Drawing is the artist's most direct and spontaneous expression, a species of writing: it reveals, better than does painting, his true personality.
Edgar DegasRead
Work a great deal at evening effects, lamplight, candlelight, etc. The intriguing thing is not to show the source of the light but the effect of the lighting.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Focus on how light influences the atmosphere rather than its source.
Edgar Degas emphasizes the importance of capturing the effects of light in art, particularly during evening hours. Rather than merely displaying the light source, artists should strive to convey how light transforms a scene and creates mood, inviting viewers to appreciate the subtleties of illumination and atmosphere in their work.
Themes
LightArtAtmosphereEveningEffect
In practice
Example use cases
An artist discussing their painting process in a gallery setting.
More from Edgar Degas
All quotes βNo art is less spontaneous than mine. What I do is the result of reflection and the study of the great masters.
Edgar DegasRead
Everyone has talent at twenty-five. The difficulty is to have it at fifty.
Edgar DegasRead
It is all very well to copy what one sees, but it is far better to draw what one now only sees in one's memory. That is a transformation in which imagination collaborates with memory.
Edgar DegasRead
The Dance instills in you something that sets you apart. Something heroic and remote.
Edgar DegasRead
You have to have a high conception, not of what you are doing, but of what you may do one day: without that, there's no point in working.
Edgar DegasRead
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