Have you ever tried painting? Did you always want to try it, but never managed to get any painting lessons? Or you thought it might be too difficult to start on your own without a guidance?
You’ve probably never heard of Paint by numbers. This is a beginner-friendly approach to make your own painting. It literally means you get a so-called Paint by numbers kit. It contains everything you need to reach the target, i.e. your own painting. The main thing is a pre-printed linen canvas with defined areas marked by numbers. Each number represents a color that you get delivered with the kit. Colors are typically acrylic paints and your task is to match them with the numbers on the canvas. It’s that easy.
When placing your order, you need to select your desired canvas size. The smaller it is, the faster it’s finished. On the other hand, for certain images with higher resolution details it’s necessary to select canvas size of 60x75cm at least. Otherwise the details will not be visible, and the result will be a blurry painting. It belongs to an artistic expression as well, but we want to see details.
So, we have the canvas, the paint pots and the next thing we need are the brushes. Nylon brushes of different width are great to work with. There are usually three sizes in a kit. The last thing you must have is the refence image, so that you have a visual guide to reach the outcome.
You start by stretching your canvas on a flat table (or easel in case you have one). Then you must check the refence image how it looks like in general to observe the color scheme. Painting starts with the light colors first. So, you start with white, light grey, yellow, light blue etc. You finish your painting with darkest colors.
Very popular way of getting a kit is the one called Custom Paint by numbers. That means you upload your own image and get it processed into a digital form with shapes adjusted, colors reduced to e.g. 24 or 36 color tones. Thus, you work on a unique painting that’s also very close to your family or friends. It’s a very special and personal birthday or Christmas gift.
If you want to spend your lockdown time in a meaningful and mindful way, the best thing you can do is to start painting by numbers. People claim it’s a relaxing, satisfying and funny activity. Older people reap the art therapy benefits well.