Learn about my experience with paint by numbers for adults, including some tips and things to look out for before you try them.
Every year, I go away with my girlfriends for the weekend, and often we try to make something new. This year, we tried Paint by Numbers. It was a lot of fun, but there were some issues. So I thought I'd share our experience with you in case you are interested in trying it by yourself or with friends and/or family.
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More Fun Painting Ideas: Painting On Glass.....Pineapple Welcome Sign.....Hello Spring Wood Sign.....Painting Wooden Candlesticks
My sister did this with her book club. She gave me a few warnings. The place they bought their paint by numbers took a few weeks to receive through the mail. Also, they were not kits with easels, so you needed to buy them separately. She also said to consider buying one that was already stretched on a canvas frame, as they had both.
We purchased kits from Amazon for around $12. They came quickly, as most items from Amazon do. You can see from the image above that they come with a mini easel, brushes, acrylic paints, and hardware to hang the canvas.
I purchased a beautiful painting of succulents, there were 23 to choose from in this group, including the two artwork choices my friends bought. And, Amazon has tons of other options at a similar price point. They are small, only 8x10 inches. We were hoping that a small painting would be something we could complete in an afternoon. In reality, mine took about 8 hours to complete.
Here's another place you can buy paint by number kits. They are much more expensive but are also much larger. You can choose from a flat canvas or one that is framed. You can also find similar art kits on Etsy.
Here's what mine looked like after a few hours. Many of my paints were pretty dried out. (This was something that was stated in the review section that I should have noticed.) All of the colors except one still worked with water, but they had more of a watercolor effect, so they didn't quite cover the numbers. If I wanted to go over the areas a second time, it probably would cover the numbers, but I didn't have the patience for that amount of effort.
One of my friends chose a beautiful flower meadow (above), but there were so many tiny details that it took forever to paint.
Issues and Considerations
- Don't pick images with lots of very small areas.
- Read the comments - dried-out paint was an issue for two of us.
- If you do end up with a bad paint pot, consider swapping colors if possible.
- Be prepared for it to take a long time to complete.
One of my friends had the best paint. It was nice and thick. You can see (above) how well it covers the canvas.
As I mentioned, the kit comes with hardware to hang the painting. It also has velcro pads to hang it on the wall without having to screw anything into the wall.
Here's my masterpiece (above). Though the final product was time-consuming, I do think it's a good beginner's level project that did not require any prior art experience. Overall, it was a great time. We talked and listened to music for hours while creating our beautiful artwork.
Holly White
I would just like to say that this is an activity that I do with an older lady for whom I work as a caregiver. She really enjoys “coloring,” even though her eyesight is not such that she can see the numbers. to help her with this, I trace the outline of an individual part of the picture, say, a flower petal, in the required color. Then I give her the brush and she is able to paint that space in the appropriate color. She used to do a lot of coloring with crayons or colored pencils, but this activity is easier on her arthritic hands. We have done several of these in the 10x10 size; it usually takes a full day for us to complete one each. I agree completely about the small details; it’s easy to get confused. So we try to buy kits with few details and more big spaces to paint. One thing that I’ve learned that does help is to paint the back layer first and so on. Eg., if you’re painting something fuzzy like, say, a cat on a blue background, paint the background first, then come back and layer your fur on top of the blue. Another thing I’m trying is using a watercolor effect. If I’m doing a sky with a tree in front of it, I water down the paint of the sky a bit and just paint over the place where the tree will be. This helps me to see through the sky paint to the numbers below, so I can still see where to paint the tree. We have not yet encountered the dry paint issue, so I will be on the lookout for that. Thank you for all the advice and tips.
Patti Estep
Holly, what a wonderful idea as a caregiver. Thanks for all your tips. I know they will come in handy for me and anyone reading this post.