How to Get Started with Paint by Numbers from Kraftistry: No Expertise Required

You may think you need to be at least moderately skilled at painting to get started with a custom paint-by-numbers kit. Think again! Although a paint-by-numbers kit can seem intimidating, it should be approached as a fun and exciting new project to test, develop, and hone your painting skills. It’s a brilliant way to unplug from the stressors in the world, television, and doom scrolling in general. You can pop on your favourite audiobook or “pump up the jams” (i.e. put on a playlist you love) and paint away – or you can enjoy painting outside to the gentle sounds of nature, the sky’s the limit! Where and when you paint is up to you.

Here’s a quick guide on how to get started with your kit.

1. Unbox your kit

Once your kit arrives, it will come well-wrapped in packaging so you want to grab a pair of scissors and unbox your painting carefully so as not to damage the canvas or the supplies. The canvas is pre-stretched and pre-printed. Your image comes printed on the canvas with a guide colour in the background. 

Your canvas, the paints, instructions, thank you note, and paintbrushes all come in one package. Get in touch with customer service if you are missing any part of your kit (which thankfully is very rare).

Depending on the colour range of your canvas, you may receive up to fifty colours and three to five numbered paint brushes with different-sized brushes. Some brushes are designed for fine detail work and there’s a larger brush for bigger areas of canvas.

Don’t worry about running out of paint as there’s plenty to go around, so if you’re the sort who wants to give dainty strokes or dab it on thicker, you will have enough paint to create your masterpiece in your own way.

2. Read the accompanying material

Each canvas comes with a quick instruction booklet for you to get started. It includes instructions on how to hang your painting when you’ve completed it; how to have a great painting experience; how to get in touch if you need any help; and how to get started with your kit. There’s also information about following us on social media, emailing us, or giving us a review. 

A review will help more customers find us, so if you’re happy with your kit, please let us know.

At Kraftistry, we believe in the ethos of getting creative, discovering happy accidents (it’s okay to get paint outside the lines), and improving our mental well-being, mindfulness, and relaxation by unplugging from technology and returning to the analogue world (i.e. not the digital world of our phones and work computers).

3. Take stock of your supplies

For a great painting experience, you’ll need your canvas, paints, paint brushes, a small glass of water, and an old cloth or kitchen towel to help wipe your brushes when you’ve cleaned them. You may want, alternatively, to wash brushes in your sink between colours or if you’re painting similar colours, you may opt to just keep painting!

Once you have your supplies ready, you can paint as long as you want. You’ll find you can lose swathes of pleasurable time this way. Trust us!

4. Put your photo guide where you can see it

Your custom kit or the pre-made ready-to-go kits in our popular “Travel Poster” series (of places like London, Italy, Paris, New York, Portugal, Bali, Mexico, the French Riviera, and more) will come with a little guide that shows how your photograph was transformed into a canvas and will give you an overview of what the final product will look like (in miniature). As you’re painting the small areas on your canvas and following the numbers, it may help to step back and look at the guide every now and then to see your progress. 

If you have a dedicated painting space, this guide photo is a sticker and can be stuck up somewhere in view, but if not you can keep it to hand for when you need it.

5. Pick an area and have a go

There are many different approaches you can take when starting. You can follow the numbering from 1-24 (or 50+) depending on how many colours are part of your canvas; you can prioritse the area size (i.e. paint the bigger bits first) or add the smaller bits first, alternatively; you can start in one corner and work your way down; or you can consider how your hand will hit on the canvas as the last thing you’ll want is your hand smearing bits you’ve just painted!

You can turn your canvas to reach difficult areas as well, so don’t think you just need to paint in one direction even!

You can pick a combination of all of these. The way you approach your artwork is unique and you can do it however suits your fancy.

6. Keep practising!

You may find that the first areas you fill aren’t as good as the fiftieth area you’ve painted as practise will make you better at painting. Just as few people are naturally gifted violinists or sportsmen straight away, painting is a skill like any other. You will get better as you keep going. The beauty of paint-by-numbers kits is that you will learn to enjoy the process of creating. Remember art is subjective and doesn’t have to be perfect. At the end of it, you’ll have a gorgeous painting no matter if it feels like your skills aren’t quite there yet. There is no failure – only improvement. It’s a lovely way to discover your more creative side and simply have fun. 

Just like children when colouring in colouring books don’t worry about getting everything ‘perfect’ – in fact, some children don’t worry about those pesky lines at all – they just ‘express’ themselves through art and they think it’s brilliant no matter what. You can see your paint-by-numbers kit as a new way to express your burgeoning creativity. Have a go and have fun!

7. Develop your skills

Once you’ve tried one paint-by-numbers kit, you may find you want to try your hand at another! You may even find that halfway through your painting, you’re actually getting quite good at this whole painting thing! The great thing about these kits is they allow you to develop your skills in a safe space. For those who may have always wanted to try painting or develop new artistic skills, it’s a great way to get started. It’s less intimidating than a blank canvas with endless possibilities and tubes of paint that you have to mix yourself.

You have everything you need to get going, get better, and enjoy doing and learning.

8. Hang your masterpiece

Once your painting is complete, you can use the frame you purchased from Kraftistry or simply hang your canvas on the wall or shelf for all to admire. Custom paint-by-numbers canvases are a beautiful way to showcase your photographic talents or that much-loved family portrait or even that cute picture of your cat. We are almost certain that you’ll get compliments or remarks on your new artwork and you can say you did it yourself! 

Consider gifting this joy to someone you love

If you enjoyed the process of painting by numbers, then why not consider gifting a kit to someone you love? They make the perfect presents. We wrote here all about it and wrote here all about the excellent well-being and mental health benefits.

Affordable, thoughtful, and fun: a perfect combination. Paint-by-numbers gifts make a unique choice for anyone in your life for any occasion. Plus, shopping from a small business helps support local economies, too.

Ready to get gifting? Order your paint-by-numbers kit from Kraftistry here.