Alex Katz quotes:

Paint faster than you can think.

Realist painting has to do with leaving out a lot of detail. I think my painting can be a little shocking in all that it leaves out. But what happens is that the mind fills in what's missing . . . Painting is a way of making you see what I saw.

You usually want to get something out of a painting other than the ideas that you had in your head.

I like to make an image that is so simple you can't avoid it, and so complicated you can't figure it out.

Part of what Im about is seeing how I can paint the same thing differently instead of different things the same way.

What's in front of me is what's most interesting.

If you're going to go for 'it' you have a common thing you share with other artists; that's desperation. You jump out a window style-wise. Try to put it together before you hit the ground.

Painting seems an old man's business. After a certain time you're out of it, and you just paint masterpieces.

I know people can be a little nervous about swimsuits, but have some fun with it. Believe you can hold it down. If you believe you can hold it down, you can wear it.

Most important, for openers, work six hours a day, seven days a week for six years. Then if you like it you can get serious about it.

Make a painting you can work on for a long period, and make it look like it doesn't show any effort.

I use the iPhone now for information. But with selfies, I don't know what those people are doing. It's like they believe what they see is real, even with the [filters]. And God bless them! But to me, it's not a self-portrait, it's a reality project.