--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The first function of an art student is…" description: "\"“The first function of an art student is to observe, to study nature.”\" — Kimon Nicolaides" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b9/kimon-nicolaides-31321_apprentice_the-first-function-of-an-art-student-is_2833230.png" --- # The first function of an art student is to observe, to… ![“The first function of an art student is to observe, to study nature.” quote by Kimon Nicolaides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b9/kimon-nicolaides-31321_apprentice_the-first-function-of-an-art-student-is_2833230.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b9/kimon-nicolaides-31321_apprentice_the-first-function-of-an-art-student-is_2833230.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b9/kimon-nicolaides-31321_apprentice_the-first-function-of-an-art-student-is_2833230.png) > ““The first function of an art student is to observe, to study nature.”” [Kimon Nicolaides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimon-nicolaides/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote emphasizes that an art student’s primary duty is to observe and study nature, grounding artistic practice in direct experience. **In simple terms:** Art students should first learn by observing nature. Key Takeaway Prioritize observation before technique. Themes art education observation nature study creativity learning methods Mood instructive inspirational Type educational artistic When to use this quote - art school curricula - nature sketching trips - creative workshops Key Concepts visual perception artistic discipline environmental inspiration Questions to Reflect On - How does observing nature enhance digital art? - What exercises improve observational skills? A Different Perspective May overlook modern digital influences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Apprentice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apprentice/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) ## Related quotes > [“When I was in art school, we were looking one day at a slide of some great fifteenth century painting, and one of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-graham/when-i-was-in-art-school-we-were-looking-one-day-at-a-slide-of-some/) [Paul Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-graham/) > [We have so committed ourselves in different ways that we have hardly any time for self-reflection, to observe, to study.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/we-have-so-committed-ourselves-in-different-ways-that-we-have-hardly/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [There were some extremely good teachers there that were great artists really in their own right. It was actually very hard to concentrate on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-coxon/there-were-some-extremely-good-teachers-there-that-were-great-artists/) [Graham Coxon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-coxon/) > [It is the ability to determine consciously what it is that interests him, and why, that differentiates the artist from the art student.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-carlson/it-is-the-ability-to-determine-consciously-what-it-is-that-interests/) [John F. Carlson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-carlson/) > [“The work of the art student is no light matter. Few have the courage and stamina to see it through. You have to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/the-work-of-the-art-student-is-no-light-matter-few-have-the-courage/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [I was an art student when I was a boy, and as an art student you don't have to talk to anyone - you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-rees/i-was-an-art-student-when-i-was-a-boy-and-as-an-art-student-you-don-t/) [Roger Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-rees/) > [I got into underground comics fairly early on and kind of wandered away from the superhero stuff, but I was an art student and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/i-got-into-underground-comics-fairly-early-on-and-kind-of-wandered/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [Who would be an artist that was perfectly happy? Maybe nowadays, but when I grew up in the '60s, you had nobody in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-sillman/who-would-be-an-artist-that-was-perfectly-happy-maybe-nowadays-but/) [Amy Sillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-sillman/) > [A very young painter is seldom alone. If he is an art student, he is in an art school with other students. He does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-alechinsky/a-very-young-painter-is-seldom-alone-if-he-is-an-art-student-he-is-in/) [Pierre Alechinsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-alechinsky/) > [When I was an art student in the early 60′s before the acid scene began I was smoking pot just like anyone else who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-griffith/when-i-was-an-art-student-in-the-early-60-s-before-the-acid-scene/) [Bill Griffith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-griffith/) > [I know, it sounds a contradiction, a fine art student fighting in UFC. But I'm not that unusual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-hardy/i-know-it-sounds-a-contradiction-a-fine-art-student-fighting-in-ufc/) [Dan Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-hardy/) > [I was an art student at the time, like thousands of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-davies/i-was-an-art-student-at-the-time-like-thousands-of-others/) [Ray Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-davies/) > [I went back to my mother's house recently and I saw some of my earlier works as a 15-year-old art student. And a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/i-went-back-to-my-mother-s-house-recently-and-i-saw-some-of-my/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [The