Product Review: PaintByNumbers.shop

Last month, I collaborated with PaintByNumbers.shop to host a giveaway for a paint by numbers kit. PaintByNumbers.shop is an online shop that sells art canvasses with small numbers indicating a corresponding colour for a certain area, making painting a masterpiece a piece of cake. In addition to sponsoring the giveaway, they also graciously offered to send me a kit to try for myself. After perusing their varied collection, I landed on Magnolia Blossoms, a beautifully serene and simple floral painting.

Shipping for my kit took 9 business days, exactly as advertised on the website. What I really appreciate about PaintByNumbers.shop is their paintings come with the canvas already stretched on a wooden frame—something many other companies do not offer as a default. Also included in the kit are varnish, canvas hangers and even a level for when you're putting your finished piece up on the wall. The attention to detail in providing a thoroughly complete kit helps make paint by numbers less daunting for those who are new to it (such as myself).

Despite having done art throughout high school and taken private acrylic painting lessons, I don't consider myself either an experienced or talented artist. I can't comment with certainty on the quality of the brushes and paint, but both of them did their job, which is really all I'm looking for. The paint was not dried out, and despite some splitting on the wide brush, I did not encounter any issues with the brushes shedding hairs. There are definitely higher quality brushes out there, but the ones provided were adequate for the task at hand. Although this painting did require at least two coats in areas with lighter colours to fully cover the numbers and lines, there was a sufficient amount of paint provided to complete the piece.

Left: Picture on website | Right: Picture on kit

The only drawback with this particular painting is the colours and composition do not closely match the picture on the website or even the picture on the kit. The paint provided for the blossoms are pinker than expected, and I could tell many areas—particularly the background—require much more finessing to be as subtle as what is depicted in the original picture. However, I have seen reviews of other paintings from PaintByNumbers.shop come out exactly as advertised, so the discrepancy I'm experiencing is just a lesson in how not all artwork is suited to the paint by numbers method. As you can see, I decided to take some artistic liberty and blend the colours together, using the numbers and lines as more of a guide than a strict science.

Overall, the hours flew by doing this activity. I normally don't end up painting artwork appealing enough to hang on the walls, so it was refreshing to be able to enjoy both the process of painting and of seeing the finished product come together nicely into something I actually look forward to displaying.

Discount Code

If you'd like to pick up a kit for yourself or someone you know, be sure to use the promo code REDSOLED at checkout for a 15% discount!

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Kit courtesy of PaintByNumbers.shop in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.