A couple of weeks ago when I was up at the plein-air fest I was constantly looking for the perfect place to paint. I always wanted to find the perfect scene to paint. What I forgot to think about is that everything is paintable and you just have to make the composition and light and dark pattern work. I was reminded by the artist of the week Marc Folly that anything can be painted after looking at this artist's wonderful work. This artist Marc Folly's work is just amazing and if you look at what he paints you will be surprised that it isn't over the top scenes but many times a simple scene that I would never think of painting... but after looking at what he painted it proved to me that anything can be painted.  He makes his paintings look beautiful no matter what the subject matter is.
 

Most artists I know and that includes me, feel we have to get that perfect subject matter that everyone will love and buy. More times than not you never really know what the perfect subject matter is. When I see work that takes ordinary subjects and makes them look amazing it always makes me think why didn't I think of something that simple and many times I overlook what's right in front of me and never think about painting those simple scenes.

When you paint a simple subject matter I feel that you have to give it a great lighting situation and bring mood in the shot.  It's like when you do a landscape in overcast compared to doing one in sunlight or sunset, it always looks better with a moody lighting situation. Also, a nice simple value pattern is always a good thing to think about when designing your painting.

Once in a while, I tell my weekly students to try and find subject matter in there own home. Usually, things close to a window make for a good scene because of the lighting and subject matter.

Have fun trying to find simple subject matter and make it look good by simplifying the value pattern and make a lot of the washes large and simplified.

 

David