Irwin Greenberg – The Painter’s Primer… 4/5

67.   Don’t call yourself an artist. Let others name you that. “artist” is a title of great weight.
68.   Be humble; learn from everybody.
69.   Paintings that you work hardest at are the ones you learn the most from, and are often your favorites.
70.   Read values relatively. Find the lightest light and compare all other light values to it. Do the same with the darks.
71.   Grit and guts are the magic ingredients to your success.
72.   Let your picture welcome the viewer.
73.   Add new painters to your list of favorites all the time.
74.   Study artists who are dealing with the same problems that you’re trying to solve.
75.   Have a positive mindset when showing your work to galleries.
76.   Don’t look for gimmicks to give your work style. You might be stuck with them for life. Or, worse yet, you might have to change your “style” every few years.
77.   If what you have to say is from your deepest feelings, you’ll find an audience that responds.
78.   Try to end a day’s work on a picture knowing how to proceed the next day.
79.   Don’t envy others’ success. Be generous-spirited and congratulate whole-heartedly.
80.   Your own standards have to be higher and more scrupulous than those of critics.
81.   Howard Pyle said, “Throw your heart into a picture and jump in after it.”
82.   Vermeer found a life’s work in the corner of a room.
83.   Rembrandt was always clear about what is most important in a picture.
84.   If, after study, the work of an artist remains obscure, the fault may not be yours.