Painting is fun but if we want to be good at it we need to know how it works. If we want to develop our art to a reasonable level, so we can do our own thing, then we need a basic understanding of aesthetics, rules and techniques.
My aim is to make the process, rules and theory of art easier to understand by going over some of my paintings and explaining how they were created and the thinking behind them. I will start by remodeling some of my art session notes and introduce more background material.
Let’s start by doing a simple painting. Choosing the subject, preparing our substrate, a little composition and a couple of simple techniques.
Choosing a Subject
We all have difficulties finding what to paint next. All art forms have the same problem. Movie makers & Poets have to do the same planning as we do. They need to grab & hold our attention, develop a story and control our emotions. They follow a variation of the same themes that apply to everyone about life, nature, basic human concerns. ‘Inspiration’ does not come from a list but from within, from a personal experience, somewhere or someone that can inspire you.
The term ‘subject’ in art, refers to the ‘main idea’ that is represented in a painting. Inspiration for a painting often pops into our minds as a result of an emotional experience, surprise, awe, excitement. Or what you want your painting to deliver. Entertainment, thrill, frighten, excite, mood share, explain, love, positive or deceive.
Painting for Yourself
It can be personal, emotive, makes you cry or can be as uplifting as a song. These are ‘your’ experiences, memories and loves. You may decide to share or keep them private and hold on to them. Your love of the subject will reflect in your work and you will leave behind something of how the world looked to you.
Flowers can lift your spirit, express feelings of love and care. 
Friend and constant companion.
Painting to Sell
So which paintings sell best? Traditional landscapes, local views, modern or semi-abstract landscapes, abstracts, figure studies, seascapes, harbours and beach scenes, wildlife, impressionistic landscapes do.
Give new stories or ideas a little time & thought before deciding to make them the subject of your work of art. Make sure your painting offers scope for investigation, discovery and thought for the viewer. Adults get just as much fun from fairy stories, broken dreams, precarious survival, the spectacular, grand and the beautiful. Children love to be frightened. Did you know that? It is also a format for expressing social inequality, compassion and love.
These are a couple of scenes that remind us of our holiday stay. 
Or place we always wanted to visit.
People are looking for something different. A breath of fresh air.
Visitors like to take something away to remind them of their travels & experiences and the locals need paintings to remind them they live in paradise.
You can paint the same scene repeatedly by coming back seasonally, or at different times of the day to capture the transformation of light and atmosphere, see the world in an entirely new way and bring a new look to the same subject or you may specialize in just one subject and paint millions of them.
We walk past, stand on and ignore so much subject material right on our doorstep, there is a whole world below our knees, a microcosm of the universe itself, with natural abstract forms offering up ideas and inspiration.
Make time to sit and observe.
Too often we ignore the beauty that is the sky. Look up. There is not a moment in our lives when nature is not producing scene after scene up there, eternal masterpieces. Become a master of skies and paint various add ons for interest.
If it's for you, go within for ideas, if you are painting to sell go, to a list.