Painting can feel intimidating when you’re a beginner. You see the finished projects online. You see someone confidently adding highlights, lettering, or little details. What you don’t see is everything that happened before that finished piece.

The awkward first brushstroke. The color that didn’t look quite right. The moment when the whole project looked like a hot mess. And especially the little voice saying, “Maybe I’m just not good at this.”

Over the years, I’ve taught so many women how to paint door hangers and other DIY projects, and I’ve learned that most beginners aren’t struggling because they can’t paint. They’re struggling because they don’t know what to expect while they’re learning to paint.

So I asked women in our community what they wish someone had told them before they started. Here are the 5 tips these beginners wish they would have known first. 

#1: It Might Look Bad Before it Looks Good

Let’s start with something I wish every beginner painter knew: The messy middle is REAL.

There is usually a point somewhere around 40 to 60% through a project when you look at it and think, “Oh no. What have I done?”

Please don’t throw it away.

I’ve painted more projects than I could possibly count, and mine still go through an ugly stage. 

When you’re learning how to paint a door hanger, you’re working in layers. Base coats, shading, details, lettering, highlights, outlines, and finishing touches all build on each other. Judging your project before those layers come together is a little like judging a cake before it comes out of the oven.

It’s not finished yet. This is where I want you to trust the process. Keep painting!

#2: You Don’t Need All the “Right” Painting Supplies

There’s another little trap beginner painters fall into, and I call it supply paralysis. You convince yourself you’ll start after you get better brushes. Then you need more paint colors. Then maybe you need a special painting table.

Oh, and surely the people making those beautiful projects are using some kind of fancy paint you don’t have. Meanwhile, you still haven’t painted anything.

You do not need expensive painting supplies to start painting.

I use inexpensive craft paint in plenty of my projects and tutorials. Basic acrylic craft paint, a few brushes, a surface to paint, and a cup of water can take you a long way.

As you paint more, you’ll figure out what supplies you actually enjoy using. 

You can add to your collection little by little instead of buying everything before you’ve even started.

A Simple Beginner Painting Supply Kit

If you’re wondering what you really need, keep it simple:

• Acrylic craft paint in a few basic colors
• A couple of flat and round paintbrushes
• A water cup
• Paper towels
• A palette or paper plate for your paint
• A wooden blank or other beginner-friendly surface
• A pencil and eraser for transferring simple designs

You can always add more later. Your creativity does not depend on how full your craft room is.

See more beginner painting supplies here – these are my tried-and-true favorites!

#3: You Can Improve at Painting Faster Than You Think

One woman in our community told me she thought she would need to take painting classes for years before she made something she was proud of. By her third project, she had something hanging on her wall. Her THIRD!

I love that because it shows how unrealistic our expectations can be when we’re learning something new. You don’t have to become a professional artist before you’re allowed to be proud of what you made.

With beginner-friendly painting techniques and a little guidance, you can learn things like brush control, blending, shading, highlighting, and lettering much faster than you might expect.

Your first project teaches you something. Your second teaches you something else. Then suddenly you’re doing something on your third or fourth project that you were convinced you’d never be able to do.

That confidence doesn’t usually show up before you start. It grows because you started.

 #4: Painting Can Be About More Than Making Something Pretty

A lot of women come to Southern Adoornments because they want to learn how to paint door hangers. Then they find their people. 

Painting can absolutely be a quiet hobby you enjoy at home. There’s something therapeutic about sitting down with a paintbrush and letting the rest of the world be quiet for a little while.

But creativity can also create connections. Some of my closest friendships have grown around a craft table.

When women paint together, we talk. We laugh. We help each other fix mistakes. We celebrate when somebody finally gets that brushstroke she’s been practicing.

That sense of community is a huge part of why I created the Painter’s Clubhouse.

It’s not about everyone creating identical projects or trying to become professional artists. It’s about having a creative home where you can learn, ask questions, share what you’ve made, and be encouraged by women who understand exactly what it feels like to start from scratch.

Read more about why a creative community is so important for painters like you here!

#5: It’s Never Too Late to Start

This one gets me. Again and again, I hear women say, “I wish I had started sooner.”

They waited because they thought they were too old, or too busy, or because they had never been the “creative one” in their family. Maybe somebody told them years ago that they weren’t artistic, and they carried that label around far longer than they realized.

Painting doesn’t have an age requirement. You also don’t need hours and hours of free time. Creativity can happen in small pockets. You can paint for 20 minutes, put your supplies away, and come back tomorrow.

And being artistic? That isn’t some special gift handed out to a lucky few. Painting is a skill you can learn!

What I Wish I Had Known About Painting

If I could go back and tell myself one thing before I started painting, it wouldn’t actually be about brushes, paint, or technique. I would tell myself that the painting is only the beginning.

Creating changed the way I saw myself. I became someone who makes things. Someone who keeps going when something looks messy. Someone who finishes what she starts.

Someone who can look at something hanging on a door or wall and say, “I made that.” And eventually, I became someone who could help another woman believe she could do it too. That part means more to me than I ever could have imagined when I picked up a paintbrush.

Your First Painting Doesn’t Need to Be Perfect

If you’re interested in beginner painting or learning how to paint door hangers, please don’t make perfection your goal. Make starting your goal, and give yourself permission to make mistakes.

And when you reach that messy middle and start wondering what in the world you’ve gotten yourself into, remember that every painter has been there.

Keep going.

Because you might be only a few brushstrokes away from realizing, “Wait a minute… I CAN do this!” 

Need Some More Encouragement?

Read more about how painting and her Painter’s Clubhouse community changed Deana’s life. She was just like you, a bit uncertain if she could really be artistic, but after painting Lola the Highland Cow, everything changed. 

Watch it here!