Inspiration for New Paintings

Watercolour by Lee Papworth

Welcome everyone.  If you are sitting indoors and wondering what to do - why not paint?

There are things that you can paint all around you.  All you have to do is look, better still observe.  Inspiration is everywhere! 

Original oil painting (close up of pepper) by Lee Papworth

Firstly, why not try a traditional still-life painting?  Look for interesting objects - shells, flowers and plants, fruit and vegetables, ceramics and textiles etc. Set your still-life up if you can using natural daylight or if not use a lamp to give you light on one side of the still-life thus creating shadows and light.   

If that does not inspire you then try something a little different with your still-life.  Why not cut open a piece of fruit, a vegetable or instead of looking at a flower from the outside you could observe and paint what is happening inside its petals (see example below): Try doing these on a large scale A2 or A1 there appearance will be more dramatic and stunning.

If this seems too much like hard work then why not paint a 'found' still-life i.e. crockery drying on the draining board, a pile of laundry, pile of books and a lamp (on or off).

These are a few suggestions to keep you going until next time when I shall suggest further painting inspirations.

Happy Painting, stay healthy and safe

Lee Papworth 🎨