--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Don't think of sea as color. Make it a…" description: "\"Don't think of sea as color. Make it a solid that can support a boat. Think of 'wetness' as color-texture.\" — John French Sloan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/017/john-french-sloan-13441_boat_don-t-think-of-sea-as-color-make-it-a-so_1549635.png" --- # Don't think of sea as color. Make it a solid that can… ![“Don't think of sea as color. Make it a solid that can support a boat. Think of 'wetness' as color-texture.” quote by John French Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/017/john-french-sloan-13441_boat_don-t-think-of-sea-as-color-make-it-a-so_1549635.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/017/john-french-sloan-13441_boat_don-t-think-of-sea-as-color-make-it-a-so_1549635.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/017/john-french-sloan-13441_boat_don-t-think-of-sea-as-color-make-it-a-so_1549635.png) > “Don't think of sea as color. Make it a solid that can support a boat. Think of 'wetness' as color-texture.” [John French Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-french-sloan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Perceive the sea not as a hue but as a solid surface that can hold a boat; view wetness as a texture rather than a color. **In simple terms:** See sea as a solid, wetness as texture. Key Takeaway Think of environments in functional terms. Themes perception artistic metaphor visual thinking Mood reflective inspired Type metaphorical creative When to use this quote - marine engineering - painting technique - design thinking - architecture Key Concepts materiality sensory perception Questions to Reflect On - How does reframing perception change your creative process? - Can functional metaphors limit understanding? A Different Perspective This view may oversimplify complex natural phenomena. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Color](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/color/) [Sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sea/) [Support](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/support/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Wetness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wetness/) ## Related quotes > [“On a boat, you must think of every amp and where it comes from.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-page/on-a-boat-you-must-think-of-every-amp-and-where-it-comes-from/) [Rick Page](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-page/) > [Unless you really understand the water, and understand the reason for being on it, and understand the love of sailing and the feeling of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/humphrey-bogart/unless-you-really-understand-the-water-and-understand-the-reason-for/) [Humphrey Bogart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/humphrey-bogart/) > [In the work of Seurat, you can see the dots of neutral colors carrying the form and then the dots of more intense color…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-french-sloan/in-the-work-of-seurat-you-can-see-the-dots-of-neutral-colors-carrying/) [John French Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-french-sloan/) > [There is a better chance of getting an exciting painting from a laboured study with texture than from a fine drawing without it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-french-sloan/there-is-a-better-chance-of-getting-an-exciting-painting-from-a/) [John French Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-french-sloan/) > [Study the great brush drawings of the Chinese and Japanese... When we try to imitate their conventions for perspective, form and texture we lose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-french-sloan/study-the-great-brush-drawings-of-the-chinese-and-japanese-when-we/) [John French Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-french-sloan/) > [The bogholes might be Atlantic seepage. The wet centre is bottomless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/the-bogholes-might-be-atlantic-seepage-the-wet-centre-is-bottomless/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Moisture is the essence of wetness, and wetness is the essence of beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-stiller/moisture-is-the-essence-of-wetness-and-wetness-is-the-essence-of/) [Ben Stiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-stiller/) > [From "Wetness and Water" How does a part of the world leave the world? How can wetness leave water? Do not try to put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/from-wetness-and-water-how-does-a-part-of-the-world-leave-the-world/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [By the age of six the average child will have completed the basic American education… From television, the child will have learned how to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/by-the-age-of-six-the-average-child-will-have-completed-the-basic/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Whiteness is the color of death, you know, not black. Wetness is life, the breeder and shaper of life. In the beginning the sun…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-carroll/whiteness-is-the-color-of-death-you-know-not-black-wetness-is-life/) [Jim Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-carroll/) > [“Pip's mother's lane was spongy with redwood needles dislodged and sodden with the rain, the sound of which surrounded her polyrhythmically, a steady background…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/pip-s-mother-s-lane-was-spongy-with-redwood-needles-dislodged-and/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [This is the most precious gift anyone has ever received. You gave me back a memory that I will cherish forever. You gave me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbi-glines/this-is-the-most-precious-gift-anyone-has-ever-received-you-gave-me/) [Abbi Glines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbi-glines/) > [“The feel of the sticky wetness down there when she moved made her grimace. God, she wanted to get cleaned up. In a hurry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-feel-of-the-sticky-wetness-down-there-when-she-moved-made-her/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“The fish does not know it is wet. America is immersed in violence. The violence is in our souls. The enemy is within.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/the-fish-does-not-know-it-is-wet-america-is-immersed-in-violence-the/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [“O Heavenly Children, do not forget that God is here, there and everywhere. The birds are his eyes and the air is his ears.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/o-heavenly-children-do-not-forget-that-god-is-here-there-and/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) ## More by John French Sloan > [Painting is drawing, with the additional means of color. Painting without drawing is just 'coloriness,' color excitement. To think of color for color's sake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-french-sloan/painting-is-drawing-with-the-additional-means-of-color-painting/) [John French Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-french-sloan/) > [The purpose of subject matter is to veil technique. The great artist uses the cloak of resemblance to hide the means.