How to Overcome the Fear of Painting: 3 Playful Techniques to Get Started
Why painting like a child is the key to unlocking adult creativity?
At some point, many of us stopped drawing or painting. Maybe someone told us we weren’t good at it. Maybe we told ourselves that. Our portraits weren’t realistic enough. I still can see the brushstrokes. A hand doesn’t look like that. The clouds must be white … And slowly, the joy of painting turned into fear and frustration: I’m not good enough. The blank page or the brush became intimidating, filled with huge expectations, self-judgment, and the myth of “natural talent.”
“I can’t do that,” some say. But here’s the point: my English wasn’t a talent either. I learned it, I practiced it, I played with it, I allowed myself to make mistakes, and I will continue practising, listening, reading, writing… I do have an accent, a mix of spanish, british, american … and everyone has an accent too, right? So this won’t stop me. Drawing skills are no different. Practice, play. The mindset matters.
This is why in one of my classes at the Creative Painting Workshop, I invite participants to start painting like a 4-year-old. It’s not easy, actually it’s really hard. To grab the brush with the confidence of a child, or to not use it the “way it should”, or even to paint with the fingers without fear of getting messy. To ignore the lines, to forget the rules, to let go and play again.
And ironically, drawing like a child might be one of the hardest things for adults to do. Picasso said it himself: “It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.” Why? Because that kind of freedom doesn’t come from ignorance, but from courage. From unlearning the idea that “good” means “realistic.” From seeing that play can be a powerful method of creation. We have seen how influential was cubism in art history.
So, what does it really mean to paint like a child?
It means loosening control. Playing with colors and shapes without worrying about what they “should” be. It means creating space for accidents, joy, weird proportions, and beautiful textures you won’t discover unless you allow yourself to experiment, like in a lab.
It’s not about being naïve: it’s about being free. Actually, the clouds are not only white, they can be orange, grey, blue, purple too, think of the breathtaking sunsets you’ve witnessed. In my workshops, we’re not aiming for masterpieces. We already live in a culture obsessed with performance and perfection. At the painting classes we’re allowing ourselves to explore with curiosity, to practice without pressure, aiming for connection with the materials, with the process, learning by doing. I can teach you techniques, even help you pursue photorealism if that’s your goal, but always through play and exploration.
Try these techniques to overcome the fear of starting to paint:
- Warm up with a scribble ritual
Just like we warm up our joints and muscles before exercising, we can warm up our “creative muscles” too. Before you start painting on a canvas, take a few minutes to fill a sheet of paper with dots, circles, lines, and shapes, without any goal aside from trying different shapes and ways to do it. This simple ritual helps shift your mindset into a more playful and relaxed state, making it easier to overcome the fear of making a mistake.
- Use your non-dominant hand
Children often switch between hands when drawing or painting, before being trained to use just one. Drawing with your non-dominant hand isn’t impossible, it’s just unfamiliar. And that’s exactly the point. When you draw this way, your brain engages differently. The technique might be gone, but expression takes over.
Tip: Try drawing the outline of a mountain with your non-dominant hand. You might find it looks more natural and organic than if you’d done it quickly with your dominant hand. Magic? Maybe.
- Don’t take it too seriously
If the materials you’re using feel too precious, it becomes harder to take risks. So instead of starting with a blank new canvas, try using scrap paper or old packaging lying around the house. Follow your intuition, dip your fingers or thumb in paint and drag it across the page. Make a line. A shape. Don’t correct it. Don’t judge it. Just let it exist. Then, grab a marker and add eyes to your smudges. Turn them into cute creatures: cats, snakes, imaginary beings… let your mind wander and give life to the shapes you see. This simple act can shift your focus from doing it right to having fun.
So next time you pick up a brush, ask yourself:
“What would my confident 4-year-old self start painting on this page?”
