--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If I make a painting, it should be seen…" description: "\"If I make a painting, it should be seen for what it's set out to do too. A lot of the things that I do, it's not all art. Some of it's design, some of ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e97/ken-done-60192_art_if-i-make-a-painting-it-should-be-seen-f_1488465.png" --- # If I make a painting, it should be seen for what it's set… ![“If I make a painting, it should be seen for what it's set out to do too. A lot of the things that I do, it's not all art. Some of it's design, some of it's illustration, some of it's graphics, some of it's concept, some of it's business and some of it, hopefully, is art.” quote by Ken Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e97/ken-done-60192_art_if-i-make-a-painting-it-should-be-seen-f_1488465.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e97/ken-done-60192_art_if-i-make-a-painting-it-should-be-seen-f_1488465.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e97/ken-done-60192_art_if-i-make-a-painting-it-should-be-seen-f_1488465.png) > “If I make a painting, it should be seen for what it's set out to do too. A lot of the things that I do, it's not all art. Some of it's design, some of it's illustration, some of it's graphics, some of it's concept, some of it's business and some of it, hopefully, is art.” [Ken Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-done/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He believes all creative work—design, illustration, graphics, concept, business—can be considered art if it fulfills its intent. **In simple terms:** All creative work can be art if it meets its purpose. Key Takeaway Value intention over medium. Themes creativity art purpose Mood thoughtful inspired Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - branding projects - illustration jobs - graphic design tasks - concept development Key Concepts aesthetic functionality intent Questions to Reflect On - How do you define art in your work? - When does design become art? A Different Perspective Not all audiences accept a broad definition of art. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art design](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-design/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Concepts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concepts/) [Design](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/design/) [Hopefully](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hopefully/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Illustration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illustration/) [Make Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-painting-1420470/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Painting Seen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting-seen-1887570/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Things Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-art-534766/) ## Related quotes > [Painting is seen as picture making, the making of an art object, something that can stand on its own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-wright/painting-is-seen-as-picture-making-the-making-of-an-art-object/) [Peter Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-wright/) > [Let's talk about the artist's desire to go beyond the pictorial or the representational and the desire to create the abstract - the idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/let-s-talk-about-the-artist-s-desire-to-go-beyond-the-pictorial-or/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [“Having seen this reproduction, one can go to the National Gallery to look at the original and discover what the reproduction lacks. Alternatively one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/having-seen-this-reproduction-one-can-go-to-the-national-gallery-to/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [Before I had my son, I became obsessed by this painting I'd seen in an art gallery. It was a lot of money, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-walker/before-i-had-my-son-i-became-obsessed-by-this-painting-i-d-seen-in-an/) [Nicola Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-walker/) > [For me, Corsica is a place that I visited with my friends, maybe five or six times over the years, and I'm so happy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nate-lowman/for-me-corsica-is-a-place-that-i-visited-with-my-friends-maybe-five/) [Nate Lowman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nate-lowman/) > [I strive to make the next painting better than the last one. That's why the most exciting thing to me is the next one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lyn-nelson/i-strive-to-make-the-next-painting-better-than-the-last-one-that-s/) [Robert Lyn Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lyn-nelson/) > [Make a painting you can work on for a long period, and make it look like it doesn't show any effort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-katz/make-a-painting-you-can-work-on-for-a-long-period-and-make-it-look/) [Alex Katz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-katz/) > [If you are someone like Jeff Koons, and you have to work out how to make a big chrome heart or something, then there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-doig/if-you-are-someone-like-jeff-koons-and-you-have-to-work-out-how-to/) [Peter Doig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-doig/) > [I make sure I make a painting - that's my job. And I cook the Sunday dinner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-childish/i-make-sure-i-make-a-painting-that-s-my-job-and-i-cook-the-sunday/) [Billy Childish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-childish/) > [If you're not an actor, or if you're any other kind of artist, there's this sense that, "I must express this thing." Why make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lola-kirke/if-you-re-not-an-actor-or-if-you-re-any-other-kind-of-artist-there-s/) [Lola Kirke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lola-kirke/) > [There are different kinds of concentration required to make a painting, different kinds of being present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-bradley/there-are-different-kinds-of-concentration-required-to-make-a/) [Joe Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-bradley/) > [In fine arts, when you make a painting, it's just a painting. But if you make a painting in the entertainment industry, it can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-w-k/in-fine-arts-when-you-make-a-painting-it-s-just-a-painting-but-if-you/) [Andrew W.K](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-w-k/) > [No, the thing to do is try to make a painting that will be alive in your own lifetime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/no-the-thing-to-do-is-try-to-make-a-painting-that-will-be-alive-in/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [When you make a painting, even abstract, there is always a sort of necessary filling-in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/when-you-make-a-painting-even-abstract-there-is-always-a-sort-of/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [“Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/cooking-a-meal-that-would-be-consumed-in-fifteen-minutes-had-no/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) ## More by Ken Done > [In the times in which we live it is far too restricting to say that art can only be found in art galleries and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-done/in-the-times-in-which-we-live-it-is-far-too-restricting-to-say-that/) [Ken Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-done/) > [Wherever you are in the world, there's always something about the Australian light. There's something about the sharpness of it, something about the clarity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-done/wherever-you-are-in-the-world-there-s-always-something-about-the/) [Ken Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-done/) > [Art shouldn't be something that you go quietly into an art gallery and dip your forelock and say 'I have to be very quiet,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-done/art-shouldn-t-be-something-that-you-go-quietly-into-an-art-gallery/) [Ken Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-done/) > [I've always thought that there shouldn't be any limit to the things that are well designed. And I think that people who consider that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-done/i-ve-always-thought-that-there-shouldn-t-be-any-limit-to-the-things/) [Ken Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-done/) [Explore all 5 Ken Done quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-done/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "If I make a painting, it should be seen for what it's set out to do too. 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