"When we look at one of his untitled figure paintings, we can feel the exactness of the model’s weight distribution and her turn in space, but the details of the environment and the identity of the individual model eludes us. Instead, we must contemplate the pure painting—the handling of the paint itself, the stuff that moves over the surface changing speed, direction, tone, color, thickness, etc. We feel the eye, mind, and hand of a master artist discovering and weighing one touch of paint against another."

—Ron Haynie, speaking at a memorial for Robert D’Arista in 1988.