What is real for me are the illusions I create with my paintings. Everything else is quicksand.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the subjective nature of reality, suggesting that personal creations hold more value than the external world's uncertainties.
Eugene Delacroix expresses the idea that reality is shaped by personal experiences and perceptions, particularly through the lens of art. He implies that the illusions crafted in his paintings are more substantial and meaningful to him than the transient and unstable nature of the external world, which he likens to quicksand. This reflects a deep commitment to creativity and an understanding of how art can provide a sense of stability and truth amidst life's uncertainties.
In practice
This quote can be used to inspire artists during workshops about personal expression.
The outcome of my days is always the same; an infinite desire for what one never gets; a void one cannot fill; an utter yearning to produce in all ways, to battle as much as possible against time that drags us along, and the distractions that throw a veil over our soul.
Artists who seek perfection in everything are those who can't attain it in anything.
A picture is nothing but a bridge between the soul of the artist and that of the spectator.
Experience has two things to teach. The first is that we must correct a great deal and the second, that we must not correct too much.
The source of genius is imagination alone, the refinement of the senses that sees what others do not see, or sees them differently.
Glory to that Homer of painting, to that father of warmth and enthusiasm... he really paints men.
Because I sidestepped all the stereotypical roles, in a way I've made a career out of not being Asian - a lot of my roles weren't written as Asian - so there's an impulse in me that wants to take a U-turn and play a very grounded, real Asian character, maybe an immigrant.
Art has a will of its own. It has nothing to do with the taste of the moment or what's expected of you. That's a formula for dead art, or fashionable art.
A song has to take on character, shape, body and influence people to an extent that they use it for their own devices. It must affect them not just as a song, but as a lifestyle.
Drawing is a kind of hypnotism: one looks in such a way at the model, that he comes and takes a seat on the paper.
Acting is not a state of being ... but a state of appearing to be. You can't be eight times a week without going stark staring mad. You've got to be in control.
Just give a drum roll, announce my name & I come out & sing. I have a contract that says I'm a singer. So I sing.
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