Are you looking for contemporary paint by numbers? My family used to look forward to our yearly summer trip when I was a little child—two weeks at the beach with bright days and pleasant evenings on the promenade. Of course, everything was fine as long as the weather cooperated. When the weather goes bad at the beach, what do you do with a room full of laughing and lively kids? My mum had an idea: contemporary paint by numbers kits!
My first custom paint by numbers kit was given to me during a wet week at the beach. I recall the pristine canvas board with shapes written all over it in pale blue and small numbers within the figures indicating what color they should be painted. There was a miniature oil paint bottle for each number, and there were also paint brushes included in the kit.
Worth Of Paint By Numbers Sets
The directions were simple enough for an eighth years old girl to understand, and I recall discovering as I filled in each region with a different color that trees, rocks, and mountains were not all the same hue. They were really distinct colored forms placed side by side, and when seen from a distance, the colors melted into one other and seemed lifelike. They possessed depth as well as shade. What an eye-opener for eight years old. I never colored anything with just one color again. I’d progressed to shades!
Imagine my surprise when I found a new book and kit by Dan Robbins at my neighborhood bookshop. The contemporary paint by numbers artwork is still regarded as a very collectible painting among paint by number lovers.
Dan went on to create many additional images for the Palmer Paint Company after the original release of paint by custom paint by numbers kits. Robbins, along with firm owner Max Klein, is credited with sparking a painting frenzy that swept the country. Advertisements for the kits claimed that anybody could create professional-looking results without any training, and Paint by Number’s tagline became “Every Man a Rembrandt.” Paint by number was the most popular leisure art for the following twenty years or more.
Contemporary paint by numbers kits is being manufactured today. They’ve moved on to utilizing acrylic paints in addition to oil, and some have more intricate topics, but I’m still drawn to the early paintings. Many of the antique paintings are still available on eBay, and if you’re fortunate, you could even discover an unpainted vintage kit or two.
