"I'm working like a madman, but I'm not making progress."

"I am having enormous difficulties, and I'm very discouraged."

"No one is an artist unless he carries his picture in his head before painting it, and is sure of his method and composition."

"The motif is insignificant for me; what I want to reproduce is what exists between the motif and me."

"I am completely absorbed in my work, and I am not thinking of anything else."