Finding a Subject

Some painters see subject matter everywhere. John Sargent is supposed to have commented that wherever he turned there was a painting to be made. Many artists paint happily every day in a seemingly endless stream of subjects. Others, while motivated to draw or paint something--anything--find themselves stymied. What to draw? Finding one's subject, even for the day, isn't always simple or easy.

Hoff, "Roman Umbrella Pine," watercolor, 4x6

In my own painting practice there have been pauses, cessations and complete halts over the years. The gaps were mostly the result of outside events beyond the scope of discussion. Beginning to paint again has usually been simple enough. The impetus when re-starting has most often been the emotional necessity to paint a particular subject--the need arises without thought. Sometimes the adoption of a new medium has been the way to begin working again. For example, years ago, after a long hiatus from oil painting I started working again by making watercolors instead. The experience of learning and using simpler (but less forgiving) water-based paint was stimulating, invigorating even. The new medium provided opportunities to explore and grow that had gone stale when I was using oils. Watercolor painting has the virtues of simple and portable equipment and ease of cleanup which gave me opportunities to work on site or outdoors. Furthermore, traveling with watercolor was simple so sketching opportunities were more available.

Hoff, "Banana," oil on panel, 6x8

But what about escaping from other fallow times? For me, a day inevitably comes when large works are finished or so preliminary there's little else to do on the large project. Then what? One way I use to keep working is doing small dailies. For a few years I did an oil sketch in my studio every day, usually 6x8 or so, mostly still life. The subject was often one or two objects placed near the studio window. Those "windowsill works" kept me looking, thinking, mixing and applying paint even if any larger works were temporarily stalled. Applying a time limit of less than an hour to finish one forced me to work to place strokes of paint deliberately and not waste time overworking.

Dailies provided me opportunities to study different aspects of painting technique or brush handling. In nearly every case, the subject was chosen at random.

Hoff, "Creamer," oil on panel, 5x7

Reasons for sketching a particular thing could have been interest in the object itself (like a banana with its peculiar yellows), or in how the subject looked in strong light (like a shiny coffee creamer), or in how to render water in a glass. So in my case there were several motives for each work. Some call the randomness of this approach "just paint something," which is a perfect description. The immediacy of choosing a subject and painting it in a short time frame provides a challenge and an opportunity for significant observation and concentration. Those short, timed yet spontaneous oil sketches provided wide learning opportunities and made the work a daily habit. I still do morning oil sketches occasionally, but these days I mostly warm up for the day with a digital drawing or two every morning.

Hoff, "1958 VW Bug," digital drawing

As to finding one's overarching subject, it seems to me that the best thing an artist can do is to recognize that true art is deeply personal. For the artist now, subject matter begins in the experiences, ideas, loves, hates, and more that populate an individual personality. It's probably not a conscious process for many, but nonetheless many artists' work clearly shows what passion(s) drove their work. As an example, consider Claude Monet--his passion was light and seeing the world, which for him meant gardens and countryside; he didn't paint cities much, nor figures. On the other hand, Lucian Freud was interested in the landscape of the human form and regardless of medium (he also etched), that was his subject for much of his career.

For me, cities and their people are endlessly fascinating--shapes, colors, shadows and lights, overlapping and intermingling--buildings, hurrying figures, signs, and vehicles too. The play of light over the city is always interesting and challenging. An abstractionist might say something similar about only the shapes, or maybe only light and color. For me, the subject is cities.

Choosing a subject means considerably more than looking for something to draw and paint.