Why Paint?

When Matisse was asked in a 1942 radio interview why he painted, he said:

"Why, to translate my emotions, my feelings, and the reactions of my sensibility into color and design, which neither the most perfect camera, even in color, nor the cinema can do. ...

[Artists are] useful because they can augment color and design through the richness of their imagination intensified by their emotion and their reflection on the beauties of nature, just as poets or musicians do."

^{Quote source: Matisse on Art, edited by Jack Flam, page 92.}

See Also:
• What is Art and the Purpose of Making Art?
• What Makes a Painting Good or Bad?
• 5 Ways to Grow as an Artist