“I Don’t Know What to Paint…” (Patreon)

This is one of the most common things I hear from students:
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“I want to paint, but I don’t know what to paint.”

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And I get it. The blank canvas can be intimidating. It’s not just about choosing a subject; it’s the pressure of making something “worth painting.”

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But here’s what I’ve learned:
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If you’re struggling with what to paint, the real problem might be that you haven’t fully connected with why you’re painting.

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When your focus is on the end product, what it’s going to look like, how people will react, whether it’ll be good enough to share or sell, it’s easy to feel stuck. You start overthinking: “Is this a good subject? Will this turn out well?”

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That mindset leads to hesitation.
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It turns painting into a performance instead of a practice.

But if you shift from what to paint to why you’re painting, something changes.
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You stop thinking about the outcome, and you start thinking about the purpose. And when that happens, you’ll have the opposite problem: too many things you want to paint.

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That’s what happened to me.

90% of the paintings I do are for practice.
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They’re not meant to be framed or sold. They’re experiments. They’re chances to explore an idea, test an approach, or get better at one small aspect of painting.

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Only about 10% of my work starts with the intention of making something polished and finished. And that ratio has served me well, not just in how I’ve grown as a painter, but in how much I enjoy the process.

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And I see the same pattern in my students who improve the most.
They’re driven by the process, not the product.

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They’ll say things like:

• “I want to see how well I can organize this landscape composition.”

• “I want to practice getting the shine on this metal pot just right.”

• “I’m going to try to paint this nose as simply as possible.”

• “Can I get a likeness with fewer shapes?”

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That’s the kind of thinking that fuels growth. And ironically, it also leads to better paintings.

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So if you’re stuck, ask yourself this: Why are you painting?

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Are you chasing a finished product? Or are you showing up to learn?

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Because if you start painting to learn, to practice, to figure something out, then anything can be a good subject. A cup. A corner of a room. A random photo. You’ll find that your list of ideas will start to overflow, not run dry.

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Focus on the why, and the what will take care of itself.

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Now go get painting.

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