function of Art is to disturb. Science reassures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-braque/the-function-of-art-is-to-disturb-science-reassures/) [Georges Braque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-braque/) > [A primary function of art andthought is to liberate the individual from the tyranny of his culture in the environmental sense and to permit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-trilling/a-primary-function-of-art-andthought-is-to-liberate-the-individual/) [Lionel Trilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-trilling/) ## More by Kimon Nicolaides > [All that you need in the way of technique for drawing is bound up in the technique of seeing - that is, of understanding,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimon-nicolaides/all-that-you-need-in-the-way-of-technique-for-drawing-is-bound-up-in/) [Kimon Nicolaides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimon-nicolaides/) > [Learning to draw is really a matter of learning to see - to see correctly - and that means a good deal more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimon-nicolaides/learning-to-draw-is-really-a-matter-of-learning-to-see-to-see/) [Kimon Nicolaides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimon-nicolaides/) > [You should draw not what the thing looks like, not even what it is, but what it is doing... Gesture has no precise edges,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimon-nicolaides/you-should-draw-not-what-the-thing-looks-like-not-even-what-it-is-but/) [Kimon Nicolaides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimon-nicolaides/) > [Man can make only the rules. He cannot make the laws, which are the laws of nature. It is the understanding of these laws…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimon-nicolaides/man-can-make-only-the-rules-he-cannot-make-the-laws-which-are-the/) [Kimon Nicolaides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimon-nicolaides/) > [The sooner you make your first five thousand mistakes the sooner you will be able to correct them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimon-nicolaides/the-sooner-you-make-your-first-five-thousand-mistakes-the-sooner-you/) [Kimon Nicolaides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimon-nicolaides/) > [There is only one right way to draw... physical contact with all sorts of objects through all the senses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimon-nicolaides/there-is-only-one-right-way-to-draw-physical-contact-with-all-sorts/) [Kimon Nicolaides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimon-nicolaides/) > [Technique should be taught, not as an end in itself, but as something related to individual expression, as a means toward an end. One…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimon-nicolaides/technique-should-be-taught-not-as-an-end-in-itself-but-as-something/) [Kimon Nicolaides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimon-nicolaides/) > [Committing oneself to a technique causes stagnation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimon-nicolaides/committing-oneself-to-a-technique-causes-stagnation/) [Kimon Nicolaides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimon-nicolaides/) > [You are not to think of painting as something separate from drawing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimon-nicolaides/you-are-not-to-think-of-painting-as-something-separate-from-drawing/) [Kimon Nicolaides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimon-nicolaides/) > [To understand theory is not enough. Much practice is necessary...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimon-nicolaides/to-understand-theory-is-not-enough-much-practice-is-necessary/) [Kimon Nicolaides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimon-nicolaides/) > [You cannot govern the creative impulse; all you can do is eliminate obstacles and smooth the way for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimon-nicolaides/you-cannot-govern-the-creative-impulse-all-you-can-do-is-eliminate/) [Kimon Nicolaides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimon-nicolaides/) > [There is no such thing as starting where Cezanne left off. You have to start where he started... at the beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimon-nicolaides/there-is-no-such-thing-as-starting-where-cezanne-left-off-you-have-to/) [Kimon Nicolaides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimon-nicolaides/) > [When we use numbers we are using symbols, and it is only when we transfer them to life that they become actualities. The same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimon-nicolaides/when-we-use-numbers-we-are-using-symbols-and-it-is-only-when-we/) [Kimon Nicolaides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimon-nicolaides/) > [Merely to see... is not enough. It is necessary to have a fresh, vivid, physical contact with the object you draw through as many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimon-nicolaides/merely-to-see-is-not-enough-it-is-necessary-to-have-a-fresh-vivid/) [Kimon Nicolaides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimon-nicolaides/) > [Art should be concerned more with life than with art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimon-nicolaides/art-should-be-concerned-more-with-life-than-with-art/) [Kimon Nicolaides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimon-nicolaides/) [Explore all 16 Kimon Nicolaides quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimon-nicolaides/) ## More Apprentice quotes > [Donald Trump said he will not decide about a possible run for the presidency until after the current season of Celebrity Apprentice wraps up.