Join us tomorrow (January 21) at 2 pm Eastern for our monthly YouTube Live Chat. Our topic will be Knowing Your Tube Colors. In a survey i did a while back, a number of the responses were about having trouble finding a subject to paint or one that will make a good painting. Some folks were concerned about finding the right subject to make an interesting painting or one
strong enough to get viewer's attention. Even though I addressed this four years ago, I think at the beginning of a new year is ideal for repeating what I said then. Here are my suggestions: 1. PAY ATTENTION TO YOURSELF A painting will not be interesting if you are not interested in the subject. So pay attention to things you pay attention to. No subject is more interesting than another. It is the individual's attitude towards it that makes it
interesting. A painter who really enjoys studying debris in a junk yard can make a painting just as intriguing or exciting as one who enjoys looking at flowers. There is no limit to subject matter in our world. But what counts for the artist is to respond to the subject matter that one is drawn to. It really doesn't matter what it is- what matters is that it got your attention, if just for a few
moments. 2. AVOID CATEGORIZING YOURSELF One thing that often stymies artists is that they think they must belong to a category--such as a landscape or portrait painter or an impressionist or some other kind of --ist. THAT is a myth. An artist is an artist who just happens be pulled
towards certain kinds of painting or a particular medium or even specific kinds of images. Free yourself from any expectation of fitting into somebody else's preconceived slot. That, too, can go a long way towards finding subjects to paint. 3. ALLOW YOURSELF TO PLAY Who says you must do an exhibitable painting every time you put brush to canvas or paper. That, too, is a myth. Make a promise to yourself that at least 50% of what you do is purely playing with ideas, studying options or just doodling whether
in a sketchbook, on napkins, paper bags or even wet sand. That, too, will open you up to finding subjects to paint. These don't even need to be towards a painting. They just serve to keep your inner artist awake and active and THAT can will draw you to subject that you might have otherwise
ignored. Yielding to the expectations of other people can stifle you quicker than almost anything else. In the long run, nothing you do as an artist is anybody's business but yours. Whenever you yield to expectations of other people, you are
denying yourself the freedom to make you own choices, to express your own voice. Trust how YOU feel about what you do as an artist. Give these suggestions a try. The only way they can fail is if you don't try them. Having spent the past 60+ years painting and teaching painting, the one thing I have learned is that the only sure way to fail is to do
nothing. Have yourselves a weekend of seeing through your own eyes!
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Happy Painting,
Dianne
dianne@diannemize.com
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