Art & the Internal Arts

[Nungali]

6 hours ago, Trunk said:

@Nungali  Impressive, interesting.

 

I've only recently 've been recognizing ~ exploring color as a means of refinement.  Prompted a little by painting and more so from some Tibetan art that I have at my altar.  It seems that the different colors naturally resonate with, refine, different densities of energy.  Like "bright yellow" is very spacious and light and "deep blue" is very condensed, concentrated.  And through the spectrum.  The Tibetans inclusion of the spectrum of colors in their practices/art has more practical application than I'd realized in years past.  Again, your exploration above: impressive.

 

 

Which also brings up the topic of traditional sacred art. 

- Teachings that are embedded in traditional sacred art.

- And the use of sacred art in altars.

How that all works?, experiences?, ways to go about it?, all that.

Rich territory appropriate for this thread. 

 

- Trunk

 

 

Magical colour theory  is a big part of the (real) magical tradition .  The Golden Dawn talked about  'flashing colours'  in constructing equipment  , that is , the use of opposite colours together, as described above .  But it needs an artistic imput as well . I have seen some traditional daggers , for example painted red and green ... ghastly !  Again the shades and tones need adjustment .

 

Check out p 5 &  6 for the colour scales in 4 words

 

http://93beast.fea.st/files/section1/777/Liber 777 Revised.pdf

 

These levels of correspondence should be shown on the above posts  Enochian  Tablets - and where used in my altar construction pics .

 

here is a basic intro  for working out what colours relate to what energies ;

 

 

It s overall  divisions are in 4  'worlds' colour scales ;  Knight  Queen Prince   and Princess  - like the Tarot court card s , their basic attributions are elemental ; fire water air and earth .

 

Or another way to look at it that I like  ( from an old post of mine from defunct Tarot forum site ) ;

 

" Although not intentionally Qabalah or Hermetic Qabalah I think the following ideas can easily be related to colour in the four worlds:

Colour Consultant Don Parvey writes about the need to create a colour "Stimulus Gradient".

Highest  (Knights)on the grade (in his 4 level system) are colours of high intensity and luminance, including the most "intensive stimulants" -   usefull as Parvey says, "for the lunatic fringe of Op and Psycadelic Art".    

At level 2 (Queens )  are the "rich and powerfull or forcefull colours, strong but not strident".

Third (Princes) are "hard and stable colours with firm contrast" that "produce no emotional overtones".

And lastly,( Princesses ) the "sedative and tranquil colours".

He also attributes these ranges of colours to sound (via voice):
1-scream. 2-command. 3- speaking tone. 4- whisper.

All this seems to fit in with the 4 level Knight, Queen, Prince, Princess and the related colour scales.

Others have looked at colours "insistence" - its attention getting power or impressiveness, being a formula associated with tone and intensity (brightness and saturation) eg. Katz, but seem to be at a loss as to how to go about constructing a working table. perhaps we already have one in 777?

Also as an adjunct to the info in the tables, make sure you read the related appendixes to the colour section in the back of 777, v.interesting. "

 

http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=186793

Regarding the use of sacred art  on altars , here I am looking at , not just the placement of sacred art on an altar but the actual construction and design  and colours used on an altar   ( from same source ) ;

 

< I am searching here for some old pictures I posted of my old evocation temple and the colourful altar I constructed   ... I might have to get back later with this  >

 

- Also, some time back I did a study of the history of colour use   eg   The  Palaeolithic palette  (ochres and charcoal, white from clay ) as time goes on different things are discovered that enable more colours to be used . I think red was one the first ones added. In some cases its natural. Green came later , after certain mineral processes where discovered .  Purple , I think came with Phoenicians , from  a type of crushed sea shell , it was rare and expensive and the colour became related to royalty and later 'high clergy'  (that how it got to be a 'spiritual' colour ' . )

 

.

Edited February 25, 2021 by Nungali

[Rara]

On 19/02/2021 at 9:26 PM, Nungali said:

 Alex Gray

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And Tool's use  of his art 

 

try from 8:30

 

 

 

 

 

These guys pretty much kicked off my spirit quest.

[con.]

This is something I‘ve been playing around with:

To create art needs an Idea and some Kind of technique to manifest the Idea.

Ideas are basically for free, if you‘re willing to pay for it, but the technique part needs mastery. Like learning how to play the 

piano, you will have to give something to the process.

So Photography. I know nothing about it. My greatest achievement was to find out how to stop the camera settings.

