Glenn Ligon Quotes

I have my own studio. I'm in it all the time.

I try to stay focused on my creativity.

If you really want to write, then shut yourself in a room, close the door, and WRITE. If you don't want to write, do something else. It's as simple as that.

I get pretty focused when I start working on something. And I drink a lot of water, way more than most people.

The most difficult thing about painting is the self-discipline. When I finish a job, I give myself a few days, but then I have to discipline myself quite fiercely if I want to do some painting that's worthwhile. Otherwise, you're just doodling. It's much easier when you're just told what you have to do.

I used to write when I was in the mood or felt inspired. Anymore, I write whether I feel inspired or not. It's a discipline. So that's definitely different. It's part of maturing as a person and as a professional.

I have no writing habit. I work when I feel like it, and I work when I have to - mostly the latter.

There's nothing romantic about my work... I don't believe in inspiration. I believe that you get to your desk, you stay there, you work, you think of nothing else. You write and you write, and in the end, you write something good.

I write fifteen hours a day, stopping at Oprah-o'clock.

I want to concentrate on work and won't do anything to divert my concentration.

In terms of, like, getting into a mindset, I use music all the time when I'm working.

I don't want to get lost in everything. I just want to keep the same work ethic.

This is my job. I just wake up, and I train.

My work keeps me focused.

Throughout all of life's little interruptions and distractions, I prided myself on keeping my work focused and relatively unscathed.

Don't wait for inspiration. It comes while one is working.

Write even when the world is chaotic. You don’t need a cigarette, silence, music, a comfortable chair, or inner peace to write. You just need ten minutes and a writing implement.

I would never finish a painting if I didn't have a deadline.

I'm in lockdown mode as far as what I want to accomplish. I don't let anything else get in my way.

The best restriction I learned was getting into the habit of doing something, even if I didn't feel like it, instead of running away from it. Sometimes good work needs to be earned, and when you can overcome yourself, the muse notices and celebrates.

When you're writing fiction or poetry... it really comes down to this: indifference to everything except what you're doing... A young writer could do worse than follow the advice given in those lines.

The thing to remember is that the work comes first, and not to get distracted by anything else. If you keep focused on the work, everything else will fall into place. That's my mantra now.

Concentration is my motto - first honesty, then industry, then concentration.

I have a very strict regimen of showing up at my desk at a certain hour with my cup of green tea. It is very quiet. I don't like having a lot of atmosphere around.

Because I'm so busy and because I think of myself as a painter, I desperately guard the time that I have to paint. And sometimes I'm irresponsible to my career in order to paint. Because painting is obsessive. I forget to eat. I forget to sleep.