The motif - that which moves the artist- the subject matter, is basically the portrait, the still life, and the landscape and in combination.  It is the abstract qualities of these 'major' motif that gives painting life.   

     The portrait uniquely challenges the artist with the direct confrontation with the psyche of the model.  A truly profound experience.  The still life offers a more controlled expression of visual reality, offering the artist time and space to contemplate and study.  And confronting the landscape pleinair is like trying to catch the wind, with light and atmosphere changing moment to moment.  All 3 offer exhilaration in their own way, while remaining  expressions of the painting medium.  Each can be  balance of brush, color, motif and artistic personality.  When you have this harmony and balance the artist actually becomes the medium and taps into true originality.  Antonio would often say, "I transcend the subject!"