If I wanted to make a Photo that I like, the only chance would be luck, so to say. Timing. To be at the right place at the right time.

 

And that‘s the game. The Intention is to get a nice shot, always having a Camera with you is considered cheating.

Make the Intention clear and don‘t miss the Moment.

 

It is just a game. No masterpieces so far and not a great new method of cultivation, but fun and I feel it helped me a little with listening and differentiating between all the different impulses going on in here.

 

ps. I was ging to upload a Photo I liked here, but I haven‘t figured out how to just yet. ( Technique, remember, I suck at it)

       I will do so, once I know how..

[con.]

[con.]

[manitou]

Edited March 1, 2021 by manitou

[manitou]

I messed up getting this post and the image together, but I'd love to know more about this picture above.  

 

I'm assuming that the four winged creatures on the corners are the elements.  The half-wheels behind their heads are the wheels of time?  I notice the green rope around the image is actually orouborous, the snake eating its own tail, the symbol for eternity.

 

It seems to me that the basis for the whole drawing is the sun.  The eyes are set into a fireball.  the I Am, the self awareness, is seated in the clear blue orb.  The rapier blade extends down through the nose, which would be a symbol of his expressions on this plane.

 

I wonder about the two orbs with roots.  If you look at the blood dripping from the bulbs, the ones on the right (our right) are blood red.  The drops on the opposite side are black.  Maybe this is a statement that Death is always our advisor.  I don't know what those pi symbols are - or two tables of different colors that are holding up the tree shapes.  If anybody knows, I'd love to find out.

 

It appears that the sustenance is drawn from the earth, as per the suggestion that it's kundalini energy (earth energy) being drawn upward through the base chakra.  Or maybe it's the other way around.  It appears that the snake has reached the brain.  Or maybe the lower golden orb is representative of the dantien.  That actually makes some sense.

 

The blue 1/4 moon, the five pointed black star - something there reminds me of Freemasonry symbols.

 

@Nungali - do you know more about this drawing?  Is it Hindi?

[Nungali]

20 hours ago, manitou said:

I messed up getting this post and the image together, but I'd love to know more about this picture above.  

 

Did you see where I posted it on page 1 of this thread ?   Its from General  JFC Fuller .

 

Quote

I'm assuming that the four winged creatures on the corners are the elements. 

 

'Elemental'  cherubim

 

https://occultarchives.tumblr.com/post/77396868419/cherubim-the-cherubim-are-winged-creatures-but

 

 

It has an astrological significance as well relating to the 'fixed signs'    Taurus,  Leo , Aquarius and Scorpio

 

Quote

The half-wheels behind their heads are the wheels of time? 

 

Most probably , considering the mystical  tradition Fuller ascribed  to   .
 

 

Quote

I notice the green rope around the image is actually orouborous, the snake eating its own tail, the symbol for eternity.

 

Yes, and the green serpent also has significance in that tradition .

 

Quote

 

It seems to me that the basis for the whole drawing is the sun.

 

Basically but also Sun and Moon conjoined .

 

Quote

 

  The eyes are set into a fireball.  the I Am, the self awareness, is seated in the clear blue orb.  The rapier blade extends down through the nose, which would be a symbol of his expressions on this plane.

 

Multi level  kabbalistic / yogic  symbols here    I could spend a page or two going into it  .... but the sun is up and I need to go and  pick caterpillars off my plants .

 

 

Quote

 

I wonder about the two orbs with roots.  If you look at the blood dripping from the bulbs, the ones on the right (our right) are blood red.  The drops on the opposite side are black.  Maybe this is a statement that Death is always our advisor.  I don't know what those pi symbols are - or two tables of different colors that are holding up the tree shapes.  If anybody knows, I'd love to find out

 

I can go through more of this later if you like  ....

 

Quote

 

 

.

 

It appears that the sustenance is drawn from the earth, as per the suggestion that it's kundalini energy (earth energy) being drawn upward through the base chakra.  Or maybe it's the other way around.  It appears that the snake has reached the brain.  Or maybe the lower golden orb is representative of the dantien.  That actually makes some sense.

 

The blue 1/4 moon, the five pointed black star - something there reminds me of Freemasonry symbols.

 

@Nungali - do you know more about this drawing?  Is it Hindi?

 

Not Hindi .... its in the early Thelemic tradition  , which is eclectic. Its forerunner  ( The Thermetic Order of the Golden Dawn ) was  formed by esoteric masons  (ie  'Red Lodge '  ....  Blue only goes up to 3rd degree and some of its members where instrumental in introducing Buddhism to  UK .