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/donald-trump-said-he-will-not-decide-about-a-possible-run-for-the/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [I'm a working-class former apprentice electrician; at the age of 14, if you'd told me I would one day be standing on a stage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gordon-sinclair/i-m-a-working-class-former-apprentice-electrician-at-the-age-of-14-if/) [John Gordon Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gordon-sinclair/) > [Thanks to NBC News and thanks to the NBC primetime TV network, Donald Trump has been in living rooms for 11 years being who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/thanks-to-nbc-news-and-thanks-to-the-nbc-primetime-tv-network-donald/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [Faith in your new apprentice, misplaced may be. As is your faith in the dark side of the Force.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/faith-in-your-new-apprentice-misplaced-may-be-as-is-your-faith-in-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When by habit a man cometh to have a bargaining soul, its wings are cut, so that it can never soar. It bindeth reason…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-george-savile-8th-baronet/when-by-habit-a-man-cometh-to-have-a-bargaining-soul-its-wings-are/) [Sir George Savile, 8th Baronet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-george-savile-8th-baronet/) > [“If Education was a guild, I would still be an apprentice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kambiz-mostofizadeh/if-education-was-a-guild-i-would-still-be-an-apprentice/) [Kambiz Mostofizadeh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kambiz-mostofizadeh/) > [The professional respects his craft. He does not consider himself superior to it. He recognizes the contributions of those who have gone before him.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/the-professional-respects-his-craft-he-does-not-consider-himself/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [You're an Apprentice! You're not ready to think!" Gilan and Halt. The Ruins of Gorlan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-flanagan/you-re-an-apprentice-you-re-not-ready-to-think-gilan-and-halt-the/) [John Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-flanagan/) > [Had it not been for 'The Apprentice' and Donald Trump, I wouldn't have met my wife through an interview with 'E! News.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-rancic/had-it-not-been-for-the-apprentice-and-donald-trump-i-wouldn-t-have/) [Bill Rancic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-rancic/) > [The first time I saw Giggsy, he was playing for Salford Boys against United's apprentices. He was thin and wiry but he just glided…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-robson/the-first-time-i-saw-giggsy-he-was-playing-for-salford-boys-against/) [Bryan Robson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-robson/) > [Capitalism is the sorcerer's apprentice: it has summoned up powers which have spun wildly out of control and now threaten to destroy us.The task…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/capitalism-is-the-sorcerer-s-apprentice-it-has-summoned-up-powers/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [Donald Trump isn't really running for president, come on! This is obviously a new reality show, Celebrity Presidential Apprentice. It ends with the incompetent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-r-burch/donald-trump-isn-t-really-running-for-president-come-on-this-is/) [Michael R. Burch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-r-burch/) > [Music is my life. The last job I had, I was a bricklayer's apprentice. And I was happy with that job, too, because it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-wahlberg/music-is-my-life-the-last-job-i-had-i-was-a-bricklayer-s-apprentice/) [Mark Wahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-wahlberg/) > [Every bad joke, every endorsement deal, all of the things that a typical host would normally get creamed for, people don't mind, because they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-rowe/every-bad-joke-every-endorsement-deal-all-of-the-things-that-a/) [Mike Rowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-rowe/) > [I don't regret putting 'The Apprentice' on television.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-zucker/i-don-t-regret-putting-the-apprentice-on-television/) [Jeff Zucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-zucker/) [Browse all 175 Apprentice quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apprentice/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The first function of an art student is to observe, to study nature.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kimon Nicolaides" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimon-nicolaides/the-first-function-of-an-art-student-is-to-observe-to-study-nature/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Apprentice" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimon-nicolaides/the-first-function-of-an-art-student-is-to-observe-to-study-nature/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b9/kimon-nicolaides-31321_apprentice_the-first-function-of-an-art-student-is_2833230.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b9/kimon-nicolaides-31321_apprentice_the-first-function-of-an-art-student-is_2833230.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b9/kimon-nicolaides-31321_apprentice_the-first-function-of-an-art-student-is_2833230.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The first function of an art student is to observe, to study nature.” — Kimon Nicolaides", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Kimon Nicolaides", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimon-nicolaides/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The first function of an art...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimon-nicolaides/the-first-function-of-an-art-student-is-to-observe-to-study-nature/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimon-nicolaides/the-first-function-of-an-art-student-is-to-observe-to-study-nature/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```