Art & Creativity Quote by John Dyer

Self-critique is the closest thing the early-modern art world has to a progress report, and John Dyer’s is tellingly practical. He’s not announcing a new philosophy of beauty or a grand rupture with tradition; he’s staking a claim to competence, momentum, and professional ascent. “Improved the way in which I paint” reads like an artist watching his own hand with the cool attention of a craftsperson. That matters in an era when painting is still tethered to patronage, reputation, and the slow churn of academies and exhibitions: advancement isn’t just aesthetic, it’s economic.

The specifics do the real work. “Colours are cleaner” signals more than brighter pigment. It implies discipline: better mixing, fewer muddy midtones, tighter control over oil and varnish, an eye trained to keep hues distinct rather than letting them collapse into brownish haze. “Cleaner” is a moral word as much as a technical one, the language of refinement and taste that 18th-century Britain increasingly prized.

Then he pivots to motion. “More energy in the brush work” is a bid for vitality - a refusal to be merely correct. Energy suggests speed, confidence, and a surface that shows its making. It hints at a culture beginning to value not only the finished illusion but the visible trace of the artist’s mind and body at work. Dyer’s subtext is ambition: he’s aligning himself with a livelier, more modern sensibility while assuring viewers (and patrons) that the liveliness is earned, not sloppy.