 

The symbolism shown is a compendium of a  fairly vast library  ... to which fuller himself contributed some fantastic   .....   orations ;

 

written in a type of mathematical music code

 

Spoiler

1. 
2.  O Thou Consuming Eye of everlasting light set as a pearl betwixt the lids of Night and Day; I swear to Thee by the formless void of the Abyss, to lap the galaxies of night in darkness, and blow the meteors like bubbles into the frothing jaws of the sun.
3. 
4.  O Thou ten-footed soldier of blue ocean, whose castle is built upon the sands of life and death; I swear to Thee by the glittering blades of the waters, to cleave my way within Thine armed hermitage, and brood as an eyeless corpse beneath the coffin-lid of the Mighty Sea.
5. 
6.  O Thou incandescent Ocean of molten stars, surging above the arch of the Firmament; I swear to Thee by the mane-pennoned lances of light, to stir the lion of Thy darkness from its lair, and lash the sorceress of noontide into fury with serpents of fire.
7. 
8.  O Thou intoxicating Vision of Beauty, fair as ten jewelled virgins dancing about the hermit moon; I swear to Thee by the peridot flagons of spring, to quaff to the dregs Thy chalice of Glory, and beget a royal race before the Dawn flees from awakening Day.
9. 
10.  O Thou unalterable measure of all things, in whose lap lie the destinies of unborn worlds; I swear to Thee by the balance of Light and Darkness, to spread out the blue vault as a looking- glass, and flash forth therefrom the intolerable lustre of Thy Countenance.
11. 
12.  O Thou who settest forth the limitless expanse, spanned by wings of thunder above the cosmic strife; I swear to Thee by the voiceless dust of the desert, to soar above the echos of shrieking life, and as an eagle to feast for ever upon the silence of the stars.
13. 
14.  O Thou flame-tipped arrow of devouring fire that quiverest as a tongue in the dark mouth of Night; I swear to Thee by the thurible of Thy Glory, to breathe the incense of mine understanding, and to cast the ashes of my wisdom into the Valley of Thy breast.
15. 
16.  O Thou ruin of the mountains, glistening as an old white wolf above the fleecy mists of Earth; I swear to Thee by the galaxies of Thy domain, to press Thy lamb's breasts with the teeth of my soul, and drink of the milk and blood of Thy subtlety and innocence.
17. 
18.  O Thou Eternal river of chaotic law, in whose depths lie locked the secrets of Creation; I swear to Thee by the primal waters of the Deep, to suck up the Firmament of Thy Chaos, and as a volcano to belch forth a Cosmos of coruscating suns.
19. 
20.  O Thou Dragon-regent of the blue seas of air, as a chain of emeralds round the neck of Space; I swear to Thee by the hexagram of Night and Day, to be unto Thee as the twin fish of Time, which being set apart never divulge the secret of their unity.
21. 
22.  O Thou flame of the horned storm-clouds, that sunderest their desolation, that outroarest the winds; I swear to Thee by the gleaming sandals of the stars, to climb beyond the summits of the mountains, and rend Thy robe of purple thunders with a sword of silvery light.
23. 
24.  O Thou fat of an hundred fortresses of iron, crimson as the blades of a million murderous swords; I swear to Thee by the smoke-wreath of the volcano, to open the secret shrine of Thy bull's breast, and tear out as an augur the heart of Thine all-pervading mystery.
25. 
26.  O Thou silver axle of the Wheel of Being, thrust through the wings of Time by the still hand of Space; I swear to Thee by the twelve spokes of Thy Unity, to become unto Thee as the rim thereof, so that I may clothe me majestically in the robe that has no seam.

 

 

 

https://www.sacred-texts.com/oto/lib963.htm

 

 

Dont miss the last chapter   ... its rather good

 

 

 

"

The Chapter known as
The Unconsciousness of God
that is hidden from man for a sign

Extract :

 

"

• And the infant grew strong; yet its strength was in its weakness; and though to look at it from before was to look upon a man-child, from behind it was a little girl with golden hair. Now, when the child wished to tempt a maid he faced and approached her; and when the child wished to tempt a man she turned her back on him and fled.
• But one day the child met, at the self-same hour, Love; and the man, seeing a woman, approached her eagerly, and the woman, seeing a man, fled, so that he might capture her. Thus it came about that the child met the child and wondered, not knowing that the child had lost the child. So it was that they walked side by side.
• Then that part of the child that was man loved and lusted for that part of the child that was woman; and each knew not that each was the other, and felt that they were two and yet one, nevertheless one and yet two. And when one said: "Who art thou?" the other answered at the self-same moment: "Who am I?"
• Soon becoming perplexed if I were Thou, or if Thou were I, it came about that the I mingled with the Thou, and the Thou with the I, so that six added to ten became sixteen, which is felicity; for it is the interplay of the elements. Four are the elements that make man, and four are the elements that make woman. Thus was the child reborn.

