I know I have written about picking your subject matter before but this time I really want to emphasize the importance of knowing and loving the subject matter you pick to paint.

When you are a student in a class you should paint whatever the assignment is that a teacher gives you. When you have come to a point where you are working in your studio and you have a good grasp of handling the medium of watercolor that would be the time to start working from your own photos and ideas. This is also the time you should be thinking about what it is that you love to paint. I have had students tell me they don't know what they love to paint and to that I say, start searching for your favorite subject matter.

Searching and finding what you love to paint is very important and with the internet to help it has become a lot easier to find out what you love. I usually tell the students to first look up an artist whose work they love and then ask yourself is it the style of the painting or is it the subject matter or both that you love? If you love the subject matter that the artist's paints then you already know what subject matter you like. If it's the style you love then you will still need to keep looking out for the subject matter you love. 

A good hint to finding a subject matter that you will love is to first ask yourself what is it in your life that you truly love and also know a lot about or want to know a lot about, those 2 things usually go hand-in-hand. A good example of this is if you love gardening and flowers and are good at growing things then you should paint your garden, flowers or anything that falls into that category, you will be surprised how good you will feel painting that subject matter that you are so immersed in.

I had always loved painting the street scenes of Chicago and it was because I spent most of my life walking to the train for my commute in the city of Chicago and I have always loved painting those images. I have recently started a series of Armed Forces images and I didn't know a lot about the Armed Forces until I started researching and asking people for images surrounding the Armed Forces. I have been doing a lot of studying and I love painting these images.

Painting what you love doesn't mean that you should stop painting other things, as an artist you will always be growing to new levels and switching subject matters and trying new techniques and materials which are all part of growing as an artist. Loving what you paint keeps you inspired and makes the process of painting so enjoyable.

While in class learn and paint everything but once you have the fundamentals of watercolor under your belt and you are painting in your studio, start painting things you love. It helps you and gets you motivated to paint series of subject matter, in turn giving you wonderful exhibitions to show off.