Sincerity, Originality

"Thinking more of sincerity than of originality, conscious that originality that is not the product of sincerity is but peculiarity, and that sincerity alone points the road to the only originality anybody is capable of." -- Harold Speed, Oil Painting Techniques and Materials

Speed's Oil Painting is a classic, written in 1924 (thanks, Barbara, for pointing me back to it). There is much wisdom in it, though his style is sometimes awkward and dated. Sincerity is an old-fashioned idea, but it informs my best work and the work of others that I most admire.