Making Mistakes When Learning To Paint

Why It’s Okay to Make Mistakes as a Beginner Learning to Paint

Starting your journey as a beginner painter can feel both exhilarating and daunting. You have your brushes, your colors, and a blank canvas in front of you. With all that potential in your hands, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the desire to get everything just right. But here’s the truth: making mistakes is not only okay—it’s essential to your growth as an artist.

Many aspiring artists put immense pressure on themselves to create flawless pieces from the start, which can lead to frustration, self-doubt, and even a desire to give up. But what if you shifted your mindset? What if you saw mistakes not as failures, but as valuable steps toward improvement and creative discovery?

Sitting in John Wilsons workshop this week I had the chance to observe how a true master deals with mistakes. On several occasions John would mix colour on the palette but when he placed it on the canvas he realised it was off slightly. No problems though. He simply got some paper towel and blotted it out and tried again. This was just a natural part of his painting process.

Master Artist John Wilson

Mistakes Are Part of the Learning Process

One of the most important things to understand as a beginner is that mistakes are inevitable. Think of it like learning any other skill: when you learned to ride a bike, you probably fell off a few times. The same is true with painting. Every stroke, even the ones that don’t go as planned, teaches you something valuable. Maybe you’ll learn that you’ve used too much water in your acrylics, or perhaps your colors didn’t blend the way you expected. That’s okay! It’s all part of developing your technique.

In fact, many seasoned artists will tell you that some of their most beautiful pieces came out of “happy accidents” or unintended mistakes. These are the moments when creativity takes over, and you end up discovering something entirely new—whether it’s a technique, a color combination, or an effect you never imagined.

Perfection Is Not the Goal

For many beginner painters, the idea of perfection is a roadblock. You may envision a masterpiece in your head and feel disappointed when the reality doesn’t match your expectations. But here’s the thing: no artist, no matter how experienced, ever achieves perfection. Art is subjective, and its beauty often lies in its imperfections. What matters more than the final result is the process of creating.

When you focus too much on getting everything right, you miss the joy of the process. Painting is meant to be a freeing, expressive act. By allowing yourself to make mistakes, you open up space for experimentation, playfulness, and growth. And remember, your “mistakes” are often things that only you notice. To others, they might be interesting textures or unexpected highlights that add depth and character to your work.

Mistakes Help You Develop Your Unique Style

Every artist has a unique style, but it doesn’t happen overnight. Your style develops over time as you experiment with different techniques, mediums, and subjects. Mistakes are an integral part of this process. When you make a mistake, you are presented with an opportunity to solve a problem creatively. Maybe that streak of color didn’t land where you wanted it to, but what if you leaned into it? How could you incorporate it into the painting in a new and exciting way?

These “mistakes” often become defining features of your personal style. Some artists are known for their bold brushstrokes, their use of light and shadow, or their unconventional compositions—many of which likely started as mistakes that were embraced rather than corrected.

Mistakes Build Resilience and Confidence

The more you allow yourself to make mistakes, the more resilient and confident you’ll become as an artist. Over time, you’ll learn that a misstep on the canvas isn’t the end of the world. In fact, it’s just another step in the process. As you encounter and overcome challenges in your paintings, you’ll build a stronger sense of trust in your abilities.

This resilience is what will keep you going when things don’t turn out as planned. Instead of abandoning a painting that isn’t going the way you hoped, you’ll find ways to adapt, to push through the difficult parts, and to learn from the experience. This mindset shift is crucial—not just for painting, but for any creative endeavor.

Conclusion: Embrace the Journey

As a beginner learning to paint, you are embarking on a wonderful, rewarding journey. Along the way, you will make mistakes—many of them. But rather than viewing these mistakes as setbacks, see them for what they are: opportunities to grow, to discover your unique style, and to develop your skills.

The greatest artists didn’t become great by avoiding mistakes. They became great by making them, learning from them, and continuing to push their creative boundaries. So the next time you feel frustrated by a painting that isn’t going the way you planned, remember that you are exactly where you need to be. You are learning, growing, and becoming the artist you were meant to be—one brushstroke at a time.

How to Learn and Improve from Your Mistakes

While mistakes are a crucial part of learning, knowing how to improve from them is equally important. That’s where structured guidance can make a difference. At the Learn To Paint Academy, we’ve created a step-by-step approach, the Moore Method of Painting, designed to help you learn from every painting experience. Our courses are tailored to beginner and intermediate painters, ensuring that you not only overcome mistakes but use them to fuel your creative growth.

Join us today, and let us help you turn every brushstroke into progress. Visit https://www.LearnToPaint.academy/join to start your artistic journey!