--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Painting is something that you need to…" description: "\"Painting is something that you need to do, if not every day, then certainly most days. It is almost like being a pianist: if you stop, you lose somethi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d31/john-berger-1590_artist_painting-is-something-that-you-need-to-d_3157885.png" --- # Painting is something that you need to do, if not every… ![“Painting is something that you need to do, if not every day, then certainly most days. It is almost like being a pianist: if you stop, you lose something.” quote by John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d31/john-berger-1590_artist_painting-is-something-that-you-need-to-d_3157885.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d31/john-berger-1590_artist_painting-is-something-that-you-need-to-d_3157885.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d31/john-berger-1590_artist_painting-is-something-that-you-need-to-d_3157885.png) > “Painting is something that you need to do, if not every day, then certainly most days. It is almost like being a pianist: if you stop, you lose something.” [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art practice requires regular, disciplined effort, similar to music; neglect leads to loss of skill and insight. **In simple terms:** Paint often, like a pianist practicing. Key Takeaway Make art a habit. Themes creativity discipline skill development Mood inspirational reflective Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - daily sketching - studio routine - art education - creative blocks Key Concepts artistic practice musical analogy Questions to Reflect On - How often should an artist work? - Can breaks improve artistic growth? A Different Perspective It may overlook periods of rest that foster creativity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/day/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Pianist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pianist/) ## Related quotes > [I can't just have one painting - I need to cover the wall in paintings. It's the same with my music. I want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-welch/i-can-t-just-have-one-painting-i-need-to-cover-the-wall-in-paintings/) [Florence Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-welch/) > [I love painting and have a need to do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-watson/i-love-painting-and-have-a-need-to-do-it/) [Emma Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-watson/) > [An abstract painting need in 50 years by no means look "abstract" any longer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/an-abstract-painting-need-in-50-years-by-no-means-look-abstract-any/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [There are days like any normal human being where I wake up and I don't feel like going to work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-hart/there-are-days-like-any-normal-human-being-where-i-wake-up-and-i-don/) [Mary Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-hart/) > [Days go by like birds in the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/days-go-by-like-birds-in-the-sky/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If I miss one day of practice, I notice it. If I miss two days, the critics notice it. If I miss three days,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ignacy-jan-paderewski/if-i-miss-one-day-of-practice-i-notice-it-if-i-miss-two-days-the/) [Ignacy Jan Paderewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ignacy-jan-paderewski/) > [In college, they tell you what you need to do every day. In the NBA, they don't. You figure it out on your own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikola-vucevic/in-college-they-tell-you-what-you-need-to-do-every-day-in-the-nba/) [Nikola Vucevic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikola-vucevic/) > [There are three things, to my account, that I need each day. One of them is something to look up to, another is something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-mcconaughey/there-are-three-things-to-my-account-that-i-need-each-day-one-of-them/) [Matthew McConaughey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-mcconaughey/) > [Cling tight to your sense of humour. You will need it every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-e-lawrence/cling-tight-to-your-sense-of-humour-you-will-need-it-every-day/) [T. E. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-e-lawrence/) > [“I’m so in love with you, and I need you. I need you every day. You’re my strength and my light and, without you,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandi-lynn/i-m-so-in-love-with-you-and-i-need-you-i-need-you-every-day-you-re-my/) [Sandi Lynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandi-lynn/) > [Now I need you more than ever, I need you more than ever, now. You don't need it every day but sometimes don't you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-cullum/now-i-need-you-more-than-ever-i-need-you-more-than-ever-now-you-don-t/) [Jamie Cullum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-cullum/) > [~its not suppose to feel this way, I need you ,I need you more and more each day !! :D](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eldee/its-not-suppose-to-feel-this-way-i-need-you-i-need-you-more-and-more/) Eldee > [Witchcraft was hung, in History, But History and I Find all the Witchcraft that we need Around us, every Day -](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/witchcraft-was-hung-in-history-but-history-and-i-find-all-the/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [I think you need to have a day or two when you treat yourself, because it brings happiness, it stimulates your mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adriano-zumbo/i-think-you-need-to-have-a-day-or-two-when-you-treat-yourself-because/) [Adriano Zumbo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adriano-zumbo/) > [Love the people GOD gave you because you will need them back one day!!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenzie-lynn/love-the-people-god-gave-you-because-you-will-need-them-back-one-day/) [Kenzie Lynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenzie-lynn/) ## More by John Berger > [When we read a story, we inhabit it. The covers of the book are like a roof and four walls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/when-we-read-a-story-we-inhabit-it-the-covers-of-the-book-are-like-a/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [The impulse to paint comes neither from observation nor from the soul (which is probably blind) but from an encounter: the encounter between painter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/the-impulse-to-paint-comes-neither-from-observation-nor-from-the-soul/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Oil painting did to appearances what capital did to social relations. It reduced everything to the equality of objects. Everything became exchangeable because everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/oil-painting-did-to-appearances-what-capital-did-to-social-relations/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Landscapes can be deceptive. Sometimes a landscape seems to be less a setting for the life of its inhabitants than a curtain behind which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/landscapes-can-be-deceptive-sometimes-a-landscape-seems-to-be-less-a/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [We live in a dominant culture of ceaseless Departure and Progress that has so far lasted two or three centuries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/we-live-in-a-dominant-culture-of-ceaseless-departure-and-progress/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [My heart born naked was swaddled in lullabies. Later alone it wore poems for clothes. Like a shirt I carried on my back the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/my-heart-born-naked-was-swaddled-in-lullabies-later-alone-it-wore/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [ There's the artist's intimacy and truthfulness to himself, but an equal intimacy to the Other \[the one drawn\]. Picasso drawings are like that... the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/there-s-the-artist-s-intimacy-and-truthfulness-to-himself-but-an/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Traditional Chinese art looked at the Earth from a Confucian mountain top; Japanese art looked closely around screens; Italian Renaissance art surveyed conquered nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/traditional-chinese-art-looked-at-the-earth-from-a-confucian-mountain/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Never again shall a single story be told as though it were the only one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/never-again-shall-a-single-story-be-told-as-though-it-were-the-only/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [In drawing after drawing, pastel after pastel, painting after painting, the contours of Degas's dancing figures become, at a certain point, darkly insistent, tangled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/in-drawing-after-drawing-pastel-after-pastel-painting-after-painting/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [We never look at just one thing; we are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/we-never-look-at-just-one-thing-we-are-always-looking-at-the-relation/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [We can become anything. That is why injustice is impossible here. There may be the accident of birth, there is no accident of death.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/we-can-become-anything-that-is-why-injustice-is-impossible-here-there/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Capitalism survives by forcing the majority, whom it exploits, to define their own interests as narrowly as possible. This was once achieved by extensive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/capitalism-survives-by-forcing-the-majority-whom-it-exploits-to/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [The camera relieves us of the burden of memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/the-camera-relieves-us-of-the-burden-of-memory/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [“Today we see the art of the past as nobody saw it before. We actually perceive it in a different way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/today-we-see-the-art-of-the-past-as-nobody-saw-it-before-we-actually/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) [Explore all 214 John Berger quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) ## 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": "Painting is something that you need to do, if not every day, then certainly most days. 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