The 5 Most Common Painting Pitfalls (and How to Avoid Them)

Every artist runs into painting pitfalls—especially when starting out. However, some mistakes happen so often they seem almost inevitable. The good news? Once you know what to look for, they’re much easier to avoid!

From poorly defined values, to taking things too seriously, knowing what to watch for is half the battle. Here are five of the most common painting pitfalls—and how to fix them.

1. Not Focusing on Value Above Everything Else

If you ask any seasoned artist, they’ll tell you the same thing: value is everything. It’s the backbone of a strong painting. Without clear value relationships—meaning the lightness or darkness of your shapes—your painting won’t have a convincing sense of light or form.

This is one of the most frequent painting pitfalls I see amongst my students (even those more advanced). No matter how beautiful your colors or how refined your details, the painting will look flat and dull without a good value structure.

How to Fix It:

• Start every painting with a value sketch or study—use just black, white, and gray to map out light and shadow.
• Squint at your subject to simplify it into major light and dark shapes.
• Practice seeing and mixing values accurately before getting too caught up in color.

2. Getting Too Much Into Detail Too Quickly

It’s tempting to dive straight into the fun details—but doing so too early can cause big problems later. When you focus on detail before establishing the big shapes, colors, and values, your painting can quickly lose structure and coherence. Think of it like building a house without a foundation—it may look okay at first, but it won’t stand up over time.

How to Fix It:

• Begin your painting by blocking in large shapes and major color/value areas.
• Avoid small brushes in the beginning—use larger tools to help keep your focus broad.
• Only refine details once the foundation of the painting feels solid.

3. Seeing the Subject as an Object—Not as Shapes of Color and Light

One of the most powerful mindset shifts in painting is learning to see like an artist. That means letting go of labels (like “apple” or “face”) and instead seeing your subject as an arrangement of abstract shapes, color temperatures, and value shifts.

If you rely on what you think something looks like, rather than what’s actually in front of you, your painting will become generic and disconnected from reality. Painting pitfalls often are the result of artists forcing what they “want to paint” onto the canvas, vs painting what they see.

How to Fix It:

• Practice squinting or defocusing your eyes to blur the subject and see major shapes.
• Use a viewfinder or crop your reference to isolate small sections.
• Say to yourself, “I’m painting this shape of warm reddish-orange next to a cool blue shadow,” instead of “I’m painting an apple.”

4. Making Shadows Too Dark

This is a classic painting mistake—especially in high-contrast lighting situations. Beginners often over-darken shadows, turning them into what one of my instructors used to call “black holes.” It flattens the form and breaks the light logic of the painting. Even strong shadows usually contain subtle shifts in color and light—and they’re rarely as dark as you might think.

How to Fix It:

• Compare your shadows to the darkest dark in the painting—you’ll likely find they’re not as dark as you assumed.
• Mix your shadow color with a bit of local color or nearby light to soften and lift it.
• Keep the temperature relationships in mind—shadows are often cooler or warmer depending on the light source.

5. Taking a Painting Too Seriously

This might be the most important of the most common painting pitfalls. As when you take a painting too seriously—when you’re afraid to make mistakes or “mess it up”—you freeze. You stop experimenting. And that’s when growth halts. Art is a process of trial and error, and every failed attempt teaches you something valuable. The best artists are those who allow themselves to play, explore, and even fail.

How to Fix It:

• Remind yourself that no single painting has to be a masterpiece.
• Give yourself permission to experiment—and even destroy paintings in the name of learning.
• Keep a sketchbook or painting journal just for play and exploration.

Painting is a journey of discovery and painting pitfalls, like the 5 we covered in this article, are simply part of that path. By staying aware of these common pitfalls—and having a few strategies to avoid them—you’ll build confidence, develop stronger work, and keep moving forward. Embrace the process, enjoy the practice, and keep painting.

Want to dive deeper into this? Learn how to embrace your painting mistakes and gain freedom in the process of doing so!

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