-is-not-charlatanry-nor-a-formula-nor-a/) [Joaquin Sorolla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-sorolla/) [Explore all 17 Joaquin Sorolla quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-sorolla/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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 could not paint at all if I had to paint slowly. 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