I don't know what to paint!

Often all artists will say "I don't know what to paint!" It's a common problem. Funny thing is . . . there is so much to paint. Inspiration can come from anything, a tiny speck of sand to beautiful looming mountains. We fret too much over this and waste time trying to figure it out. Maybe the answer lies in how we learn to see. Not what we look at, but what we really see. There are generally three things to motivate and inspire our subject matter. Observation, things you see every day; photographs, magazines, or other visual material; and memories. 

Of course there is intuition. This is the way some seasoned artists paint. Trance-like with only an idea, they will proceed and challenge the unexpected surprises. Mostly it's the stored info one has gained over a period of time that takes over. Sometimes the most creative paintings comes from an idea that's been visualized for a while and finally has to be released. Many artists will take an idea and work a series of painting from that single idea. It can evolve into other creative ideas for paintings. Make a list of ideas you have or things you feel an emotion to. You might not ever paint these but they can lead to other ideas that might actually become a painting. 

Here's one that started from an idea and seemed to evolve on it's own. Strange how this happens at times and other times it's a struggle.


Mystic Mountain - 22x30 watercolor on Arches 140# cold press paper.