Art Thoughts - Richard Schmid

Once in a while I'll make post like this. Many artists have lived in this world each of one having their own sens of art. And what better to listen to them, thos epearls of wisdom they gave us once in a while. This time is Richard Schmid born in chicago 1934. "If there is ever a conflict in your mind between what you know and what you are seeing, paint what you see, because if you don't the result will look like something that isn't there." "We must see the RELATIONSHIPS between colors, the relative visual warmth or coldness of colors to one another in a complex visual field of many colors. The question to be asked in all cases is not what color something is, but rather what color it is COMPARED TO ALL OTHERS AROUND IT." "Remember--soft edges in a painting are not an end in themselves. They must be APPROPRIATELY soft and should conform to what you perceive them to be in your subject. That is what will make your edges look authentic. Arbitrarily softening everything is like intentionally mumbling when you speak." "Real drawing is a discipline that must be maintained by constant practice. It is like staying in physical shape. Knowing how to do it must be accompanied by actually doing it. Tracing to get the drawing reduces you to the level of a child playing with a coloring book, and it's not as much fun as it was when you were three years old." "When you finish a painting started as a tracing, there will be little sense of achievement, except perhaps for the patience required to color it. Tracing is degrading because you will have denied yourself the freedom to use your own powers of self-expression. Is that really the way anyone should want to be an artist?"