Making a Painting -What to Paint?

Since I have recently started "teaching" how to paint I am asking myself "Well, how do I make a painting? How do I decide what to paint? How do I proceed, where to start?" I have been painting for so long that I just go for it and feel my way through, but now I need to break it down in order to convey the "How" to others. So that is what this is about, my thoughts on how to make a painting.
The first thing I need to determine is what to paint. That seems obvious yet it's not. I have spent 50 years creating various forms of art, illustrations, murals, paintings, greeting cards, menus etc. for clients, not for me. The goal was to complete the assignment, satisfy the boss, produce the painting the client wanted. Of course I had to also please myself with the outcome, but it was more of a "team" effort. The client had a vision that I was to fulfill. And that is not necessarily an easy task. But at least there was not the question of what to paint.
I am fortunate that I have been able to be paid for doing something I enjoy doing. But after being at a job site, standing on ladders and scaffolding, hauling materials in and out, painting on a time schedule, painting was work, not pleasure after all.  So I never just painted for myself in my free time. Now I am starting a relatively new phase of my painting life, painting for myself. I ask myself OK, so what do you want to paint? Why do you want to paint, I mean, what's the point? Why paint? Always before the motivation was to earn a living.  
After awhile I realize that painting is truly something that I not only want to do but it is actually a need. I'm not sure what the need is. They say a true artist expresses their feelings through their art. I don't know if I do that or not, but I have been told that so much that I question if I am a true artist. Am I legitimate? Can I call myself "An Artist"? Should I say I'm "A Painter" instead? I know I am a painter, but does that make me an Artist? Maybe I'm still "only" an illustrator. I looked up the definition of an artist and there are so many different descriptions and not a definitive answer. So I have determined that it doesn't matter what I call myself, I just know that painting is what I do. Looking back I can see that it has been a lifelong pursuit and a personal goal. At this stage in life if I can produce a painting that I like that is all that matters. I am past the stage of pleasing others, I am trying to please me. Maybe after 50 years of painting for a living I can finally call myself an Artist. 
So back to the question what to paint? How do I decide? There are so many possibilities that it can be overwhelming. I have started narrowing it down to "Beautiful Scenes". OK and yes Beauty, like Art is in the eyes of the beholder. So my "Art" is my personal way of attempting to capture with paint a moment of what I think is Beauty. 
I have been on the lookout for images of beauty that get my attention. I take pictures of everything that I think might be a possible painting. I make a mental note whenever I see something that entices me. That is how I start a painting. It's a newfound freedom with an infinity of possibilities that I am gradually narrowing down. I am making a collection of ideas, it's called possible paintings. Back before computers I used to go the the library and check out a "Morgue File" of clippings of images. They were arranged by category and used for reference. Now I have my own file for that purpose. 
​So though it may seem obvious, getting the idea of what to paint is really the first step to making a painting.  Choosing the subject matter of a painting is all up to me. I am my client and I get to please me!



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