KOMI Paint by Numbers Kits for Kids 4-8, Paint by Numbers Kids with Frame, Owl Painting with Numbers Art Craft for Kid 8x8inch

This review is for Black Dream Girl by KOMI. One of the frequently sited drawbacks of this kit is that they didn’t include enough paint. Well, that’s a conditional truth. I’m a professional painter (houses not numbers). One cardinal rule is to prime any surface before painting it. That’s the problem. If you start painting this picture without priming the canvas first then you WILL run out of paint. You can mitigate this problem by buying Artecho Clear Gesso Primer for Acrylic Painting. Apply it using a foam brush to the front of the entire painting. Allow it to dry for a day and then begin painting. The paint goes on like butter. This presents another issue though, it has a matte finish which can result in coverage being less than optimal with the lighter colors (1 through 6). What I do is put a glob of paint in the middle of the space to be painted and draw from that instead of heading back to the paint pot every time I need to reload the brush. If the coverage is thin, I wait for a few minutes, allow the first coat to get tacky and then put another thin coat on top. Yes, sometimes it does require two coats, but the application is such that this two-step process still uses less paint than trying to paint on the raw canvas. Another complaint involves the brushes provided. This one is valid. You really need a good set of brushes. I purchased Golden Maple Miniature Paint Brushes, 15 Piece. I’m using every one of them, the quality is great, and they are holding up. Next, practice good paint management. If you are painting a large area, get in the practice of using your free hand to close the lid (not snap it closed … just close it). This prevents/retards the paint from drying out during the painting process. Another complaint is that the canvas arrives folded and it is hard to get the wrinkles out. This is a problem, but it is easily solved. I brushed a thin coat of water on the BACK of the canvas. Then I let it set for a spell and then ironed it, gently, with the iron set on cotton. Don’t press the iron down too hard or it will deform the canvas. Also, once the piece is completely dry, and you then apply the primer to the front, this also relaxes the canvas and further solves the wrinkle problem. Next, many of the areas are quite small. You will be well served by purchasing a magnifying glass if you are older, like myself. I bought the Drdefi 10X Square Magnifying Glass with Light and Stand, Real Glass LED Lighted Magnifier. It does wonders for the painting process. Also, try to paint with the tip of the paint brush. Don’t load the brush so much that the paint reaches the top of the bristles. This makes painting tiny areas harder and wastes too much paint. Finally, if you do run out of paint, buy another one, finish the painting with the newly arrived paint. It is up to you to determine whether you will return the second one and get your money back or eat the cost. That’s about it. I’m having a blast with the painting and I hope this review will help make your purchase more enjoyable. Oh yea, this is VERY detailed and extensive work ... good for kids ... I'm dubious of that, depending upon the age of the "kid" that is. Another reason I like this painting is it is rather abstract making it easy the fudge any mistakes you may make. It will take me from 30 to 40 hours to finish this thing.

I love it! I was hesitant to buy this, because last time I bought a paint-by-number with a lot of colors, it wanted me to mix some of the colors together to make the other colors needed, and the paint pots were so small, there wasn't enough paint for the project.That was not a problem here. The pots are large, and there are multiples of the paints that are used the most, so there is no fear of running out. Also, each of the twenty colors has its own pot, so no mixing paints required. The quality is excellent. The paint was the correct consistency. (I've bought some kits where the paint had mostly dried out.) There are a few small places where a number was left out, but it's easy enough to guess what color belongs there. If I remember right, it came with two brushes, one small and one slightly larger. If you're a perfectionist, you may need to put a second coat on the canvas where some of the light colors don't completely cover the numbers and lines with the first coat.I will eventually buy more, but my family gave me two more kits from this company for my birthday, so it will be a while before I need more!

Paint by number they said….it will be fun they said. My wife and I had just completed a paint by number of a flower and were a bit confident with ourselves and hopped back onto Santa’s playground (aka Amazon) to search for a new adventure. We wanted something a little less “grandmas vacation” and a little more edgy. We already have enough “painting with a twist” artwork around, and frankly having two of every painting starts to take up space, So we decided to find a paint by number to do together and would be something we actually hang up when we were done. This edgy beauty met the look we were going for and looked challenging enough to keep our attention. To be honest we thought it would be bigger, but it’s the same size as all the other ones on here, so no worries. Click. Buy. Received. As we unrolled her, she met all initial expectations and we ironed her out and began the journey. I patted myself on the back for also buying a new set of brushes and a magnifying glass light thing for my wife to ease her eye strain. The wife read the instructions and made sure to inform me about the difference between 6 and 9s and that the paint with black dots on top were for the gray shaded areas. <high five for teamwork>. With the kids fed and entertained and our adult beverages in hand we sat down saying “I’m gunna start with the 5s” ….”I’m gunna do the 21s”. We attacked this thing for hours…the offspring grew restless with their “needs” like snacks, new show, sleep….and in response one of us would attend while other kept working. It continued like this for weeks. I found myself unable to sleep, getting up after kids had gone down to bed and feeling like “I’ve got to almost be done with the 21s…I’ll just go work a little more….oh fudge it’s now 4am…just 5more minutes”. I’d eventually rest, then the wife would wake up and review the progress and say to me “you were up till 4 and that’s all you got done?”. It’s like this thing created more numbers over night. We’d work on it for hours and barely make a dent. This painting started to consume us and even impacted our nights away from it. Adult friends asked me what I’d been up to lately, I couldn’t recall what I’ve been up to and could only say…” I got all the 21s done on my paint by number” to which they promptly zoned out and I felt dumb for being 40yo and this paint by number was all I had to speak about with other adults.That being said, we did enjoy this painting and are happy with its final result. It might go on a wall….or maybe she is just to haunting and will be rolled up and put in a cabinet…. I really don’t care. The wife thinks this should be renamed “the paint by number B that would never end”.