The Secret of the Subject: How Artists Choose What to Paint

Let me tell you a little story. When I was younger—before I could fully appreciate how many paths an artist's journey could take—I found myself wandering through art gallerys in Philadelphia PA. and later New York NY. It was a time in my life I won't forget; it was a time when I was figuring out what kind of artist I was trying to become. I didn't know this at the time but realized this later in life. I was studying what median I wanted to focus on learning and what stile and how to paint the way I wanted my paintings to look, you know my style.

And there, among the soft splashes and blended pigments, I found myself wondering: How do artists decide on their subject matter? What makes someone wake up, look at a quiet cluster of flowers by the curbside, and think, This will be today’s masterpiece? It's the kind of question that stays with you, tugging at your curiosity until you start finding answers.

So, let me share, from my many conversations with fellow artists and the stories of renowned creators, just how an artist finds their muse.

The Artist’s Personality: A Lens on the World

You can learn a lot about an artist by looking at their work. Imagine you're looking at one of Winslow Homer’s famous maritime watercolors. Those turbulent waves and fishermen tethered to their boats tell you as much about Homer himself as they do about the scene. He was rugged, solitary, and deeply enamored with the raw power of nature.

An artist’s personality is inseparable from their subject matter. The dreamers among us might choose ethereal landscapes, blurring reality into surreal, otherworldly visions. The analytical types? They might find fascination in lines, geometry, and how light plays over everyday forms like architecture or machinery.

Then there are those artists with big, boundless imaginations who bring strange, whimsical creations to life, like Salvador Dalí—though perhaps his medium of choice wasn’t watercolor, his surreal personality echoes the point: who an artist is shapes what they choose to depict.

The Medium Shapes the Message

There’s something a little bit magical about watercolor painting. Its nature is fluid and unpredictable. Once you’ve brushed water and pigment onto the paper, you’re not entirely in control. It’s a collaboration between you, the paint, and the surface.

This unique characteristic draws certain artists to watercolors, particularly those with a touch of spontaneity or a love of happy accidents. Artists like J.M.W. Turner found a perfect partner in watercolors for capturing dramatic light, storms, and atmosphere. Turner’s subjects often mirrored the softness and subtlety of the medium itself—landscapes kissed by mist, rolling waves melting into the horizon.

Compare this to oil painting, which is thicker, slower-drying, and easier to layer strategically. It's a vastly different relationship—oils give you control in a way watercolors resist. Watercolor artists, much like their medium, often embrace the ephemeral, the fleeting moment. I have found a way to control the paint for the most part. It's is this control that shows my style. I gravitated to Edward Hopper who was a 20th century American painter and printmaker who is considered a leading figure in American realism. His oil paintings are best known for their portrayal of modern American life and landscapes, often conveying a sense of isolation or melancholy. I still wanted to use watercolors as my medium, but I saw in Edward Hoppers paintings how he painted threw his brush strokes and adapted a way of controlling the watercolors I use and the American realism I saw in his paintings.

The Role of Training and Environment

Here’s an interesting thought: some artists become who they are not by what they love, but by where they are. A Nova Scotian watercolorist might wake up to the endless blues of the sea, rocky coves, and coastal sunsets—and suddenly they’ve found their calling as a maritime artist.

The same goes for Joaquin Sorolla, a Spanish painter renowned for his luminous seascapes and sunlit beaches. While Sorolla experimented with oils, I think he’d have appreciated the watercolors’ ability to reflect the play of light on water. You work with water to paint water—how poetic is that?

An artist’s formal training also plays a role. Some learn traditional techniques and classical compositions, while others—rebelling against formal structures—seek out subjects that challenge convention. If you’ve ever looked at a contemporary watercolorist on Instagram depicting bold, abstract splashes of color, you’ll see what I mean.

Inspiration Hiding All Around Us

I once spoke with a watercolor artist who told me she starts each day with a walk, her sketchbook in hand. She doesn’t overthink it—the parking lot puddle shimmering with morning light, the lone crow perched on a lamppost—these tiny, everyday glimpses could become her next subject.

Other artists, like Georgia O’Keeffe, train their attention inward. O’Keeffe spent hours with a single flower, not just painting its shape but its essence, magnifying its curves and lines into abstractions of life itself.

Artists are observers—of life, of light, of emotion—and subject matter often reflects what holds their attention in the moment. It might be something beautiful, something broken, or something entirely banal. The trick is how we transform it into something meaningful and, ultimately, unforgettable.

Famous Watercolorists and Their Subjects

Let’s not forget those who have mastered the medium so well they feel like old friends. John Singer Sargent, for example, is best remembered for his portraits, but his watercolors showed off a different side of his talent. He painted vibrant scenes from his travels, finding motifs in Mediterranean white villas, Venetian canals, and sun-drenched countryside landscapes.

Or consider Paul Cézanne, who used watercolor in remarkable, unfinished ways. The white of the paper peeked through his transparent pigments, adding a luminous vitality to his simple yet profound still life's of fruit and bowls. Cézanne’s fascination with form, geometry, and color shaped what he chose to paint—but always through the lens of watercolor’s delicate, translucent beauty.

The Artist as a Mirror

Ultimately, an artist’s subject is always something of a mirror—reflecting their personality, environment, emotions, training, and even the constraints of their medium. Whether it’s a fisherman battling the surf, a fractured abstract of bold geometric shapes, or sunlight diffused through peach-colored florals, we, the viewers, are left with a little more insight into the artist’s world.

So, next time you pick up a paintbrush—or pass by a watercolor painting—you might find yourself wondering, What does this say about its creator? You might even ask yourself: What story would I choose to tell?