William Scott Quotes

Trying to force creativity is never good.

Artists today think of everything they do as a work of art. It is important to forget about what you are doing - then a work of art may happen.

The act of writing a song involves a degree of letting go of yourself, and that's very much being a child.

I don't fight creativity. I don't fight against not being creative. If I'm not being creative, I'm not forcing it.

Anxiety is part of creativity, the need to get something out, the need to be rid of something or to get in touch with something within.

You cannot just be working in a vast, air-conditioned loft space and think you are going to make a decent painting. Francis Bacon had a special studio built, and he felt completely emasculated in there. I have to be somewhere comfortable.

I think it's bad to talk about one's present work, for it spoils something at the root of the creative act. It discharges the tension.

I don't even think about maintaining a relevance. I just think about what do I want to paint, what am I gonna do now, what am I gonna do later.

There's this existential argument that comes in, at some point, when you're over-thinking the songwriting process. There's no guarantee that the more time you spend or the more you concentrate on certain aspects that that's going to produce a better result, especially in the arts.

When we are writing, or painting, or composing, we are, during the time of creativity, freed from normal restrictions, and are opened to a wider world, where colors are brighter, sounds clearer, and people more wondrously complex than we normally realize.

Like anything else that happens on its own, the act of writing is beyond currency. Money is great stuff to have, but when it comes to the act of creation, the best thing is not to think of money too much. It constipates the whole process.

I'm very interested to see how this new painting will go - I know I want it big and stark, and as I said, I follow the muse, and that's when it always works perfectly for me.

To make independent films, you can't think about them too much, ponder on them too much, get overwhelmed by the enormity of it.

The only thing in life that really gives me any peace is just being lost in the process of creating something, whether it's the film or painting and drawing, which has been a big part of my life, for a long time.

Artwork is not like a commercial business; there is no such thing as a schedule for art. You can't hurry art.

Usually, I create tunes that are fragmented. I think the biggest obstacle for people with their creativity is that they feel they have to sit down and create this finished, polished product.

I really don't think of my work in terms of a genre. I think of it in terms of what I want to say, what I think is cool, and what I'm good at.

Making art has never been a mystery to me. It's never been something that's very difficult.

It's hard to regulate the speed at which you can achieve something creative and emotional.

I think the idea of art kills creativity.

When I start writing songs and it turns into an overly belabored intellectual process, I just throw it out.

The artist discards all theories, both his own and those of others. He forgets everything when he is in front of his canvas.

It's actually very freeing to be given permission as an artist to let that ride and to really let it ride, to actually experience it and bring it out of you. It's been uncomfortable and it's freeing at the same time.

Rule of art: Cant kills creativity!

The creative process is a process of surrender, not control.