I love how Godward was such a master of painting all sorts of textures, like transparent cloth, fur, marble, etc. I love the sophisticated, poetic, and brilliant way that Bouguereau painted people. I love how Gérôme and Alma-Tadema had such a mastery of perspective drawing. I love how Gérôme made such convincing and sophisticated paintings of ancient Roman arenas. I love the deep shadows and luminous passages that the old masters achieved with glazing. I love the extremely accurate brush control that the great painters had. I love the poetic, timeless beauty expressed in some of the great classic artworks. I love paintings that are very three-dimensional, giving you the feeling of looking at something real that you could reach out and touch. I love the appreciation of beauty in the old paintings. I love John Singer Sargent's painting of his teacher, because it has the most realistic skin tone I've ever seen in a painting.
I will never give all that up just to make some splotchy, near-sighted, blurred, streaky, slap-dash paintings.
