Learn How to Paint Art for Beginners

You can learn how to paint wonderful artwork - right at home.

This beginner's path and set of quick-start projects will walk you through your first paintings step by step.

On this page, you’ll find ideas of what to paint, the supplies you really need, the fundamentals of good art (values, color, composition), and beginner-friendly tutorials where you learn by doing.

Three steps to your first painting:

You can learn how to paint art with beginners tutorials and tips.

Enter the awesome world of art!

Enter the awesome world of painting art!

How to Paint Art for Beginners: A Simple Path and Quick Start Projects

If you’re brand new: skim Sections 1–2, then choose one beginner tutorial from Section 3 and paint along.

If you have some experience: feel free to jump straight to the tutorials in Section 3. Use the other sections as a reference whenever you need them.

1. Why and What We Paint

It's no secret why artists paint. We paint to share the things we see, what's important to us, express our emotions, or even document history.

Keep a watch for things to paint.

Life is full of inspiring ideas for a painting.

The wonders of nature hold endless paintings. It may be the bird perched on the backyard fence.

It could be the dog curled up in front of the fireplace, the precious face of a child or things we see on vacation.

Start a file of ideas.

Keep your eyes open for inspiration. Look at paintings in books, online or at art shows.

If you don't have time to sketch things, take some photos that will jog your memory later.

Where to get more ideas for future paintings.

2. What Painting Materials Do You Need?

Quality materials make painting enjoyable and affect the outcome of our artwork.

What are the necessary supplies you need to learn to paint? You can start with: a small set of paints, a couple of brushes, a palette, and a surface to paint on.

What Type of Paint Should We Use?

Watercolor is a popular painting medium.

Watercolor is easy to learn.

The most popular types of art paint are oil, watercolor, acrylic, and alkyd.

Watercolor is often used for delicate, intricate works. It makes wonderful paintings.

Oils dry slower, allowing the artist time to blend and rework the passages before it dries.

Acrylic paint is fast drying and relatively inexpensive.

Alkyd is the best of two worlds. It looks and handles just like oil paint, but it dries completely within 24 hours.

Visit an extensive explanation of these 4 popular paint mediums.

Choose Your Medium

Ask yourself these questions:

1) Do you want the ability to blend and fix edges for a longer time?
Yes - Lean Oil or Alkyd
No, I want fast drying - Lean Acrylic

2) Do you want minimal setup and easy cleanup with no solvents?
Yes - Lean Watercolor or Acrylic
No, I’m okay with ventilation/solvents - Lean Oil or Alkyd

3) Do you prefer transparent, luminous layers (white of paper shines through)?
Yes - Watercolor
No, I prefer opaque coverage - Acrylic, Oil or Alkyd

The Results:

If Watercolor: Start here - Watercolor beginner tutorials

If Oil, Alkyd or Acrylic: Start here - Oil beginner tutorials

Budget Supplies for Beginners

Can we learn to paint without spending a bundle? Yes!

You don’t need a huge collection of art supplies to start painting. A small, simple kit is more than enough for your first paintings, and it keeps the focus on learning instead of shopping.

All mediums should start with the 3 primary colors.

Cadmium Light Yellow
Cadmium Red
Ultramarine Blue

Watercolor:

Colors: Yellow, red and blue
Brushes: #7 OR #8 round and 1" flat, 'labeled for watercolor'
Palette: Use an old kitchen plate and wash it after use.
Surface: Paint on a tablet of 140# watercolor paper.
Clean-up: Use Paper towels and a container of water.

Oil / Alkyd:

Colors: Yellow, red, blue, white and a palette knife for mixing
Brushes: #8 and #12 flat hog hair or synthetic oil brushes
Palette: Use a Styrofoam or plastic plate and dispose of it after painting.
Surface: Paint on stretched canvas or canvas boards.
Clean-up: Use paper towels and a covered container of "Gamsol" odorless mineral spirits.

Acrylic:

Colors: Yellow, red, blue, white and a palette knife for mixing
Brushes: #6 round and 3/4" flat - Use synthetic brushes, because natural hair brushes retain water.
Palette: Use a plastic or Styrofoam plate and dispose of it after painting.
Surface: Paint on stretched canvas or canvas boards.
Clean-up: Use Paper towels and a container of water.

As you follow this beginner path and complete a few small paintings, you may discover extra colors or brushes you want to try.

It’s better to start small, paint more, and slowly add to your supplies later.

Before you buy anything else, here’s the one concern beginners have.

Do I Need to Know How to Draw Before I Start Painting

You do NOT have to be good at drawing to get into painting. Just start painting.

Painting familiarizes you with the shape and proportion of things and that improves your drawing skills over time.

The beginning tutorials provide a way to learn painting without fine drawing skills.

