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As artists, we are always looking for the next great painting idea. Never fear – there are a ton of places to find an image to paint. I share eight image sources for artists so you’re never short of inspiration.
Take your own photos
Your own images are the best source for images to paint. Since you took the photo, you own the copyright. You don’t need to worry about crediting anyone and the entire process, from choosing the scene, to framing, to painting, is your own. You can also take multiple photos from different angles, which means you have additional options to choose from to paint.

The challenge with taking your own image is that you may not have access to places or things that you would like to paint. If you love painting mountains but don’t live anywhere near them, you’ll find it challenging to have enough photo subjects to paint. Fortunately, there are many options available nowadays for royalty-free images.
Flickr – Creative Commons
Flickr is a site where people can upload their images, and some people choose to allow others to use their photos under a Creative Commons licence. If you use an image from Flickr, be sure to read and honour the type of licence they choose – it varies from allowing others to use the image however they’d like to having certain limitations.
Visit Flickr – Creative Commons
Pixabay
Pixabay has millions of images, including photos, illustrations, and more. I just searched “snail,” and more than 5000 images are on the site. Pixabay allows you to search by image type, size, colour and orientation as well. They don’t require any attribution, but be aware that since the site is very popular, you might recognize the image being used elsewhere.
Visit Pixabay
Unsplash
Unsplash includes more than 3 million images, which are all free to use. The search only brings up photos, which is handy if you aren’t interested in seeing illustrations. As a painter searching for images, I am only looking for photos so while only about 1000 images come up when I search “snail,” there are many, many options for me to choose from.
Visit Unsplash

Photo by Sean Oulashin on Unsplash, painting by me from my sketchbook
Pexels
Pexels is another free stock photo site that allows you to download and use images as you’d like, including for painting. Attribution is not mandatory but is appreciated. Search your topic and find a ton of high quality photographs available to be used as source material for paintings.
Visit Pexels
PicJumbo
PicJumbo allows you to download free stock photos, backgrounds and free high-resolution images for personal and commercial use. They have a smaller photo library, but still have a large number of high quality photos. They also provide categories of photos, so you can browse through some popular options.
Watch out for their photos available only through their paid premium membership, which are interspersed among their free photos.
Visit PicJumbo
Facebook photo sharing groups
Plenty of people love taking photos where they live and share them with others. Search Facebook for artist reference photo groups and you’ll find several options. The groups rely on group members uploading their own photos, so feel free to add yours so that other artists can use them.
Your family and friends
Did you see a great photo a friend or family member took recently? You can always ask them if you can paint it. This is a great way to expand your options. There is a caveat: be cautious if they are a professional photographer or painter themselves. They may be planning on selling or painting the image themselves.