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This is an insight shared by many artists. My favourite, and perhaps the most blunt, take on it is by Picasso: "What does it mean for a painter to paint in the
by elliots 13y ago
This is an insight shared by many artists. My favourite, and perhaps the most blunt, take on it is by Picasso:
"What does it mean for a painter to paint in the manner of So-and-So or to actually imitate someone else? What's wrong with that? On the contrary, it's a good idea. You should constantly try to paint like someone else. But the thing is, you can't! You would like to. You try. But it turns out to be a botch… And at the very moment you make a botch of it that you're yourself."
- sivers 13y agoThanks for this. I hadn't heard the full quote before. People often quote the “great artists steal” line from him - including Steve Jobs - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW0DUg63lqU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW0DUg63lqU - but the fuller idea is much more interesting.
- gruseom 13y agoThe "great artists steal" line comes not from Picasso but from T.S. Eliot. Lots of previous discussion about this: https://hn.algolia.com/?q=picasso+eliot#!/comment/forever/0/picasso https://hn.algolia.com/?q=picasso+eliot#!/comment/forever/0/... eliot The line that elliots (not to be confused with T.S. Eliot!) quoted turns out to be authentic, though—or at least there's some evidence for it: http://books.google.com/books?id=OJTKZeXaUvkC&lpg=PA53&dq=%22You%20should%20constantly%20try%20to%20paint%20like%20someone%20else%22&pg=PA53#v=onepage&q=%22You%20should%20constantly%20try%20to%20paint%20like%20someone%20else%22&f=false http://books.google.com/books?id=OJTKZeXaUvkC&lpg=PA53&dq=%2...
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- sushirain 13y agoJobs copied it from Picasso who stole it from Eliot ;)
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