--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Whatever you feel or think your exact…" description: "\"Whatever you feel or think your exact state at the exact moment of your brush touching the canvas is in some way registered in that stroke.\" — Robert H..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/378/robert-henri-1803_artist_whatever-you-feel-or-think-your-exact-st_1352282.png" --- # Whatever you feel or think your exact state at the exact… ![“Whatever you feel or think your exact state at the exact moment of your brush touching the canvas is in some way registered in that stroke.” quote by Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/378/robert-henri-1803_artist_whatever-you-feel-or-think-your-exact-st_1352282.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/378/robert-henri-1803_artist_whatever-you-feel-or-think-your-exact-st_1352282.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/378/robert-henri-1803_artist_whatever-you-feel-or-think-your-exact-st_1352282.png) > “Whatever you feel or think your exact state at the exact moment of your brush touching the canvas is in some way registered in that stroke.” [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Suggests that an artist’s emotional state is reflected in each brushstroke. **In simple terms:** Feelings show in your art. Key Takeaway Be aware of your emotions while creating. Themes creativity self-awareness expression Mood introspective thoughtful Type inspirational reflective When to use this quote - painting - drawing - digital illustration - therapy sessions Key Concepts psychology artistic intent mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - What emotions do you notice in your work? - How can you channel mood constructively? A Different Perspective Emotions may be misinterpreted by viewers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Brush Touching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brush-touching-4603010/) [Brushes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brushes/) [Canvas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canvas/) [Feel Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel-think/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Moment Brush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moment-brush-1324622/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [States](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/states/) [Strokes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strokes/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Touching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/touching/) [Touching Canvas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/touching-canvas-4603009/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [That awkward moment when you brush your teeth and someone stare you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/selena/that-awkward-moment-when-you-brush-your-teeth-and-someone-stare-you/) [Selena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/selena/) > [Naked I came into the world, but brush strokes cover me, language raises me, music rhythms me. Art is my rod and staff, my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/naked-i-came-into-the-world-but-brush-strokes-cover-me-language/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [Pride was his life force; for us it was a live nerve that he could teach us to brush. One stroke, a good practice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kareem-abdul-jabbar/pride-was-his-life-force-for-us-it-was-a-live-nerve-that-he-could/) [Kareem Abdul-Jabbar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kareem-abdul-jabbar/) > [When an actor is in the moment, he or she is engaged in listening for the next right thing creatively. 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I had no idea what the pictures would depict and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilma-af-klint/the-pictures-were-painted-directly-through-me-without-preliminary/) [Hilma af Klint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilma-af-klint/) > [Is as if the music is another character or as if it was a part of this great opera. I also through about this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-abreu/is-as-if-the-music-is-another-character-or-as-if-it-was-a-part-of/) [Alex Abreu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-abreu/) > [If you would listen to every stroke of my brush, I would never need to speak again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-tanton/if-you-would-listen-to-every-stroke-of-my-brush-i-would-never-need-to/) [Janice Tanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-tanton/) > [How much of your life can you account for? My life is a collage of unaccounted for brush strokes; I am all random”.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-guare/how-much-of-your-life-can-you-account-for-my-life-is-a-collage-of/) [John Guare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-guare/) > [To me, the whole process of being a brush stroke in someone else's painting is a little difficult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-me-the-whole-process-of-being-a-brush-stroke-in-someone-else-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Grain is the brush stroke of photography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/constantine-manos/grain-is-the-brush-stroke-of-photography/) [Constantine Manos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/constantine-manos/) > [When everything is added up, the frequent blows weighted against the sporadic triumphs, this is I have to say not just a vocation, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-scorsese/when-everything-is-added-up-the-frequent-blows-weighted-against-the/) [Martin Scorsese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-scorsese/) > [Knowledge of anatomy is a tool like good brushes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/knowledge-of-anatomy-is-a-tool-like-good-brushes/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [I'm not a trash talker, that's not my thing. But if someone asks me, I'm going to say what I feel and what I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gustafsson/i-m-not-a-trash-talker-that-s-not-my-thing-but-if-someone-asks-me-i-m/) [Alexander Gustafsson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gustafsson/) ## More by Robert Henri > [It is the common defect of modern art study. Too many students do not know why they draw.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/it-is-the-common-defect-of-modern-art-study-too-many-students-do-not/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [Your only hope of satisfying others is in satisfying yourself. I speak of a great satisfaction, not a commercial satisfaction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/your-only-hope-of-satisfying-others-is-in-satisfying-yourself-i-speak/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [Keep a bad drawing until by study you have found out why it is bad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/keep-a-bad-drawing-until-by-study-you-have-found-out-why-it-is-bad/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [Self-education only produces expressions of self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/self-education-only-produces-expressions-of-self/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [Genius is not a possession of the limited few, but exists in some degree in everyone. Where there is natural growth, a full and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/genius-is-not-a-possession-of-the-limited-few-but-exists-in-some/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [Your painting is the marking of your progression into nature, a sensation of something you see way beyond the two pretty colors over there.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/your-painting-is-the-marking-of-your-progression-into-nature-a/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [The sketch hunter moves through life as he finds it, not passing negligently the things he loves, but stopping to know them, and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/the-sketch-hunter-moves-through-life-as-he-finds-it-not-passing/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [There are pictures that manifest education and there are pictures that manifest love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/there-are-pictures-that-manifest-education-and-there-are-pictures/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [I am interested in the size of your intention. It is better to overstate the important than to understate it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/i-am-interested-in-the-size-of-your-intention-it-is-better-to/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [“We will be happy if we can get around to the idea that art is not an outside and extra thing; that it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/we-will-be-happy-if-we-can-get-around-to-the-idea-that-art-is-not-an/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [“It beats all the things that wealth can give and everything else in the world to say the things one believes, to put them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/it-beats-all-the-things-that-wealth-can-give-and-everything-else-in/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [“A GREAT PAINTER will know a great deal about how he did it, but still he will say, “How did I do it?” The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/a-great-painter-will-know-a-great-deal-about-how-he-did-it-but-still/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [“Concentrate on a single feature – as, build all toward one eye – make all lines lead toward that eye. (Robert Henri)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/concentrate-on-a-single-feature-as-build-all-toward-one-eye-make-all/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [Good composition is like a suspension bridge - each line adds strength and takes none away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/good-composition-is-like-a-suspension-bridge-each-line-adds-strength/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [Cherish your own emotions and never undervalue them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/cherish-your-own-emotions-and-never-undervalue-them/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) [Explore all 207 Robert Henri quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "Whatever you feel or think your exact state at the exact moment of your brush touching the canvas is in some way registered in that stroke.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Henri" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/whatever-you-feel-or-think-your-exact-state-at-the-exact-moment-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Artist" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/whatever-you-feel-or-think-your-exact-state-at-the-exact-moment-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/378/robert-henri-1803_artist_whatever-you-feel-or-think-your-exact-st_1352282.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/378/robert-henri-1803_artist_whatever-you-feel-or-think-your-exact-st_1352282.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/378/robert-henri-1803_artist_whatever-you-feel-or-think-your-exact-st_1352282.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Whatever you feel or think your exact state at the exact moment of your brush touching the canvas is in some…” — Robert Henri", "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": "Robert Henri", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Whatever you feel or think your...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/whatever-you-feel-or-think-your-exact-state-at-the-exact-moment-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/whatever-you-feel-or-think-your-exact-state-at-the-exact-moment-of/#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 } } ] } ```