--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Scan your subject for things that are…" description: "\"Scan your subject for things that are clearly impossible. After all, paint isn't magic! If you see that certain elements in the subject are beyond the ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04a/richard-schmid-19535_areas_scan-your-subject-for-things-that-are-cl_1885239.jpg" --- # Scan your subject for things that are clearly impossible… ![“Scan your subject for things that are clearly impossible. After all, paint isn't magic! If you see that certain elements in the subject are beyond the limits of your pigments, try to form an idea beforehand of how you are going to handle those areas when you get to them.” quote by Richard Schmid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04a/richard-schmid-19535_areas_scan-your-subject-for-things-that-are-cl_1885239.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04a/richard-schmid-19535_areas_scan-your-subject-for-things-that-are-cl_1885239.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04a/richard-schmid-19535_areas_scan-your-subject-for-things-that-are-cl_1885239.jpg) > “Scan your subject for things that are clearly impossible. After all, paint isn't magic! If you see that certain elements in the subject are beyond the limits of your pigments, try to form an idea beforehand of how you are going to handle those areas when you get to them.” [Richard Schmid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-schmid/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Artists should anticipate challenges with impossible details and plan solutions before painting, acknowledging paint’s limits. **In simple terms:** Plan for impossible parts before painting. Key Takeaway Prepare strategies for technical limits. Themes technique problem solving creativity artistic process Mood practical reflective Type instructional motivational When to use this quote - portrait painting - landscape work - studio practice - teaching - project planning Key Concepts Previsualization material constraints workflow planning Questions to Reflect On - When is it better to improvise than pre‑plan? - How do material limits inspire innovation? A Different Perspective Over‑planning may stifle spontaneity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Elements](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elements/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Limits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limits/) [Magic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/magic/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) ## Related quotes > [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/) > [Lorenzo de' Medici seeks highly skilled, aesthetically oriented individual to conceive and implement several major public projects. You are a generalist with sound training…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelangelo/lorenzo-de-medici-seeks-highly-skilled-aesthetically-oriented/) [Michelangelo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelangelo/) > [The approach to "building" a story with words and phrases is no different than "building" a painting with brushes and pigments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/the-approach-to-building-a-story-with-words-and-phrases-is-no/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [God may work in light, but we mortals work in pigment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/god-may-work-in-light-but-we-mortals-work-in-pigment/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [For me, painting is that magical material, that beautiful stuff that was invented, the ground-up pigments in oil which makes it very malleable. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-oliveira/for-me-painting-is-that-magical-material-that-beautiful-stuff-that/) [Nathan Oliveira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-oliveira/) > [Each day brings its own colours to be chosen, mixed, pigments of joy, happy moments, smiles and laughter… And which will you choose? For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcleod/each-day-brings-its-own-colours-to-be-chosen-mixed-pigments-of-joy/) [John McLeod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcleod/) > [Yes, linseed oil. I used to use poppy oil, but I have heard that poppy oil is given to cracking pigment too, so I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hopper/yes-linseed-oil-i-used-to-use-poppy-oil-but-i-have-heard-that-poppy/) [Edward Hopper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hopper/) > [My mantra is, 'Don't be afraid of color.' What did it do to you? 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Being beautiful is being simple.All girls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/being-beautiful-is-not-in-the-way-you-dress-nor-on-the-pigments-you/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [Computer science education cannot make anybody an expert programmer any more than studying brushes and pigment can make somebody an expert painter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/computer-science-education-cannot-make-anybody-an-expert-programmer/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My pigment is of the earth, and collecting my sacred fire from my solar plexus with the central sun of the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-cliff/my-pigment-is-of-the-earth-and-collecting-my-sacred-fire-from-my/) [Jimmy Cliff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-cliff/) > [What a severe yet master artist old Winter is... No longer the canvas and the pigments, but the marble and the chisel...