Tips for Beginner Painters

If you’ve never picked up a paintbrush in your life but would want to try now, it’s never too late! Whether you’re a pure beginner or have basic painting skills, we’ve compiled a list of tips, tricks, and hacks for you to try. 

 

Begin With Acrylic Paints

If you want to test your painting skills first, begin with acrylic paints. There is no specific rule as to what medium to start with, but acrylic paints are the friendliest to use for beginners. They’re also easy to clean up compared with other mediums like oil paints and watercolours. 

Once you learn the craft and become more experienced in painting, you can continue with other mediums like oils and watercolours. Art snobs may like to sneer at acrylic paint because it dries so much faster than others, but as a beginner, that should be helpful to you.

 

Use Student-Grade Paints

Choose student-grade paint to get started. If you want to be serious about painting, craft paint may not be the best option because it does not offer enough pigment. 

On the other hand, professional-grade paint is the best because it’s easier to blend and offers better coverage. Still, student-grade paints, which offer the same quality as professional-grade paints, are your best choice since they’re cheaper. 

 

Don’t Use Cheap and Low-Quality Paint To Avoid Frustration

Low-quality materials are frustrating to work with. Cheap paint contains little to no pigment and more filter ingredients. That means you may have picked out a good shade of red to paint a strawberry, only to realise it’s an ugly shade of burnt orange. So if you can, invest in good-quality painting materials. 

 

Don’t Mix More Than Three Colours To Prevent Muddy Hues

It’s fun to mix different colours to create new ones, but avoid making the rookie painter mistake of mixing too many colours and creating mud. 

Prevent muddy hues by not mixing more than three colours together. Also, avoid overmixing your pigments and just stop mixing when you have already created a colour you like. If you want to achieve beautiful colours or striking ones, do not overmix because that may just lead to muddiness. 

 

Don’t Use Too Much Water

If you’re using acrylic paint, do not mix it with too much water as this can impact how your painting dries. Acrylic paint has binders, which means that adding too much water affects its drying process. That is an issue particular to cheap acrylics.

As a beginner painter, control the amount of water you want to use. You may need the experience to make the call on how much is enough, but you can begin with smaller drops for now.

Use these tips to reignite your passion for painting or to start it. You don’t need to be trained at an art school or have great painting skills to try this art form. You just need to be willing to do it.

 

Join a Paint and Sip Class

One of the best ways to dip your toe into the painting world is to come along to a paint and sip class with us at Paint Juicy! A cheeky glass of your fave will help alleviate any concerns so you can express your artist-side freely.