---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Watercolors is the first and the last…"
description: "\"Watercolors is the first and the last thing an artist does.\" — Willem de Kooning"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67b/willem-de-kooning-12563_art_watercolors-is-the-first-and-the-last-th_2217529.jpg"
---

#  Watercolors is the first and the last thing an artist does.

![“Watercolors is the first and the last thing an artist does.” quote by Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67b/willem-de-kooning-12563_art_watercolors-is-the-first-and-the-last-th_2217529.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67b/willem-de-kooning-12563_art_watercolors-is-the-first-and-the-last-th_2217529.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67b/willem-de-kooning-12563_art_watercolors-is-the-first-and-the-last-th_2217529.jpg)

> “Watercolors is the first and the last thing an artist does.”

[Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Watercolor is the foundational medium that frames an artist’s entire practice, both beginning and ending their creative process.

**In simple terms:** Watercolor starts and ends an artist’s work.

Key Takeaway

Embrace watercolor as a core practice.

Themes

art process medium creativity

Mood

reflective inspirational

Type

artistic process

When to use this quote

- art school curriculum
- personal studio routine
- exhibition preparation
- creative brainstorming

Key Concepts

painting foundational technique artistic lifecycle

Questions to Reflect On

- How does watercolor shape your artistic identity?
- Can you work without it?

A Different Perspective

Watercolor may not suit all styles or subjects.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Watercolors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/watercolors/)

## Related quotes

> [I do tend to use watercolors - I love the splatter sort of thing you can do with watercolors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mini-grey/i-do-tend-to-use-watercolors-i-love-the-splatter-sort-of-thing-you/)

[Mini Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mini-grey/)

> [Society takes what it wants. The artist himself does not count, because there is no actual existence for the work of art. The work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/society-takes-what-it-wants-the-artist-himself-does-not-count-because/)

[Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/)

> [When you have celebrity, it's a whole different thing than being an artist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-smits/when-you-have-celebrity-it-s-a-whole-different-thing-than-being-an/)

[Jimmy Smits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-smits/)

> [The awesome thing about being an artist? You can't be fired from your own mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-mcgowan/the-awesome-thing-about-being-an-artist-you-can-t-be-fired-from-your/)

[Rose McGowan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-mcgowan/)

> [The cruelest thing you can do to an artist is tell them their work is flawless when it isn't](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yahtzee-croshaw/the-cruelest-thing-you-can-do-to-an-artist-is-tell-them-their-work-is/)

[Yahtzee Croshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yahtzee-croshaw/)

> [There is actually no such thing as an Artist type. 'Artist' is just an economic designation, a box you tick on a form. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-smith/there-is-actually-no-such-thing-as-an-artist-type-artist-is-just-an/)

[Russell Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-smith/)

> [The only thing you can do as an artist is to come to the world, see what no one is doing, and leave behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-del-toro/the-only-thing-you-can-do-as-an-artist-is-to-come-to-the-world-see/)

[Guillermo del Toro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-del-toro/)

> [The most important thing an artist can discover is a love of process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kody-chamberlain/the-most-important-thing-an-artist-can-discover-is-a-love-of-process/)

Kody Chamberlain

> [The important thing for me as an artist is to keep going back to the page and doing what I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-quick/the-important-thing-for-me-as-an-artist-is-to-keep-going-back-to-the/)

[Matthew Quick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-quick/)

> [Branding is quite an important thing. As an artist, you want to be able to explore facets of yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-offerman/branding-is-quite-an-important-thing-as-an-artist-you-want-to-be-able/)

[Nick Offerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-offerman/)

> [The good thing about being an artist, is it's a legitimate way of looking at things cross-eyed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-chamberlain/the-good-thing-about-being-an-artist-is-it-s-a-legitimate-way-of/)

[John Chamberlain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-chamberlain/)

> [The only thing one can give an artist is leisure in which to work. To give an artist leisure is actually to take part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/the-only-thing-one-can-give-an-artist-is-leisure-in-which-to-work-to/)

[Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/)

> [The thing about being an artist is that you evolve so quickly, you grow, you learn, you change, you find yourself hating work that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/halsey/the-thing-about-being-an-artist-is-that-you-evolve-so-quickly-you/)

[Halsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/halsey/)

> [I think the most important thing for an artist is to not worry about what anybody else thinks. You just have to do what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosanna-arquette/i-think-the-most-important-thing-for-an-artist-is-to-not-worry-about/)

[Rosanna Arquette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosanna-arquette/)

> [It's never the same relationship. I see my job as filling in the blanks. Whatever it is that the artist lacks in the process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-rundgren/it-s-never-the-same-relationship-i-see-my-job-as-filling-in-the/)

[Todd Rundgren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-rundgren/)

## More by Willem de Kooning

> [The texture of experience is prior to everything else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/the-texture-of-experience-is-prior-to-everything-else/)

[Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/)

> [Art should not have to be a certain way,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/art-should-not-have-to-be-a-certain-way/)

[Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/)

> [I think I'm painting a picture of two women but it may turn out to be a landscape.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/i-think-i-m-painting-a-picture-of-two-women-but-it-may-turn-out-to-be/)

[Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/)

> [Im not someone whos ever said anything definitive about his work. In my life also I have very little fixed form. I can change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/im-not-someone-whos-ever-said-anything-definitive-about-his-work-in/)

[Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/)

> [Style is a fraud. I always felt the Greeks were hiding behind their columns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/style-is-a-fraud-i-always-felt-the-greeks-were-hiding-behind-their/)

[Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/)

> [Whatever an artist's personal feelings are, as soon as an artist fills a certain area on the canvas or circumscribes it, he becomes historical.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/whatever-an-artist-s-personal-feelings-are-as-soon-as-an-artist-fills/)

[Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/)

> [The idea of space is given to the artist to change if he can. The subject matter in the abstract is space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/the-idea-of-space-is-given-to-the-artist-to-change-if-he-can-the/)

[Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/)

> [If I stretch my arms and wonder where my fingers are - that is all the space I need as a painter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/if-i-stretch-my-arms-and-wonder-where-my-fingers-are-that-is-all-the/)

[Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/)

> [The artist fills space with an attitude. The attitude never comes from himself alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/the-artist-fills-space-with-an-attitude-the-attitude-never-comes-from/)

[Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/)

> [Flesh was the reason why oil painting was invented](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/flesh-was-the-reason-why-oil-painting-was-invented/)

[Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/)

> [I feel sometimes an American artist must feel, like a baseball player or something - a member of a team writing American history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/i-feel-sometimes-an-american-artist-must-feel-like-a-baseball-player/)

[Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/)

> [Maybe in that earlier phase I was painting the woman in me. Art isn't a wholly masculine occupation, you know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/maybe-in-that-earlier-phase-i-was-painting-the-woman-in-me-art-isn-t/)

[Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/)

> [Yes, I am influenced by everbody. But every time I put my hands in my pockets I find someone else's fingers there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/yes-i-am-influenced-by-everbody-but-every-time-i-put-my-hands-in-my/)

[Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/)

> [I'd like to get all the colors in the world into one painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/i-d-like-to-get-all-the-colors-in-the-world-into-one-painting/)

[Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/)

> [Spiritually I am wherever my spirit allows me to be, and that is not necessarily in the future... Art never seems to make me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/spiritually-i-am-wherever-my-spirit-allows-me-to-be-and-that-is-not/)

[Willem de Kooning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/)

[Explore all 54 Willem de Kooning quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/)

## 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

> [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": "Watercolors is the first and the last thing an artist does.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Willem de Kooning"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/watercolors-is-the-first-and-the-last-thing-an-artist-does/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Art"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/watercolors-is-the-first-and-the-last-thing-an-artist-does/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67b/willem-de-kooning-12563_art_watercolors-is-the-first-and-the-last-th_2217529.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67b/willem-de-kooning-12563_art_watercolors-is-the-first-and-the-last-th_2217529.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/67b/willem-de-kooning-12563_art_watercolors-is-the-first-and-the-last-th_2217529.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Watercolors is the first and the last thing an artist does.” — Willem de Kooning",
                "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": "Willem de Kooning",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willem-de-kooning/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Watercolors is the first and the...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/watercolors-is-the-first-and-the-last-thing-an-artist-does/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willem-de-kooning/watercolors-is-the-first-and-the-last-thing-an-artist-does/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