 

Edited March 1, 2021 by Nungali

[manitou]

16 hours ago, Nungali said:

Thermetic Order

 

 

Hermetic, no?

[manitou]

16 hours ago, Nungali said:

The Chapter known as
The Unconsciousness of God
that is hidden from man for a sign

Extract :

 

"

• And the infant grew strong; yet its strength was in its weakness; and though to look at it from before was to look upon a man-child, from behind it was a little girl with golden hair. Now, when the child wished to tempt a maid he faced and approached her; and when the child wished to tempt a man she turned her back on him and fled.
• But one day the child met, at the self-same hour, Love; and the man, seeing a woman, approached her eagerly, and the woman, seeing a man, fled, so that he might capture her. Thus it came about that the child met the child and wondered, not knowing that the child had lost the child. So it was that they walked side by side.
• Then that part of the child that was man loved and lusted for that part of the child that was woman; and each knew not that each was the other, and felt that they were two and yet one, nevertheless one and yet two. And when one said: "Who art thou?" the other answered at the self-same moment: "Who am I?"
• Soon becoming perplexed if I were Thou, or if Thou were I, it came about that the I mingled with the Thou, and the Thou with the I, so that six added to ten became sixteen, which is felicity; for it is the interplay of the elements. Four are the elements that make man, and four are the elements that make woman. Thus was the child reborn.

 

 

 

Thanks so much,  Nungers!  I LOVE this.  It seems to be a perfect metaphor not only for the spiritual awakening

(the child being reborn ), but for a long marriage as well.  So much of Joe's and my time was spent in each of us growing up in some essential ways.  This is at odds sometimes with the perspective of the child; so the child within must become an adult so that the side-by-sideness is felt and lived.

[Nungali]

5 hours ago, manitou said:

 

 

Hermetic, no?

 

Yes  .... unless someone made a Magical  Fraternal Order about  the   last part of a word stem before an inflectional ending   

[Nungali]

5 hours ago, manitou said:

 

 

Thanks so much,  Nungers!  I LOVE this.  It seems to be a perfect metaphor not only for the spiritual awakening

(the child being reborn ), but for a long marriage as well.  So much of Joe's and my time was spent in each of us growing up in some essential ways.  This is at odds sometimes with the perspective of the child; so the child within must become an adult so that the side-by-sideness is felt and lived.

 

 Love  changes, ebbs , flows , develops , passes away and comes back again  .... like the seasons .

 

-   a slight diversion to the 'written art '  ; 

 

 

 

Sweet, sweet are May and June, dear,

The loves of lambent spring,
Our lamp the drooping moon, dear,
Our roof, the stars that sing;
The bed, of moss and roses;
The night, as long as death!
Still, breath!
Life wakens and reposes,
Love ever quickeneth!

 

Sweet, sweet, when Lion and Maiden,
The motley months of gold,
Swoop down with sunlight laden,
And eyes are bright and bold.
Life-swelling breasts uncover
Their warm involving deep–
Love, sleep!–
And lover lies with lover
On air's substantial steep.

 

Ah! sweeter was September–
The amber rain of leaves,
The harvest to remember
The load of sunny sheaves.
In gardens deeply scented,
In orchards heavily hung,
Love flung
Away the days demented
With lips that curled and clung.

 

Ah! sweeter still October,
When russet leaves go grey,
And sombre loves and sober
Make twilight of the day.
Dark dreams and shadows tenser
Throb through the vital scroll,
Man's soul.
Life, shake a subtle censer
That hides the cruel coal!

 

Still sweeter when the Bowman
His silky shaft of frost
Lets loose on earth, that no man
May linger nor be lost.
The barren woods, deserted.
Lose echo of our sighs–
Love–dies?–
Love lives–in granite skirted,
And under oaken skies.

