Embrace Familiarity with your References
You find the perfect spot.
The light is just right. You take a beautiful photo… or better yet, set up your easel right there and paint it.
And when you finish, you think, “Well, that’s done. On to the next.”
But does painting a subject once mean it’s done forever?
Artist Carolyn Lord (Ep. 21) would say absolutely not. And for good reasons.
In fact, Lord loves revisiting the same subjects again and again. It’s what she calls her motifs.
Maybe it’s a particular cliff in Mendocino. Maybe it’s her own garden when the sunflowers bloom. But each time she returns, she finds something new: a different light, a new angle, a subtle change in shape or shadow.
That familiarity, she says, opens up entirely new ways of seeing and thinking.
The more she paints a motif, the more she notices details she missed before… and the more freedom she feels to experiment.
Why Repetition Fuels Growth
When we think of artists, we often imagine them as connoisseurs of the new: new paints, new subjects, new ideas. But when everything is new all the time, it’s harder to play, explore, or deepen your understanding.
Returning to a reference gives you a different kind of creative momentum, one built on comfort and curiosity rather than novelty.
That’s when the magic starts to happen.
You begin to:
See new design possibilities within familiar shapes.
Paint more loosely because you’re no longer trying to “figure it out.”
Experiment with confidence, since you already know what works (and what doesn’t).
Enjoy the process more, because familiarity replaces the pressure to “get it right.”
Many artists, Lord included, find that their best paintings often come from their second, third, or twentieth attempt at a beloved subject.
Repetition Doesn’t Mean… Repetitive
Now, using a reference more than once doesn’t mean painting the same picture twice. It’s a chance to play:
Crop in on one small area.
Flip the image.
Change the color scheme or mood.
Shift the value key to explore light or shadow.
Try a different medium or approach entirely.
Each variation teaches you something new about composition, color, and your own artistic preferences.
Put It to Practice
At home, first give yourself permission to paint something more than once. Notice how the inner critic might be telling you otherwise.
If you find something you love or sparks curiosity, revisit it.
When you revisit it, you can try it exactly as you did the first time or try to set a new goal. Simplify shapes. Change the palette. Focus on the atmosphere.
You don’t have to be precious… after all, you know you can paint it again and again. Don’t be afraid to try something that scares you.
Now that you’ve painted it again, let yourself notice what feels easier this time. What stands out that you didn’t see before?
You might even want to start a motif folder in your studio or on your computer. These are references that you know you might want to revisit again some day.
Think of every painting as a reference audition. If something about it excites you, keep it close.
Because you might just find that it’s the second or third painting, not the first, where you start to have the most fun.