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-french-sloan/the-purpose-of-subject-matter-is-to-veil-technique-the-great-artist/) [John French Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-french-sloan/) > [You can be a giant among artists without ever attaining any great skill. Facility is a dangerous thing. When there is too much technical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-french-sloan/you-can-be-a-giant-among-artists-without-ever-attaining-any-great/) [John French Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-french-sloan/) > [Be sensitive to the qualities inherent in the medium. Paint honestly and avoid tricks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-french-sloan/be-sensitive-to-the-qualities-inherent-in-the-medium-paint-honestly/) [John French Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-french-sloan/) > [Assimilate all you can from tradition and then say things in your own way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-french-sloan/assimilate-all-you-can-from-tradition-and-then-say-things-in-your-own/) [John French Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-french-sloan/) > [Don't be afraid to borrow. The great men, the most original, borrowed from everybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-french-sloan/don-t-be-afraid-to-borrow-the-great-men-the-most-original-borrowed/) [John French Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-french-sloan/) > [When painting a landscape it is desirable to walk through the clumps and around the bushes, around the trees, the houses and the rocks.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-french-sloan/when-painting-a-landscape-it-is-desirable-to-walk-through-the-clumps/) [John French Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-french-sloan/) > [...in the habit of watching every bit of human life I can see about my windows, but I do it so that I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-french-sloan/in-the-habit-of-watching-every-bit-of-human-life-i-can-see-about-my/) [John French Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-french-sloan/) > [The subject may be of first importance to the artist when he starts a picture, but it should be of least importance in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-french-sloan/the-subject-may-be-of-first-importance-to-the-artist-when-he-starts-a/) [John French Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-french-sloan/) > [When you draw a crowd of people in a street or room or landscape, decide whether you want to say that the people dominate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-french-sloan/when-you-draw-a-crowd-of-people-in-a-street-or-room-or-landscape/) [John French Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-french-sloan/) > [To play your colors by eye is worse than playing the piano by ear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-french-sloan/to-play-your-colors-by-eye-is-worse-than-playing-the-piano-by-ear/) [John French Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-french-sloan/) > [The important thing is to keep on drawing when you start to paint. Never graduate from drawing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-french-sloan/the-important-thing-is-to-keep-on-drawing-when-you-start-to-paint/) [John French Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-french-sloan/) > [There is a better chance of getting an exciting painting from a laboured study with texture than from a fine drawing without it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-french-sloan/there-is-a-better-chance-of-getting-an-exciting-painting-from-a/) [John French Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-french-sloan/) > [Don't be stingy with your paint, it isn't worth it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-french-sloan/don-t-be-stingy-with-your-paint-it-isn-t-worth-it/) [John French Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-french-sloan/) > [The artist does not see both eyes alike. There is always 'the eye' and the other eye... It adds life and plasticity to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-french-sloan/the-artist-does-not-see-both-eyes-alike-there-is-always-the-eye-and/) [John French Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-french-sloan/) [Explore all 50 John French Sloan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-french-sloan/) ## More Boat quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. 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Mirrored ceilings, marble, Jacuzzis and leopard-skin everything, it made the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-anderson/it-was-just-the-sort-of-yatch-you-d-expect-a-rock-promoter-to-have/) [Pamela Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-anderson/) > [It's a hindrance in trying to get a serious acting role. The minute a producer has a script and my name comes up, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbi-benton/it-s-a-hindrance-in-trying-to-get-a-serious-acting-role-the-minute-a/) [Barbi Benton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbi-benton/) > [Something I like to do a lot is just sit by water when there’s a current and just stare into the water. I don’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iggy-pop/something-i-like-to-do-a-lot-is-just-sit-by-water-when-there-s-a/) [Iggy Pop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iggy-pop/) > [The trouble is, you can't properly present something you don't believe in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mcguane/the-trouble-is-you-can-t-properly-present-something-you-don-t-believe/) [Thomas McGuane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mcguane/) > [You know how this is: if I look at the crystal moon, at the red branch of the slow autumn at my window, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/you-know-how-this-is-if-i-look-at-the-crystal-moon-at-the-red-branch/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [A film is a boat which is always on the point of sinking-it always tends to break up as you go along and drag…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-truffaut/a-film-is-a-boat-which-is-always-on-the-point-of-sinking-it-always/) [Francois Truffaut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-truffaut/) > [I took one guitar lesson, and they wanted me to play 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' or 'Michael Row the Boat Ashore,' and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-nielsen/i-took-one-guitar-lesson-and-they-wanted-me-to-play-mary-had-a-little/) [Rick Nielsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-nielsen/) > [I was 35 years old and in a position to take a shot at whatever I wanted to try. 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