 

But best is grim December,
The Goatish God his power;
The Satyr blows the ember,
And pain is passion's flower;

When blood drips over kisses,
And madness sobs through wine:–
Ah, mine!–
The snake starts up and hisses
And strikes and–I am thine!

 

 

[Nungali]

 

Many Moons ago  ( when I was young )  we played with magick squares . 'Jain'  introduced me to the idea .

 

You first take a magic square  

 

eg. Magic square of  3  ,  (arranged so columns  add to the same total )

 

The first pic is Magic square of 5

 

 

You then '  join the dots'  1 - 25 . This gives a star or geometric shape , its then rotated on itself  to form a 'mandala ' and the various sections are coloured  according to a number scheme .

 

Eg  

 

 

These where painted on to banners , some extravagantly , with borders of   bits of tapestry, costume jewellery, crystals,  sequins  etc . Eyelets on the corners so they could be strung up . 

 

They would be taken to a park and strung up on the trees in a grove making a walkway between them  .... a travelling art gallery in nature .  A few 'hippies' would be hanging around , playing some music,  incense  would be burning, some wind chimes  and at the end a donation box .      What fun things where back then ! 

 

I still had a couple of banners left until about 10 years ago , they where sadly deteriorating .   I am not sure of more where made , Jain went 'commercial '   with a book and decal / sticker  business .

 

But the best way to view them, IMO was out in the open, in this environment   with the banners wafting in the breeze giving them a fluid extra dimension .

 

Another fond memory was the  'Magick square  art studio ' - an old abandoned school house squat  in beautiful countryside

 

 

Here is one of that old 'gang '      ;

 

 

 

 

 and if you where lucky , at one of these 'art happenings'  you might get to see a dance  

 

 

(its amazing what old pics  can be found on the internet ) 

 

 

OMG !   Here is one at my place , atone of  the festivals we used to put on !

 

 

 

 

 

[manitou]

 

 

Are those your people?

 

 

 

Edited March 3, 2021 by manitou

[Nungali]

17 hours ago, manitou said:

 

 

Are those your people?

 

 

 

 

I am not sure what this  means ;   'my ' people . 

 

They are some of the people I described above ; thats Jain (guy)  who  I said showed me the idea  and later went on to commercialise it . Not sure who that woman was next to him, the kids might be theirs ( together or singular )  ... but hey , who knows ? Some of them might be mine

 

         

 

Spoiler

Thats an old 'hippie joke'      ;  I once used it when I worked at the local town post office . In the morning I would be out the back sorting mail with the other  town postman  . There where also about 8 mail contractors sorting mail for delivery by their  private  cars  to the surrounding countryside , nearly all of them where farmer's wives, gossips and grumps   ( eg . I was told  not to put Ms X mail in the lot with her address ... give it to Gladys , she will deliver it to 'such and such address ' on her run becasue  Ms X had left her husband and shacked up with Mr Y  ... and so on ) .     The other postie used to stir me for 'being a hippie' and living on a 'commune'  ..... the  ladies would nod ... in their disapproval  .

 

One day they are talking about their kids .... " What about you Nungali ? Do you have any children ? "  - they have all stopped work and are looking at me, waiting for my answer .

 

" Well, as you know , I am a Hippy from a commune  ... we got lots of kids out there  ...... some might be mine , be buggered if I know . "  and went back to sorting mail .  You could have heard a pin drop  . I could sense the blood beginning to boil and caught a look or two out the corner of my eye .

 

I let it hold for about a minute or two ... the other postie was silently cracking up . Then I  " Of course, you realise I was joking then , no, I dont have any kids . "

 

 

 

They where people I knew , through a life long friend  who was an artist and an  ex of Jain and lived in that old school house , she moved to the community here years back, and she is the reason I first came here , she is still here and still a life long friend . But no pics of her above .

 

[Nungali]

Here is our festival site ;

 

 

 

Surrounded by river , with  rainforest opposite  The rapids on the left.  have a spar / massage pool.  At the top, a large swimming pool

( cut off in photo) .  Coming down to the right, on the lower riverside is a large bamboo grove. The wite square further down is mediation sanctuary.  Square building at bottom of clearing is the stage . The crear areas are for festival / camping / car parks/ etc . Other buildings are amenities .

 

River beach in rainforest ;

 

[Trunk]

Ok.

What occurs to me is that the art process is often "meditation on an object".

 

Sustained focus on a certain object, whether it be an external object or even an internal feeling, or both: specific external object accompanied by 'inspiration' (whatever idea/feeling/motive/i-don't-know-what, whatever inspiration that *you* experience in conjunction with the external object).

