Painting

Mix color and lay it down until a blank surface holds something true.

Painting

Mix color and lay it down until a blank surface holds something true.

Essentials~$49

DifficultyEasy

Time / session1–3 hr

WhereAt home

SpaceSmall corner

Full cost breakdown →

There's a real thrill when a passage of color suddenly reads as light or skin or sky.

Most sessions don't get there.

You'll fight muddy mixes, overwork a corner until it goes dead, and learn that knowing when to stop is harder than any brushstroke. The work that finally holds something true usually sits on top of a stack of canvases you'd rather no one saw.

Fit

Is this for you?

Honest tradeoffs before you spend money or clear space.

You'll enjoy this if

The moment a passage of color suddenly reads as light or skin thrills you.
Accept most sessions never get there and paint over the rest.

Not for you if

Muddy mixes and overworking a corner until it dies would discourage you.
Need most sessions to succeed, not a stack of canvases you would hide.
Knowing when to stop being harder than any brushstroke would frustrate you.

Tends to suitThe Artist

Gear

The full kit

The essentials run about $49 — you don't need it all to start. Each project lists only what it uses, and the first is often free. Links open Amazon (affiliate tag).

Palette and Palette Knives

MEEDEN 5Pcs Palette Knife Set: Stainless Steel Painting Knives with…

~$14Buy

Canvas

ARTEZA Stretched Canvas, 8 x 10 Inches, Pack of 12, Blank White Canvas…

Buy

Paint Brushes

Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolor Paint Set

Buy

Acrylic Paint Set

Liquitex BASICS Acrylic Set (24 tubes)

~$35Buy

Easel

Mont Marte Tilting Studio Wooden Floor Easel. Height Adjustable Extra…

Buy

Guides

Buying guide

Not sure which to get? These break down the choices, with tested picks from budget to premium.

Best Beginner Acrylic Paint Set 2026: Liquitex BASICS and Where to Start

Acrylics are the best paint to start with — fast-drying, water-cleanup, and forgiving — but the cheapest craft-store paints are so thin and chalky they'll put you off. The fix is student-grade acrylics with real pigment, which cost barely more. Here are three sets, from the beginner standard to a pro-quality upgrade.

Start here

How to start Painting

A step-by-step path from your first attempt to work you're proud of. Tick as you go, saved on this device.

Make your first marks

0 of 4 done

your next step

Get paints, a couple of brushes and a surface

A cheap acrylic set, two or three brushes and some paper or board. Enough to make real paintings without spending much.

Get a starter paint set

Getting equipped? Get a starter paint set

0 of 15 steps · saved on this device

nudge me when i'm ready

Make your first marks

Get paints, a couple of brushes and a surface — A cheap acrylic set, two or three brushes and some paper or board. Enough to make real paintings without spending much.
Paint a value study of one object in grey — Just lights and darks, no colour. Seeing value is what makes a painting read, and it's easier to learn on its own.
Mix a colour to match something in front of you — Chase an exact green or skin tone until it matches. Colour mixing is a skill you build by doing, not reading.
Paint a simple still life from life — One or two objects on a table, painted as you see them. The classic first painting for good reason.

Build real paintings

Block in the big shapes before any detail — Lay in the main masses first, details last. Starting big is what stops a painting turning fiddly and flat.
Paint a whole scene from a photo — Work from a clear reference photo, start to finish. Copying a photo well teaches you more than any tutorial.
Paint a piece with just three colours and white — A limited palette forces you to mix and keeps a painting harmonious. A favourite trick of real painters.
Finish a painting you'd actually hang — Taken all the way to done, signed, good enough for your wall. Finishing is a skill in itself.

Develop skill

Paint a landscape with real depth — Foreground, middle, distance, with colours cooling as they recede. Depth is what makes a flat surface open up.
Paint a face or figure — Proportion, planes and skin tones. Daunting, and the subject most people secretly want to be able to paint.
Control your edges, hard and soft — Crisp where you want focus, lost and soft elsewhere. Edge control is an invisible skill that quietly lifts everything.
Paint the same scene at two times of day — Same view, morning and evening light. Painting light rather than objects is a real shift in how you see.

Find your voice

Paint a series around one subject or mood — Three or four paintings that belong together. A series is where you stop copying and start saying something.
Paint outdoors from life — Set up in front of the real thing and paint fast before the light moves. Plein air will teach you more in a day than a week indoors.
Frame and show a painting — In a frame, on a wall, in front of other people. Putting work out into the world is the real finish line.

Read

Painting guides

How to Mix Colors in Painting (Color Theory for Beginners)

You do not need a huge set of paints; you need to understand how to mix the colors you want from a few. Color mixing is the skill that makes painting feel possible. Here is the beginner’s guide to it.

Gear guides