How do you decide what to paint? Do you know what your painting is going to look like before you embark on it?

I think this is the hardest thing about painting, for me anyway, finding things to paint.


I never know what it is going to turn out like but i`m only learning, i just started 18 months ago.How do you decide what to paint? Do you know what your painting is going to look like before you embark on it?
if you have nothing worth painting don't. the world doesn't need another painting of a vase.How do you decide what to paint? Do you know what your painting is going to look like before you embark on it?
';Guerro'; is right. You have to have a ';map'; if you are going to go where you want to. It can just be a thumb nail sketch - or a bunch of thumb nail sketches,but just like in ANY of life's journeys, YA GOTTA HAVE A PLAN!!!! Throwing paint on canvas may have worked for Jackson Pollack, but it's been DONE for gosh sake... now get a plan, make a sketch and follow through.
My eyes are always looking for something which grabs my attention. I try to keep a camera with me (sketching not always possible and chilly in winter.) So I have a collection of pictures I can use. I plan the composition out at first but once I start painting, the painting takes over.
alot of the time you try to achieve a painting and you can overpaint on it. knowing when its finished is when your concience tells you that it is. im never short of things to paint ...i just use whatever surroundings im in. buses trees houses, citys, etc crowds, still life list is endless. try it all do what your worst at
Paint anything that you would think has any asthetic meaning like a drop of water or like your yard something that has something asthetically pleasing.
I'm a self taught artist and when i decided to learn to paint i used to have a problem with that. I don't have that problem any more because there are two things that took care of themselves during my learning process. I settled (through trial and error) on a pallette of colors that i felt i could apply to what ever i decided to paint, and second i came across a book on how to plan a painting. With the color and planning issues settled, i have a fairly good idea what my painting will look like before i even start.
Its very easy, if my front door looks a bit shabby I paint it, likewise with the window frames etc
My artist husband scribbles a plan of his paintings. He says it means nothing to anyone else but he knows exactly what is going where. It helps with composition I think just as an essy plan is used in English


Once his inspiration for a fantasy picture (our daughter was tiny at the time) of fairies and elves was a pinky brown coloured pencil left lying on the table!