Quote: A Subject Must Pass Through The Artist's Filter Of Creative Ideas

"Before defining his own field of work, it is essential for the beginner to acquire a great a variety of knowledge as possible. The more consummate his technique, the easier it will be for him to free himself from all dependence upon a subject. What an artist fills his canvas with is not so important. What is important is how he does it. It is sad if an artist becomes a slave to the object he seeks to portray. He must be able to deal with it according to his own point of view. In other words, the portrayed object must serve as nothing more than an excuse to fill his canvas. Only then does his work acquire value for an artist, when it passes through the filter of his creative idea. Therefore, a beginner must always avoid the conventional, whether it is color, line or, above all of course, in the choice of the subject itself."

Nicholai Fechin