30 Quotes About Art To Inspire Your Next Masterpiece

Both beginners and seasoned artists alike can benefit from a bit of creative inspiration.
Take a look at our curated list of 30 quotes by iconic artists to inspire you to overcome your creative block and pick up the paintbrush, pencil, pen, pastel, or medium of choice!

“Art is a line around your thoughts” - Gustav Klimt

“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” - Aristotle 

“If people only knew how hard I work to gain my mastery. It wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all” – Michelangelo

“Art is never finished, only abandoned” - Leonardo Da Vinci

“Every Artist was first an amateur”- Ralph Waldo Emerson

“A true artist is not one who is inspired, but one who inspires others” - Salvador Dali

“It is only when we are no longer fearful that we begin to create” J.M.W Turner

“I started painting as a hobby when I was little. I didn’t know I had any talent. I believe talent is just a pursued interest. Anybody can do what I do.” – Bob Ross

“A work is finished when an artist realizes his intensions” - Rembrandt

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life” – Pablo Picasso

“Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is” – Jackson Pollock

“People fail to understand that we paint in order to experiment and to develop ourselves as we strive for greater heights”- Edvard Munch

Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art” – Andy Warhol

“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist”- Pablo Picasso

“Drawing is not what one sees, but what one can make others see” Edgar Degas

“The painter has the Universe in his mind and hands” – Leonardo da Vinci

“There are no rules. That is how art is born, how breakthroughs happen. Go against the rules or ignore the rules. That is what invention is about” – Helen Frankenthaler

“It is not enough to know your craft; you have to have feeling. Science is all very well, but for us imagination is worth far more” -Edouard Manet

“Painting is just another way of keeping a diary” – Pablo Picasso

“Drawing is like making an expressive gesture, with the advantage of permanence” – Henri Matisse

“The artist sees what others only catch a glimpse of” – Leonardo da Vinci

“Drawing is still basically the same as it has been since prehistoric times. It brings together man and the world. It lives through magic” – Keith Haring

“You don’t take a photograph, you make it” – Ansel Adams

“Creativity takes courage” – Henri Matisse

“Paintings have a life of their own that derives from the painter’s soul”- Vincent Van Gogh

“We don’t make mistake, just happy little accidents” – Bob Ross

“No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist” – Oscar Wilde

“The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to”- Frida Kahlo

“Tell your own story, and you will be interesting” – Louise Bourgeois

“I have already settled it for myself so flattery and criticism go down the same drain and I am quite free.” – Georgia O’Keeffe

What’s your favourite creativity related quote? Tell us in the comments below!

Got questions? Send us an email at customerservice@artshedonline.com.au and our friendly team of artists will do their best to assist you. 

Happy creating!