Why Does Buying Paint Feel So Overwhelming? (And What to Do About It)

Okay, so I want to talk about the art shop experience for a second because I feel like nobody talks about how genuinely overwhelming it is when you're just starting out.

You go in excited. You've decided you want to try painting, you've got the time, you're ready. And then you turn to the paint aisle and it's just… hundreds of colours, loads of brands and little labels with numbers and codes that mean nothing to you, so you just kind of stand there. Picking things up, putting them back. Wondering if you're choosing wrong. Wondering where all the beautiful colours are, and if the colours you're holding are going to go together. Wondering if everyone else in the shop somehow knows something you don't.

And then you either leave with a random handful of colours and a vague sense of panic, or you leave with nothing and tell yourself you'll do more research first. And then the research spiral begins and the painting never happens.

I've been there. So many people I know have been there. And the wild thing is that it has nothing to do with whether painting is for you or not. It's just that nobody set you up properly.

The art shop is not built for beginners. It's built for people who already know exactly which pigments they want. And if that's not you (and why would it be, you're just starting out) it's a genuinely rubbish experience.

What actually helps is just having someone take the colour overwhelm off your plate entirely. Which is the whole reason Plinky Paints exists. Every set is curated so the colours already work together and you don't have to think about any of it. You just pick the one that looks lovely, open it, and paint.

No art aisle. No dread. Just the good bit.

Find your dream palette here.