"It is all very well to copy
what one sees, but it is far
better to draw what one now
only sees in one's memory.
That is a transformation in
which imagination collaborates
with memory."
Edgar Degas
A painting is above all a
product of the artist's
imagination, it must
never be a copy. If, at a
later stage, he wants to
add two or three touches
from nature, of course it
doesn't spoil anything.