Do we have to know how to draw in order to start painting?

In some tutorials you can trace the outline from the finished painting like in this dog painting tutorial.

You can draw this butterfly step by step.

In others, like the butterfly tutorial, I guide you step by step through a very simple drawing.

Quick Start – Simple Drawings (5–15 minutes)

Start looking at things as simple shapes - a triangle for a Christmas tree, a square for a sandwich, or a circle for a ball.
Select 2-3 simple shapes you see. Ex. a book, flower pot, orange, etc.
Draw the outline of their outside shape (no details, just the entire shape).

When we get the shapes right, our subject automatically starts looking like what it is.

As you paint, you’ll gradually pick up more drawing skills, so don’t wait to be “good at drawing” before you start painting.

3. Learn How to Paint with the Tutorials

The best way to learn painting is by actually doing it! The tutorials are great for practice and learning how to paint at the same time.

Choose a tutorial that piques your interest and start painting. You may be drawn to the fluidity of watercolor or the rich textures of oil paint.

New artists - Choose a beginner's oil or watercolor tutorial from below.

Have some experience - Browse all my step-by-step painting tutorials.

Oil Tutorials (good for Acrylic and Alkyd)

Now try this: Choose a beginning oil tutorial from below and set a time this week to paint it.

Learn to paint oils step-by-step tutorial

Learn and paint with the oil painting rules.

Learn to begin painting oils with a step-by-step tutorial.

Begin painting oils with a colorful bird.

How to Paint Watercolor Tutorials

Start here: Pick one beginner watercolor tutorial and set a time to paint it.

Paint 3 basic watercolor techniques.

Begin painting watercolor step by step.

Want to Paint Your Own Original Idea (not a tutorial)?

Step 1: Plan a Painting (choose subject, colors, materials, with a simple drawing)
Step 2: How to Start a Painting (what to paint first + first layers)

4. Fundamentals of Painting Art

Paintings are built upon the basic fundamentals of color, composition and values.

These basics serve as the building blocks of your artistic expression. Get a good grasp of the fundamentals and you'll be well on the road to successful artwork.

Some common concerns are about composition, mixing colors, and how to avoid mistakes that can weaken a painting. Let's address these concerns.

How Can I Design Good Paintings?

Composition (how the elements are arranged) provides the framework of our artwork and creates good paintings.

The rule of thirds is how to paint an easy composition.

Composition is easy.

A well-composed painting is balanced, and each element harmonizes with the rest.

The composition draws the viewers in and guides them throughout the painting.

The rule of thirds makes composition easy for the beginner.

It ALWAYS creates a good composition, so you can concentrate fully on the process of painting.

The painting surface is divided into nine equal portions. The main subject is placed on the lines or intersections.

This automatically creates balance and interest in our artwork.

Get more information on how to use the rule of thirds for good compositions.

Composition - Thumbnail challenge: (5–15 minutes)

Take any simple subject (a mug, a plant, a window).
Draw 3 tiny rectangles (about 2 x 3 inches).
Arrange the subject differently in each rectangle (close-up, from above, left/right).

Circle the thumbnail that feels most interesting. Why does this one work better?

How Do I Mix and Use Colors?

Have you ever marveled at the vibrancy and harmony of colors in a beautiful painting? Color is a powerful tool in the hands of an artist.

Practice mix colors from the primary colors.

Color is fun!

Practice mixing more colors from the three primaries, red, yellow and blue.

Mix oil, alkyd or acrylic with a palette knife because it uses less paint.
Watercolor is mixed with a brush.
Use small dabs of paint and slowly mix bits of the darker color to the lighter color until you get the desired color.

Color can become one of your most precious tools.

Learn the ins-and-outs of how to mix colors.

Quick Start - Mix Your Own Colors (10 –15 minutes)

1. Put a small amount of each primary color (red, yellow, blue) on your palette.

2. Mix the secondary colors:

Red + yellow = orange
Yellow + blue = green
Blue + red = violet

3. Bonus: How to Mix Tertiary Colors

Yellow + orange = yellow-orange; red + orange = red-orange
Yellow + green = yellow-green; blue + green = blue-green
Blue + violet = blue-violet; red + violet = red-violet

Great job! You have mixed 6 new colors that you don't have to buy.

Common Beginner Mistake: Ignoring Values

Values - the lightness or darkness of colors are a key to painting good art.

The most common mistake of beginning artists is ignoring values.

Values make impactful artwork.

Simply ignoring values is easy to do when we are just starting out.

When all the colors in a painting are close to the same value, the picture looks flat and dull, no matter how pretty the colors are.

When you use a range of light, medium, and dark values, your paintings become more interesting and impactful.