 

The thing is, for me, as a meditator (with not much of an art background), I haven't meditated on that many things: the breath, emptiness, enlightened support, mantra... that sort, what we all talk about here.  And we know that that process (simply sustained calm focus) is one of ever deepening excavation; it's a rich experience.  Painting/drawing has broadened my range of 'objects' (any object/s of interior & exterior) that I apply that same process to.  (Duh: apply focus & meditation skills.)  The specificity and sustained focus that painting requires just to put whatever it is on paper ... mostly better than just sloppy runnin' around town errand running mind, lol.  I'm definitely seeing some increase in my internal clarity of discerning some various things, quicker, clearer, deeper ... significantly as a result of painting I'm sure.  Glad I bumbled into art.

[Trunk]

Part of a writing project, I've gathered some quotes from Robert Henri's book, "The Art Spirit".

 

Quote

 

pg. 66 .. 67
All manifestations of art are but landmarks in the progress of the human spirit toward a thing but as yet sensed and far from being possessed. ... Art is the inevitable consequence of growth and is the manifestation of the principles of its origin.

 

pg. 57 ... 71
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. ... The stroke is just like the artist at the time he makes it.

 

pg 87 seeing:
It is harder to see than it is to express.  The whole value of art rests in the artist's ability to see well into what is before him.

 

pg. 92
There are many craftsmen who paint pleasantly the surface appearances and are very clever at it.

There are always a few who get at and feel the undercurrent, and these simply use the surface appearances selecting them and using them as tools to express the undercurrent, the real life.

If I cannot feel an undercurrent then I see only a series of things.  They may be attractive and novel at first but soon grow tiresome.

There is an undercurrent, the real life, beneath all appearances everywhere.  I do not say that any master has fully comprehended it at any time, but the value of his work is in that he has sensed it and his work reports the measure of his experience.

It is this sense of the persistent life force back of things which makes the eye see and the hand move in ways that result in true masterpieces.  Techniques are thus created as a need.

 

pg. 159
The object of painting a picture is not to make a picture -- however unreasonable this may sound.  The picture, if a picture results, is a by-product and maybe useful, valuable, interesting as a sign of what has past.  The object, which is back of every true work of art, is the attainment of a state of being, a state of high functioning, a more than ordinary moment of existence.  In such moments activity is inevitable, and whether this activity is with brush, pen, chisel, or tongue, its result is but a by-product of the state, a trace, the footprint of the state.

 

pg. 195
Pictures tell the story of actual impulse in the artist - or the lack of it.

 

pg. 207
We have Great Periods.  Periods when we freshen, become disposed toward health and happiness, move forward into hopeful philosophy.  ...  There is an association with nature.  Something happens between us and the flowers in a garden, a communication of gayety, a rhythm in the grass understood - something charming in a day's wash hung on the line - a song running throug it all.  Associations with nature.  It's a state to be in and a state to paint in.

 

pg. 226
    Art is simply a result of expression during right feeling.  It's a result of a grip on the fundamentals of nature, the spirit of life, the constructive force, the secret of growth, a real understanding of the relative importance of things, order, balance.  Any material will do.  After all, the object is not to make art, but to be in the wonderful state which makes art inevitable.
    In every human being there is the artist, and whatever his activity, he has an equal chance with any to express the result of his growth and his contact with life.

 

pg. 228
The only sensible way to regard the art life is that it is a privilege you are willing to pay for.

 

pg. 238
I am not particular how you take this, scientifically or otherwise, ... the student in the school or the artist in the studio must be in a highly sensitive and receptive mood, that negligence is not a characteristic of the artist, that he must not bind himself with preconceived ideas, must keep himself free in the attitude of attention, for he can never be greater than the thing before him - which is nature, whatever else it is, and nature contains all mysteries.

 

pg. 264
A great painter will know a great deal about how he did it, but still he will say, "How did I do it?"
The real artist's work is a surprise to himself.

 

pg. 265
    Low art is just telling things; as, There is the night.  High art gives the feel of the night.  The latter is nearer reality although the former is a copy.  A painter should be interested not in the incident but in the essence of his subject.
    Here is an emotional landscape.  It is like something thought, something remembered.
    Reveal the spirit you have about the thing, not the materials you are going to paint.  Reality does not exist in the material things.  Rather paint the flying spirit of the bird than its feathers.

 

pg. 268
Get over this thing of copying the surface.  You must not see your subject, but through it.