I'm an odd portrait painter in that I'm not just interested in human faces. I consider almost all of my paintings to be portraits. Jamie Wyeth More Quotes by Jamie Wyeth More Quotes From Jamie Wyeth Painting to me is constant searching. I can see what I want, but I can't get there, and yet you have to be open enough that if it goes another way, then let it go that way. Jamie Wyeth let-it-go want way Painting is as difficult as brain surgery. It's not that relaxing. But that's the discipline. Jamie Wyeth painting discipline brain Painting to me is addictive. These are moments when it is inspiring, but they are few and far between. I keep my tools sharpened for the moment when things do start clicking, but that doesn't happen a lot. I really have to push myself sometimes. Painting is a profession in which it is very easy to be lazy, particularly if you have any degree of success. Jamie Wyeth lazy degrees tools The danger, I find, is that you can become too formulaic, like some commissioned portrait painters who develop a methodology. Jamie Wyeth portraits methodology danger When painting portraits a lot of people say, 'Why not get a photograph of the person?' Photography is wonderful and it is an art form in itself, but... my portrait is a culmination of elements... a truer image of a person than just the 'click' of a snapshot. Jamie Wyeth photography people art My interest in painting is recording things. I think of myself as almost a documentary filmmaker... I've gotten into some curious situations. Jamie Wyeth documentaries painting thinking When I paint a portrait I want to know more than just the looks of the person. I want to know how they live and what their feelings are... It then becomes more than just physiognomy, but the feel of the person. Jamie Wyeth portraits feelings looks Interesting is when one can produce a picture that is pretty, but with undercurrents. The metaphor that comes to mind is in the poems of Robert Frost. Jamie Wyeth frost mind interesting Everything I paint is a portrait, whatever the subject. Jamie Wyeth portraiture portraits paint Painting is a field that attracts a lot of lazy people. You can just sort of sit and wait for things to come to you. I know a lot of painters who'll sit and chat it up all night. But God, I just can't do that. Jamie Wyeth you god night people There's a quality of life in Maine which is this singular and unique. I think. It's absolutely a world onto itself. Jamie Wyeth quality unique life world Art was a way of life in my family. My grandfather, N.C. Wyeth, who died a year before I was born, had been a prominent painter. So was my father, Andrew. My two aunts and two of my uncles also earned a living as painters. Jamie Wyeth family life father art I began drawing when I was nearly 3, and after finishing the sixth grade, I left school to paint and was tutored at home. My father didn't think a formal education was necessary for a painter. Jamie Wyeth education home father school Growing up in Chadds Ford, Pa., I shuttled between studio space in my parents' house and my grandfather's studio just up the hill. It was a solitary childhood, but I loved it. Jamie Wyeth parents hill childhood space My father was a great inspiration, and there was a bit of competition between us. He'd work in his studio, and I'd work in my space, but the door was always half open. Jamie Wyeth great competition work father The real kiss of death - particularly with my father - is the extraordinary popularity of his work. Jamie Wyeth kiss work father death I had been elected to the National Academy of Design in New York, and one of the requirements was that you give a portrait, a self-portrait of yourself. Jamie Wyeth yourself new you design The great thing about a painter is that he or she lives on - I mean, Andrew Wyeth is more in his paintings than he was walking around. Jamie Wyeth she more great walking I have continued to paint; my father - who was savaged by the critics - continued to paint until practically the last week of his life. Jamie Wyeth week paint life father I learned from a longtime farmer that pigs enjoy soothing music. Jamie Wyeth farmer enjoy music pigs
