3 Accessible Painting Ideas for Beginners: Simple and Fun Ways to Get Started

Accessible Painting Ideas for Beginners: 3 Simple and Fun Ways to Get Started


Painting should never be intimidating. These Accessible Painting Ideas for Beginners make it easy and fun. Anyone can join in! Using my Pattern Play Collaborative Art approach, each project follows three simple stages. The first stage is Messy Playing to build up layers. Then, there is Exploring with patterns and shapes. Finally, Bling is used for final embellishments. Young carers paint together for Girl Power. Parent carers layer colours during My Time. Exhibition visitors spontaneously add their mark. These projects show how creativity can be inclusive, social, and accessible to all.

Accessible Painting Ideas for Beginners: Girl Power!

3 Accessible Painting Ideas for Beginners: Simple and Fun Ways to Get Started showing a work in progress of cool colours in blues, greens and purples with aqua.
Accessible Painting Ideas for Beginners

The Girl Power project is a collaborative artwork in progress, created by a group of young carers. It offers them a chance to take a break from their carer roles. They spend time together to chat, play, snack, and visit each other’s homes. Meanwhile, we mums enjoy a relaxed afternoon tea and a good natter! The girls use cool and calming colours in their paintings, blending blues, greens, purples, aqua, and white. My Pattern Play resources are scattered nearby for inspiration. They add layers of patterns to the artworks creatively. They also respond intuitively to what’s already on the canvas. This simple and flexible painting approach is perfect for beginners of any age. The girls in this project range from about 10 to 18 years old, and their artwork continues to evolve. When we decide it’s finished, I plan to show their work to celebrate their creativity!

Accessible Painting Ideas for Beginners: We Talk Together

3 Accessible Painting Ideas for Beginners: Simple and Fun Ways to Get Started showing a multi coloured warm and cool swirls and circles layered.
Accessible Painting Ideas for Beginners

The second Accessible Painting Ideas for Beginners project is another work in progress. It is created collaboratively by a group of parent carers. They contribute as part of their My Time peer support program. This group brings together parents of children with disabilities or chronic conditions. They meet six times each school term to chat and share stories. They exchange information. They tap into what we call our ‘brains trust.’ Parents are at all stages of the journey. There’s always someone with the right advice. They have ideas to point you in a helpful direction. This large artwork evolves with each session, as we add either a warm or cool layer of colours. In our next session, we’ll be working with three cool colours. There will be one extra with a touch of white. These are perfectly portioned into the four cups of the trays. I always use them to keep the paints neatly under control, with one brush in each pot.

Accessible Painting Ideas for Beginners: Myriad in Harmony

3 Accessible Painting Ideas for Beginners: Simple and Fun Ways to Get Started showing 'Myriad in Harmony' with warm peach, red and yellowy oranges on a bright blue background.
Accessible Painting Ideas for Beginners

The third Accessible Painting Idea for Beginners is the ultimate in accessibility. It was created by 80 painters. They spontaneously joined in during the annual “Myriad” Art Exhibition at the State Library of South Australia. Visitors were invited to contribute to a 1m x 1m canvas, using my Pattern Play cards as inspiration. The painting began with a bright blue underpainting. Over three sessions, we layered four variations of three warm colours. The warm colours were red, yellow, and orange, mixed in different ways to add in lovely peaches and corals.. This collaborative approach made painting truly accessible to everyone, regardless of experience! People of all ages, abilities and backgrounds created seamlessly together to create this beautiful artwork!

Accessible Painting Ideas for Beginners: In Conclusion

These Accessible Painting Ideas for Beginners show how anyone can enjoy painting, no matter their experience. Young carers create calming artworks in the Girl Power project. Parent carers layer colours in their My Time sessions. Spontaneous visitors contribute to a collaborative piece at the State Library. Each project proves that painting can be simple, inclusive, and fun. With a few colours, some inspiration, and an open approach, beginners of all ages can explore creativity with confidence!


Discover simple tips about how you can use these accessible painting ideas for beginners in your projects. Join my Inner Circle email group. I’ll give you “Starting Your First Social Art Project at Home”, my free 7-page guide. It makes it effortless for you to paint a unique artwork using this fun style of collaborative art.

Happy Painting! Charndra, Your Inclusive Social Art Guide.


Let’s Chat:

Are you keen to try this form of collaborative social art? It’s called ‘Pattern Play Collaborative Art’ because we layer approachable and accessible patterns from my ‘Pattern Play’ visual resources. These resources are tools. They help you create unique and beautiful collaborative art projects. You can paint with groups of people in your life too. Let my tools help you!

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