Jacob Lawrence- This Is Harlem 1943
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My belief is that it is most important for an artist to develop an approach and philosophy about life – if he has developed this philosophy, he does not put paint on canvas, he puts himself on canvas.
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Exactly right.
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I often echo the advice in these words from the great Jacob Lawrence when speaking to students. Having all the talent and skill in the world doesn’t matter if one doesn’t have a viewpoint or don’t have something to say to the world.
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Having a philosophy about life and a need to express their viewpoint guides the artist, allowing them to make the most of whatever talents and skills they do possess.
Redtree Times 
Or, to put it another way, you can’t express yourself if you don’t have a self.
Thoreau expressed it slightly differently in regard to writing, but the same conviction is there: “How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.”
I’ve always seen art and the making of same as an artist’s invitation to engage in dialog with the viewer about some intersecting area of their mutual humanity and the world in which they live. Hard to have a dialogue if one party has nothing to say. . .