10 Tips & Tricks to Improve Your Paint By Numbers Skills

Paint by numbers is gaining popularity among the masses due to its amazing properties. It is engaging, turns out beautiful every time and anyone can indulge in this activity, from children to adults to older people. Painting is fun, entertaining and pleasing but not everyone is fortunate enough to have an expertise in it. Often people struggle to paint their imagination, emotions and feelings on the canvas. What they bring on the canvas is a mess that they’re unappreciated and even embarrassed of. This makes them doubt their skills, leaving them disheartened enough that they never want to pick up the brush again.

Tips and Tricks

Once you have a couple of paint by numbers projects under your belt, you may want to know the tips and tricks that can further elevate your artistic abilities. Don’t worry, we have every aspect covered for you, here I’m going to reveal some great tips that will give your paint by numbers kit that dynamism and vitality makes it an exquisite work of art.

1: Get a Framed Canvas to Avoid Creases

Paint by numbers online canvases often gets creases due to the way they’re rolled up for efficient delivery. It’s a normal thing because of the material of the canvas but to work on the canvas with pesky wrinkles is not very professional. Fortunately, it was easy to get rid of them as to iron your clothes, just lay the canvas number side down and get all the wrinkles out. Another way is to order a kit that is already framed and ready to paint.

2: Apply a Coat of Gesso

A coat of gesso will make your paints appear more vibrant and vivid as it provides roughness to the canvas surface that lets paint adhere better to the canvas. A coat of clear gesso gives your paint by numbers canvas that extra proficient factor and lets you see clearly the numbers underneath.

3: Paint in a Well-Lit and Cover your Working Space

Make sure you venture into the world of paints with an area that is well-lit, ventilated and have nature in front of you to keep you inspired, motivated and stirred. Also paints can be quite messy and spills are inevitable so it's better to keep a special designated area for it that is covered in plastic or newspaper so that you can paint your heart out without a worry.

4: Start in a Downward Motion

Now let’s dive into some technical tips and tricks, to ensure a professional touch. The first one is to always start painting your paint by numbers kit in a downward or descending order. Starting from the top of the design, if you’re right-handed then commence from top-left and if you’re left-handed then top-right corner is your starting point. This trick saves you from smudging and smearing paints on the canvas. Painters often end up smudging their paints without knowing the cause; well this will help avoiding it big time.

5: Deal with the Darkest Colors First

The second one on the technical list is the tip to first get done with the darker hues in the paint pods. I mean to start from the top and deal with the darker colors first and then get on with the lighter ones. This will make you understand the color compatibility and composition. The transition of colors will be smooth in this way. The darker colors are usually the background and once you’re done with them, you’ll get a pretty good idea about where the painting is heading.

6: Make Sure you’re Using the Right Color

This might sound like an obvious point but trust me the biggest problems have occurred due to this negligence. When you have found your ease and are complacent in your work, bam! You realize that you’ve messed up the first rule of matching the numbers with the paints. Well if that happens, don’t fret, just wait for it to dry and then put on the correct color, you might have to apply some extra coats to completely get rid of the mistake. In order to completely annihilate this mistake, always paint all the areas in one go that match with that color in your hand.

7: Flow-Improver is a Must-Have

Acrylic paints tend to get thicker or drier over time, especially if the user has failed to close the lids timely. Since the acrylics are water soluble a few drops can salvage the situation but if the situation get worse and the paint is all cramped up then a few drops of paint thinner can make the paints good as new. Some painters like to have a thinner consistency of the paints, adding water is fine but it can lessen the intensity of the color, adding flow improver restores the vividness and also make the paint thinner and easier to apply and manipulate.

8: Cover the Numbers    

The darker hues and extra layers hide almost all the printed numbers on the canvas but the ghost of so numbers still peek through from lighter hues to be specific. A pro tip is to trace that number with white pen or marker, but not hard enough that it dents the canvas, just enough to get rid of the notorious numbers. When the number is visibly undermined, do the rest with a couple of coats to make it appear perfect. But make sure you give enough drying time in between coats. White paint also comes handy when you make any other mistake; just correct the faulty area with white a start anew.

9: Blend to Perfection

Paint by numbers abstract to use small blocks of paints make the image vibrant, lively and popping. This looks stunning and very beautiful but sometimes a blended and seamless painting looks more professional. For this technique, aim for two colored areas at one time, tackle them both and where the two colors meet, manipulate the brush strokes back and forth for the seamless touch. Give a shot to this technique once you are comfortable in your body of work and have gained enough command. Also be clever in implementing this method to areas where it makes most sense.

10: Keep your Brushes Clean

Maintaining the good health of brushes is the key for a good piece of art. Acrylics have a quick drying time and if you let the paint stick to the brushes for a long time they can ruin the bristles of the brush, making sure you wipe off the paint from the brush after every use. Keep a bowl of water, a cup of thinner and a towel near your work space to make sure you have clean brushes every time.