--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is never a question of what to…" description: "\"There is never a question of what to paint but only how to paint.\" — Robert Ryman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8d/robert-ryman-64971_funny_there-is-never-a-question-of-what-to-pai_2137114.jpg" --- # There is never a question of what to paint but only how to… ![“There is never a question of what to paint but only how to paint.” quote by Robert Ryman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8d/robert-ryman-64971_funny_there-is-never-a-question-of-what-to-pai_2137114.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8d/robert-ryman-64971_funny_there-is-never-a-question-of-what-to-pai_2137114.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8d/robert-ryman-64971_funny_there-is-never-a-question-of-what-to-pai_2137114.jpg) > “There is never a question of what to paint but only how to paint.” [Robert Ryman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ryman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The focus in painting is not on the subject matter but on the method and technique, emphasizing process over content. **In simple terms:** Painting is about how you paint, not what you paint. Key Takeaway Prioritize technique and process in creative work. Themes art theory process technique creativity minimalism Mood contemplative instructive philosophical Type educational reflective When to use this quote - art education - studio practice - exhibition planning - creative workshops - critical writing Key Concepts methodology materiality visual perception Questions to Reflect On - How does your process influence the viewer's experience? - Can content and technique coexist harmoniously? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on process may neglect emotional or narrative aspects. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Paint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paint/) [Paint Paint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paint-paint-516862/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Question](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/question/) [Question Paint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/question-paint-4433269/) ## Related quotes > [“You have to work with the paint and work with whatever the day brings you. If it's a wee bit dreary out, you paint…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kieran-kramer/you-have-to-work-with-the-paint-and-work-with-whatever-the-day-brings/) [Kieran Kramer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kieran-kramer/) > [If you're a painter, paint. But you don't have to put Jesus in every picture. Paint well, and if you paint well enough, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-slade/if-you-re-a-painter-paint-but-you-don-t-have-to-put-jesus-in-every/) [Isaac Slade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-slade/) > [As long as you can change paint, you don't change. For you to change - for paint to do something to you - paint…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-resnick/as-long-as-you-can-change-paint-you-don-t-change-for-you-to-change/) [Milton Resnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-resnick/) > [It's not what you paint. It's how you paint it. You don't have to paint elaborate things. Paint simple things as beautifully as you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-van-wyk/it-s-not-what-you-paint-it-s-how-you-paint-it-you-don-t-have-to-paint/) [Helen Van Wyk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-van-wyk/) > [Paint what you feel. Paint what you see. Paint what is real to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-henri/paint-what-you-feel-paint-what-you-see-paint-what-is-real-to-you/) [Robert Henri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-henri/) > [I could not paint at all if I had to paint slowly. Every effect is so transient, it must be rapidly painted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-sorolla/i-could-not-paint-at-all-if-i-had-to-paint-slowly-every-effect-is-so/) [Joaquin Sorolla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-sorolla/) > [You don't paint what you see, you paint what you feel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romare-bearden/you-don-t-paint-what-you-see-you-paint-what-you-feel/) [Romare Bearden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/romare-bearden/) > [I did not know how to paint or even what to paint, but I knew I had to begin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-did-not-know-how-to-paint-or-even-what-to-paint-but-i-knew-i-had-to/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [There are so many good ones to paint and if you paint as well as you really can and keep out of all other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/there-are-so-many-good-ones-to-paint-and-if-you-paint-as-well-as-you/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [What you do when you paint, you take a brush full of paint, get paint on the picture, and you have faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/what-you-do-when-you-paint-you-take-a-brush-full-of-paint-get-paint/) [Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/) > [When I hesitate, I do not paint. When I paint, I do not hesitate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-riopelle/when-i-hesitate-i-do-not-paint-when-i-paint-i-do-not-hesitate/) [Jean-Paul Riopelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-riopelle/) > [l photograph what l do not wish to paint and l paint that which l cannot photograph.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/man-ray/l-photograph-what-l-do-not-wish-to-paint-and-l-paint-that-which-l/) [Man Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/man-ray/) > [My work is not about paint. It's about paint at the service of something else. It is not about gooey, chest-beating, macho '50s abstraction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/my-work-is-not-about-paint-it-s-about-paint-at-the-service-of/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [One could go on for ever as to whether the paint should be thick or thin, whether to paint the woman or the square,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-krasner/one-could-go-on-for-ever-as-to-whether-the-paint-should-be-thick-or/) [Lee Krasner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-krasner/) > [Paint what you are, paint what you believe, paint what you feel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-shahn/paint-what-you-are-paint-what-you-believe-paint-what-you-feel/) [Ben Shahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-shahn/) ## More by Robert Ryman > [My approach tends to be from experiments. I need the challenge. If I know how to do something well, there's no need to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ryman/my-approach-tends-to-be-from-experiments-i-need-the-challenge-if-i/) [Robert Ryman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ryman/) > [What painting is, is exactly what people see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ryman/what-painting-is-is-exactly-what-people-see/) [Robert Ryman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ryman/) > [The real purpose of painting is to give pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ryman/the-real-purpose-of-painting-is-to-give-pleasure/) [Robert Ryman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ryman/) > [I don’t abstract from anything.…I am involved with real space, the room itself, real light, and real surface.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ryman/i-don-t-abstract-from-anything-i-am-involved-with-real-space-the-room/) [Robert Ryman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ryman/) [Explore all 5 Robert Ryman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ryman/) ## 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. 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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": "There is never a question of what to paint but only how to paint.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Ryman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ryman/there-is-never-a-question-of-what-to-paint-but-only-how-to-paint/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Artist" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ryman/there-is-never-a-question-of-what-to-paint-but-only-how-to-paint/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8d/robert-ryman-64971_funny_there-is-never-a-question-of-what-to-pai_2137114.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8d/robert-ryman-64971_funny_there-is-never-a-question-of-what-to-pai_2137114.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8d/robert-ryman-64971_funny_there-is-never-a-question-of-what-to-pai_2137114.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is never a question of what to paint but only how to paint.” — Robert Ryman", "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 Ryman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ryman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There is never a question of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ryman/there-is-never-a-question-of-what-to-paint-but-only-how-to-paint/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ryman/there-is-never-a-question-of-what-to-paint-but-only-how-to-paint/#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 } } ] } ```