Values are used to suggest depth and distance, make objects look three-dimensional, and place one object in front of another.

As you are learning to paint, begin training your eye to notice light and dark values, not just colors.

Quick Start - Practice Seeing Values

Select 2-3 paintings you admire, at work, online, in a book or magazines.
Snap a photo of each one with your phone and convert the photos to grayscale (black and white).
Look for the lights and darks. Where are the lightest areas? The darkest?
Now do the same with 2-3 paintings that feel “unimpressive” to you. Compare the grayscale versions. Do they have less contrast in values?

Notice how much the contrast in values affects the impact of the painting. That's why values are called the backbone of a painting.

Try This -

Before your next painting, do a tiny value study with just 3 values; light, medium, and dark. Then use that as a guide when you paint in color.

You’ll see a big difference when you use a good range of light, medium, and dark values in your work.

How Do I Choose the Right Colors for My Paintings?

Each of the painting tutorials have a list of the colors used in that painting.

How do choose the colors for a painting?

This painting used only 3 colors.

For your own paintings, lean toward a limited palette with the least number of colors possible.

A simple way to choose your colors:

Decide on the main color for your main subject.
Choose a color that's opposite the subject's color on the color wheel.
Add a third color that highlights or complements the first two colors you selected.

See the details on how I chose the colors for the turtle painting.

Quick Start – Plan a Simple Palette (5–15 minutes)

1. Pick a subject you want to paint (for example, a flower or a cup of coffee).

2. Choose one main color for your subject.

3. Choose its opposite on the color wheel for your shadows and darks.

4. Add one extra color for small accents or highlights.

Next Step: Strengthen Your Fundamentals

After you’ve completed 1–2 tutorials, visit:

Composition in Art
Values in Painting
Focal Point in Art
Color Wheel / Color Theory
How to Paint Good Art makes the fundamentals easy.

Using a tutorial?
Pick ONE concept to focus on today (values OR composition OR color), then return to your tutorial and apply it.

Starting your own painting?
Plan a Painting - How to Start a Painting (use the fundamentals as needed).

5. How to Stay Inspired

We stay inspired by painting often. Even short, regular sessions will keep you moving forward.

Join your local art association and paint with other artists.
Go to art shows, and visit art museums.
Share your paintings with friends, family, and other artists.
Try painting different subjects, using new colors, or a different medium for a while. I often switch back and forth between oils and watercolor.
Notice what you enjoy most and explore it. It may become your new style.
If you get in a slump see - How do we get over an artist's block.

Frequently Asked Questions

We’ve covered what to paint, your materials, fundamentals, and tutorials. Here are some final quick answers to common questions beginners ask:

How Do We Clean the Brushes?

Be sure and clean your brushes before the paint dries in the brush!

Clean brushes are a joy to use.

Watercolor and acrylic brushes clean-up with water.

Swish the brushes in a container of water. Acrylic may require some mild soap the get all the paint out.

Oil paint is cleaned up with odorless mineral spirits. Gamsol is recommended for studio painting.

Lay the cleaned watercolor and oil brushes flat, horizontally to dry.

Don't put them upright to dry, stuff will run down into the ferrule and eventually ruin the brushes.

Is Oil Painting Harder Than Watercolor for Beginners?

I don’t think oils are harder (I’m a bit biased, because I learned with oils!). Oils dry more slowly, which gives you extra time to blend and adjust. Watercolor is beautiful but less forgiving, because it dries faster - making adjustments harder.

You can learn to paint in any medium with a good teacher and some patience - choose the one that excites you most.

How Do I Set-up My Painting Place?

The two most important things you need in your own art space are good light and ventilation. Aside from that you'll need a place to keep your supplies.

When I started painting, I kept my supplies in a fishing tackle box. We don't have to be fancy, just convenient - so we are ready to paint at any time.

Get some easy tips on setting up your home art studio.

How Long Does It Take to Learn How to Paint?

There’s no single answer. How fast you learn depends mostly on how much and how often you paint. For example, one person might paint once a month for 6 hours, while someone else paints four times a month for 1½ hours each time.

The more frequent painter usually improves faster, because skills grow with regular practice, not just long sessions.

How Often Should I Practice Painting as a Beginner?

Daily painting puts our learning into warp drive!

Many of us can’t paint every day. But painting once a week is a fast track to steadily becoming a confident, proficient artist.

The key is to paint as often as your schedule allows, and keep coming back to it.

Is Student Paint a Better Buy?

Student paint is enticing because it costs less.

We have to use more student paint to get the same vibrant colors as artist paints. Why? Student paint contains less color pigment and more other ingredients.

If you do opt for student paints, Winsor Newton student paint has excellent colors. Their student oils are labeled "Winton", and student watercolor is "Cotman".