Paintings by numbers: coloring tips, methods and tips
“Anyone can become an artist!” – today this motto is more relevant than ever. Yes, no wonder, nowadays anyone can feel like an inventive Leonardo da Vinci or an expressive Van Gogh. After all, in order to paint your own painting, you had to study for years at an art school, or at least take expensive painting classes.
And everyone who wants to, regardless of gender and age, can create their own static painting, portrait or landscape in just 3-5 days – just like a true master of famous gallery exhibitions. What is the cause of this phenomenon? Numbered paintings, which are gaining more and more popularity in the 21st century. After all, they allow everyone who wants to develop their creative potential, even if they do not have enough experience or free time. We rely on the “all inclusive” principle.
What’s nice is that any set for number painting already includes everything you need: numbered paint boxes, one or more brushes, instructions, a checklist for checking shades, divided into sectors and marked with numbers on a canvas with a stretcher and wall hooks for the finished painting. You can start creating right away! But first, you should choose the desired base for painting and get acquainted with the tricks of painting.
According to the rules or not?
Of course, contemporary art has long had no clear instructions on why it is “permitted” and what is “inadmissible,” and the rules of modern art exist only to be broken. But for these you need to know a little bit, so before you start unpacking the much-desired box with numbers and paints, it’s worth studying encyclopedias on the Internet to learn or refresh your memory of the concepts of light and shadow. line and shading, perspective and plane, face and background, color separation and contrast…
And if you are a beginner and do not have experience in creating paintings on numbers, then it is better to follow the exact instructions of each set. And when you assimilate the basic techniques of this type of painting, you will already be able to develop your baggage of personal painting techniques and tricks. Moreover, there are not so many basic techniques that significantly facilitate painting.
4 magnificent methods to paint paintings on numbers
There are 4 principles of painting. You will memorize them without difficulty, because they are logical and functional, and common sense and convenience determine them anyway.
From light to dark
By painting over white, yellow, blue or pink areas at first, you will avoid accidental stains. After all, it’s much easier to erase or overlay a pastel hue with a different color than a vibrant or dark one.
From highest to lowest
If you paint all the big details of the image at the beginning, then not only will you avoid the mistakes and stains mentioned above, but you can place the shades correctly and paint the smallest details, you can put the color smear and you will be able to highlight correctly. So it will be easier to compare the “little things” with the main semantic spots of the image: you have to admit, after you have painted the vase and the three big buds in it, it will be easier for you to place the small flowers and leaves of the bouquet nearby.
From the center to the edges
By painting in this direction, you will certainly not stain the pattern already drawn on the edge with the sleeve of the shirt or elbow. Usually, in the center of the image, classical artists place the main image, whether it is a hut in a pastoral landscape or a bowl of fruit in an appetizing static nature.
From up to down
This way of painting along the canvas will also allow you not to wipe the paint already applied with your elbows, they will dry out during the application process, and when you reach the bottom edge, the top of the paint will be almost dry.
How to hold the brush when painting?
The easiest and most comfortable way to hold the brush is the same as holding a pen. At the same time, your hand should be supported by something. This is enough to keep you from getting tired and the painting to be neat. For a start, you should master the usual smears: just try to paint each numbered fragment as evenly as possible, making smooth movements with the brush from left to right (if you are right-handed), putting the paint in a layer of the same thickness, without going over the contour. Once you have mastered this, you can experiment with layer thickness, hatching and even punctuation, if your artistic intent requires it. For example, if you have to paint a rain cloud abundantly saturated with water. Its lower part is unchiseled and dark, which is well transmitted by the small dot waves, and the raindrops are the easiest to imitate with short oblique hatches.
How to mix colors correctly?
Usually, the paints are already mixed in the set, which is why there are so many numbers in it, because each of them determines a certain shade, which sometimes differs only by a fraction of a tone from the previous one. If in the painting process you run out of the desired color, it is very possible to mix it independently from the already existing paints. Light tones usually end sooner, as there are usually more light spots in an image than dark ones, so just lightly dilute the closest tone to the tone you need. It is best to do this on a palette or a sheet of cardboard and not directly in the paint bottle, so as not to accidentally damage the entire mass of paint.
Efficient and effective: blur the edges
It’s amazing, but with just two methods – creating clear or unclear boundaries – you can give the image depth, expressiveness and a professional look. To understand where it is worth making the clearest outline and where to slightly blur the edges, it is enough to carefully consider these places when reproducing the specimen.
For sparkle: 3 unique varnishes
When the painting is ready, you will probably give it a shine and protect it from dust, cracks and discoloration by covering it with a transparent base of protection. Matt acrylic varnish is good because it dries unusually quickly and also gives the paint extra light. Literally, within 6-8 hours of covering the image, you can proudly hang it on the wall and invite your family and friends to your own exhibition.
The luster, as the name suggests, gives the image a special shine and smoothness. This is a plus if you want to smooth out any roughness, but a minus if you want to accentuate the volume. To provide the texture, the matte shade mentioned is better.
The crackle effect is truly magical: It allows you to noblely age a completely new image at certain moments, covering the surface with a network of bizarre spider-web cracks, transforming a newly created portrait or landscape into elegant antiques.
Support materials
Before you start working, you should cover the table with some newspaper or papers, install a bright but not blinding light, and stock up on toothpicks and cotton swabs. The first helps you draw even the thinnest lines, and the second will be useful to remove excess paint over time or to correct a failed hit. You may also need a set of brushes of the highest quality and different diameters, a palette and even an easel, if you are going to paint outdoors or at the villa. But do not rush to open all the paint cans immediately: the acrylic thickens quickly, so open them in stages, number by number.
