Thanks to Marcus and the folks at Paint a Moment for gifting me a custom paint by number kit. All opinions expressed in this post are 100% truthful and are completely my own.
I have a completed a few paint by number kits in recent years. I’ve found they are a great way to create custom artwork for my home, such as the portrait of my cute Shih Tzu, Mochi, that I finished only a few months ago. And now, I have completed another paint by number kit , this time from Paint a Moment. The painting is of my home in autumn with my property’s trees framing it in gorgeous fall colors! It is an ideal piece of art to display in my home this season!
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I’ve always wanted a painting of my home and am happy with how it turned out!
Custom Paint By Number Kit
I enjoy displaying art in my home, but I don’t have a big budget to spend on custom professional artwork. That’s one reason why I enjoy working on paint by number kits. With just a small investment and some effort, I can create a one-of-a-kind piece that’s fun to make and display.
My Experience with Paint a Moment
Marcus of Paint a Moment helped me turn my own photo into a custom paint by number kit. As part of our collaboration, he explained how the photo would be converted into a canvas that was practical to paint. Some details of the original image would be simplified to create larger, easier-to-paint sections, rather than simply pixelating the image and leaving me with a canvas covered in tiny dots and difficult-to-fill spaces.
As it turns out, Paint a Moment grew out of an Etsy shop that Marcus created and ran with his wife, Meg, and the current Paint a Moment shop is a family-run business where every paint by number kit gets personalized attention.
With Paint a Moment, you can create a custom paint by number kit from a photo you submit, like I did, or choose from a selection of ready-made designs, including seascapes, landscapes, florals, and animals. You can also choose a canvas based on your skill level, from beginner to advanced. Paint a Moment also offers gift cards, which I think would make a wonderful gift since the recipient can choose something uniquely appealing to them.
I chose a custom pre-framed canvas, which means the canvas was already mounted on a wooden frame, making it easier to display. My kit included a miniature photo of what the completed painting would look like, three paintbrushes in different sizes, and 24 pots of acrylic paint in the colors needed for the design. I also received a large paper version, or map of sorts, of the paint-by-number canvas. The printout came in handy, especially when I accidentally painted over the numbers in adjoining sections at least a few times. Oops!
Painting the canvas was enjoyable, the paints worked well, and the brushes were of good quality.
Paint by Number Insights
I ran into a few hurdles while painting, but they were similar to ones I’ve faced with other paint-by-number canvases, including a field of daisies paint by number painting that now hangs in my living room. But these issues are because of my own shortcomings—the kit Paint a Moment created for me is a great one! I especially liked how the sections on the canvas were color coded (as well as marked with a number) to indicate what color they should be painted.
Namely, the troubles I ran into are:
1 – Low artistic ability. I’m not very artistic! I can’t freehand draw or paint much at all!
2 – Limited patience. It’s a wonder I complete any projects because I tend to be short on persistence and often want to complete most tasks quickly. Ha!
3- Poor vision. Now that I am in my 50s, I need glasses for both reading and distance and have trouble seeing small print clearly. At times I used a lighted magnifying glass for this project—it really helped!
I first worked on the house, since it’s the focal point and had several large areas of color that were easy to fill in. From there, I moved on to other larger areas, including the sky, driveway, and pavement in front of the house.
I left the trees for last, as I knew from experience that painting many tiny leaves in various colors had the potential to be difficult. I then decided to speed up the process—my eyes were getting tired!
[Paint by number tip: If you’re a beginner like me, choosing a painting with a simple background and just a few colors may make the project easier.]
So, I went a little rogue, putting my own stamp on some of the details. There are quite a few small leaf sections in the painting, and I found some of the numbers difficult to see clearly. Rather than spend time trying to decipher every numbered area, I started free-handing some of the leaves. I also replaced some of the tree branches with sky. Painting in more sky helped to brighten up the painting, too.
I made some other changes based on personal preference, too, such as using a brighter hue for my home’s front door—its actual color is a vivid red. I also made some of the leaf colors more vibrant, and added a crisper white to the home’s exterior. Luckily, I already had an inexpensive acrylic paint and paintbrush set that I had purchased for a previous paint by number project. It was also helpful to have extra brushes on hand so I could switch colors without needing to clean my brush every time.
The result, as one friend put it, is a painting with a “looser feel.” I guess it has a more impressionistic look. If I had followed the numbered sections more closely, the finished painting may have looked more realistic and precise. Still, I’m quite happy with it and have received plenty of compliments!
What do you think of my completed painting? What would you choose to paint if you were to order a custom Paint a Moment kit? Please share in the comments!
