50 Inspirational Quotes for Artists (#24 is My Favorite)

Looking for inspirational quotes that’ll inspire and encourage you?

You’ve come to the right place.

To help you stay motivated and inspired throughout your journey, we've compiled a list of 50 inspiring quotes that speak to the heart of what it means to be an artist.

I love a good quote 🙂

Let’s jump right in.

1. "Art is not what you see, but what you make others see." - Edgar Degas

2. "The purpose of art is to make the invisible visible." - Paul Klee

3. "Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time." - Thomas Merton

4. "Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth." - Pablo Picasso

5. "The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web." - Pablo Picasso

6. "Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable." - Cesar Cruz

7. "Every artist was first an amateur." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

8. "To be an artist is to believe in life." - Henry Moore

9. "Art is the highest form of hope." - Gerhard Richter

10. "The painter has the universe in his mind and hands." - Leonardo da Vinci

11. "Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." - Pablo Picasso

12. "Art is the language of the soul." - Claudia Moscovici

13. "I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart." - Vincent van Gogh

14. "Great art is the outward expression of an inner life in the artist." - Edward Hopper

15. "Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable." - George Bernard Shaw

16. "Art is never finished, only abandoned." - Leonardo da Vinci

17. "An artist cannot fail; it is a success to be one." - Charles Horton Cooley

18. "Art is the only way to run away without leaving home." - Twyla Tharp

19. "The artist sees what others only catch a glimpse of." - Leonardo da Vinci

20. "One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself." - Leonardo da Vinci

21. "Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced." - Leo Tolstoy

22. "Creativity takes courage." - Henri Matisse

23. "Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do." - Edgar Degas

24. "The world always seems brighter when you've just made something that wasn't there before." - Neil Gaiman

25. "Art is the journey of a free soul." - Alev Oguz

26. "Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time." - Thomas Merton

27. "Art is not a thing; it is a way." - Elbert Hubbard

28. "The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery." - Francis Bacon

29. "Art should be something that liberates your soul, provokes the imagination and encourages people to go further." - Keith Haring

30. "The artist's job is to be a light in the darkness and a voice in the silence." - Oscar Wilde

31. "Everything you can imagine is real." - Pablo Picasso

32. "Art is the signature of civilizations." - Beverly Sills

33. "To create one's own world in any of the arts takes courage." - Georgia O'Keeffe

34. "Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen." - Leonardo da Vinci

35. "I dream of painting and then I paint my dream." - Vincent van Gogh

36. "The painter who draws merely by practice and by eye, without any reason, is like a mirror which copies everything placed in front of it without being conscious of their existence." - Leonardo da Vinci

37. "The purpose of art is to make the invisible visible." - Paul Klee

38. "All art is but imitation of nature." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca

39. "Art is the way to the absolute and to the essence of human life." - Karl Lagerfeld

40. "Art is a lie that makes us realize truth." - Pablo Picasso

41. "To create something exceptional, your mindset must be relentlessly focused on the smallest detail." - Giorgio Armani

42. "Art is a line around your thoughts." - Gustav Klimt

43. "Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known." - Oscar Wilde

44. "The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection." - Michelangelo

45. "Art is a way of recognizing oneself." - Louise Bourgeois

46. "Art is something that makes you breathe with a different kind of happiness." - Anni Albers

47. "Art is a way of understanding and interpreting the world." - Kiki Smith

48. "Art is an adventure into an unknown world, which can be explored only by those willing to take the risk." - Mark Rothko

49. "Art is a conversation with the world." - Mariell Amélie

50. "Art is the longing of the soul for something better than itself." - Friedrich Nietzsche

51. "Every artist was first an amateur." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Art is a beautiful and powerful tool to express individual ideas and to connect with the world around us.

Though every artist’s journey is different, there is something for everyone within inspirational quotes for visual artists.

Quotes contain words that can inspire us to push our boundaries, take risks, and see ourselves and our artwork in a whole new light. Taking the time to reflect on these quotes can help guide you on your creative journey. Inspiration breeds creativity and the beauty of this self-expression will never be forgotten.

Though life may offer hurdles that seem too insurmountable at times, these quotes may remind you that artistic success is possible if you believe in it deeply enough.

And finally, which quote is your favourite?

Let me know in the comments below!