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/what-a-severe-yet-master-artist-old-winter-is-no-longer-the-canvas/) [John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/) > [My husband is my most ruthless critic... sometimes he will say, 'It's been said better before.' Of course it has. It's all been said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/my-husband-is-my-most-ruthless-critic-sometimes-he-will-say-it-s-been/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) ## More by Richard Schmid > [If there is a conflict in your mind between what you know and what you are seeing, paint what you see because if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-schmid/if-there-is-a-conflict-in-your-mind-between-what-you-know-and-what/) [Richard Schmid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-schmid/) > [An incomplete sketch superbly executed is power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-schmid/an-incomplete-sketch-superbly-executed-is-power/) [Richard Schmid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-schmid/) > [Don't go overboard with exotic or complex ways to paint. Stick to simple solutions, unless there is a good reason to do otherwise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-schmid/don-t-go-overboard-with-exotic-or-complex-ways-to-paint-stick-to/) [Richard Schmid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-schmid/) > [I see the things and people and events in my daily world as an endless succession of paintings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-schmid/i-see-the-things-and-people-and-events-in-my-daily-world-as-an/) [Richard Schmid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-schmid/) > [There are times when I have started a work with an end in mind, but then, for one reason or another, as my picture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-schmid/there-are-times-when-i-have-started-a-work-with-an-end-in-mind-but/) [Richard Schmid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-schmid/) > [It often takes two to do a good painting - one to paint it, and another to rap the painter smartly with a hammer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-schmid/it-often-takes-two-to-do-a-good-painting-one-to-paint-it-and-another/) [Richard Schmid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-schmid/) > [Use lots of paint and don't worry, they will make more...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-schmid/use-lots-of-paint-and-don-t-worry-they-will-make-more/) [Richard Schmid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-schmid/) > [In a sense, every work you do is a self-portrait because your paintings always reveal more about you than about your subject. Your experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-schmid/in-a-sense-every-work-you-do-is-a-self-portrait-because-your/) [Richard Schmid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-schmid/) > [As painters...we must always remember that our precious poetic visions and spiritual insights will remain forever locked within us until we can boil them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-schmid/as-painters-we-must-always-remember-that-our-precious-poetic-visions/) [Richard Schmid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-schmid/) > [All great art originates from the innocent child within us expressing itself through the wisdom, experience and skill of an adult.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-schmid/all-great-art-originates-from-the-innocent-child-within-us-expressing/) [Richard Schmid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-schmid/) > [Underlying all your choices, particularly subject matter and the way you represent it, should be your own personal scruples, the standards and rules that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-schmid/underlying-all-your-choices-particularly-subject-matter-and-the-way/) [Richard Schmid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-schmid/) > [You can stick with a few clear-cut values, which are stronger than a multitude of values and will obviously yield a stronger painting. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-schmid/you-can-stick-with-a-few-clear-cut-values-which-are-stronger-than-a/) [Richard Schmid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-schmid/) > [Somewhere within all of us is a wordless center, a part of us that hopes to be immortal in some way, a part that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-schmid/somewhere-within-all-of-us-is-a-wordless-center-a-part-of-us-that/) [Richard Schmid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-schmid/) > [Paint like a pig eats.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-schmid/paint-like-a-pig-eats/) [Richard Schmid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-schmid/) > [How often have we all come to that crucial point in a painting where it is practically 'begging' us to stop before we ruin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-schmid/how-often-have-we-all-come-to-that-crucial-point-in-a-painting-where/) [Richard Schmid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-schmid/) [Explore all 32 Richard Schmid quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-schmid/) ## More Areas quotes > [The very purpose for being in this body, for every one of us, is to live and rejoice in that virgin area, that untouched,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/the-very-purpose-for-being-in-this-body-for-every-one-of-us-is-to/) [Sri Sri Ravi Shankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/) > [I am somewhat influenced by the years that I've spent trying to actually get things done, whether it was reforming education in Arkansas or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/i-am-somewhat-influenced-by-the-years-that-i-ve-spent-trying-to/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [The earliest language was body language and, since this language is the language of questions, if we limit the questions, and if we only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-freire/the-earliest-language-was-body-language-and-since-this-language-is/) [Paulo Freire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-freire/) > [This ball was so crowded that it took me - a trained professional journalist with vast experience in this area - forty five minutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/this-ball-was-so-crowded-that-it-took-me-a-trained-professional/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) > [People don't want to believe that technology is broken. 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It’s not the South, it’s not Chicago, and you don’t think of it as you think of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-james/louisville-is-a-place-with-no-labels-it-s-not-the-south-it-s-not/) [Jim James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-james/) > [It turns out that this part of the brain is one of the first areas that's attacked by Alzheimer's disease. 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