dirt smeared on a cloth

Self-portrait

"I was drawing from nude models at the age of eight. I thought 'Oooo! This is a good profession.'"
- Chuck Close

bolt of lightening

Kate Moss

"Inspiration is for amateurs."
- Chuck Close

the reason he paints big canvases

Roy II, 8' x 7'
"They take longer to walk by in the gallery."
- Chuck Close

builder

"I've had a life with rocks in my shoes."
- Chuck Close, who builds rather than paints

Chuck Close on making art during a recession

An earlier reference to Chuck Close here.

gridded mosaics

Chuck Close [born 1940], in front of Self Portrait, 2004-2005

"I did some pastels and I did other pieces in which there was just basically one color per square, and then they would get bigger and I could get 2 or 3 colors into the square, and ultimately I just started making oil paintings."

"I always thought that one of the reasons why a painter likes especially to have other painters look at his or her work is the shared experience of having pushed paint around."

"I wanted to translate from one flat surface to another. In fact, my learning disabilities controlled a lot of things. I don't recognize faces, so I'm sure it's what drove me to portraits in the first place."