# Remember Paint by Numbers?



## SifuPhil (Jan 23, 2016)

Paint by numbers - those ubiquitous art projects in a box!



First marketed by the Palmer Paint Company in 1951, Paint by Numbers went on to sell millions of kits. Competitors sprang up and broadened the field. A recent resurgence of interest has been fueled by eBay and by exhibitions at the Smithsonian. There's even an awesome Paint by Numbers Online Museum.

Do you remember working on a Paint by Number project?


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## clover (Jan 23, 2016)

Loathed them and there fiddly little sticky pots of paint. Much prefer the Adult colouring books we have now


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## SifuPhil (Jan 23, 2016)

clover said:


> Loathed them and there fiddly little sticky pots of paint. Much prefer the Adult colouring books we have now



Wow - strong reaction. 

Personally I've never taken to the name "adult coloring books" - it always sounded like something they give you in the senior citizen home to keep you busy. If they could come up with a better name I might like them better.


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## clover (Jan 23, 2016)

SifuPhil said:


> Wow - strong reaction.
> 
> Personally I've never taken to the name "adult coloring books" - it always sounded like something they give you in the senior citizen home to keep you busy. If they could come up with a better name I might like them better.



LOL Phil we are Senior citizens. Funny that you should dislike the word Adult as I also disliked Paint by numbers because it seemed 'a teach an idiot to paint approach'.


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## SifuPhil (Jan 23, 2016)

clover said:


> LOL Phil we are Senior citizens. Funny that you should dislike the word Adult as I also disliked Paint by numbers because it seemed 'a teach an idiot to paint approach'.



Heh, heh - that's true. "Everyone can be an artist" - I get it.

Still - combining "adult" with "coloring book" ... I don't know ... it's sort of like saying "Children's Automatic Rifle" - the two terms just seem to clash ... it seems somehow belittling as well.


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## hollydolly (Jan 23, 2016)

SifuPhil said:


> Wow - strong reaction.
> 
> Personally I've never taken to the name "adult coloring books" - it always sounded like something they give you in the senior citizen home to keep you busy. If they could come up with a better name I might like them better.




LOL Phil, my sentiments exactly!!...I just can't get my head around those ''adult colouring books''. ..but each to their own, but definitely not something I hope I ever end up doing in an old folks home LOL


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## Ken N Tx (Jan 23, 2016)

hollydolly said:


> LOL Phil, my sentiments exactly!!...I just can't get my head around those ''adult colouring books''. ..but each to their own, but definitely not something I hope I ever end up doing in an old folks home LOL



My wife just got interested in them..She said it relives stress!!


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## hollydolly (Jan 23, 2016)

Ken N Tx said:


> My wife just got interested in them..She said it relives stress!!



is she saying your stressing her out ken.?..I can't believe that...


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## Karen99 (Jan 23, 2016)

SifuPhil said:


> Paint by numbers - those ubiquitous art projects in a box!
> 
> View attachment 26047
> 
> ...



gee Phil..I almost forgot about them..lol.  My mother would do those when she bought them for me as a kid.  I'm not really into the number thing..but I got her an adult coloring book last Christmas ..and she said ...noo to that.


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## Pappy (Jan 23, 2016)

I bought one a few years back, Phil. I had intentions of finishing and framing it, but there were so many little places to paint, and my hand shakes a bit, that it started to look like my kindergarten drawings. It somewhere in the shed.


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## Ken N Tx (Jan 23, 2016)

hollydolly said:


> is she saying your stressing her out ken.?..I can't believe that...



I could be part of the problem!! She also likes jigsaw puzzles..


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## Pappy (Jan 23, 2016)

I'm going to check into Adult coloring books, Amazon has them, but wondering if you use crayons or colored pencils, or both.


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## Ken N Tx (Jan 23, 2016)

Pappy said:


> I'm going to check into Adult coloring books, Amazon has them, but wondering if you use crayons or colored pencils, or both.



My wife uses liquid markers..
.


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## clover (Jan 23, 2016)

Ken N Tx said:


> My wife uses liquid markers..
> .
> View attachment 26056



Before so called adult colouring books became the 'thing to do' I ran them off the Internet for classes we had for  handicapped adults to use. You still can but liquid markers can sometimes  bleed through some paper so good quality coloured pencils are better.

Unlike paint by numbers everyone sees and does a picture completely differently


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## Pam (Jan 23, 2016)

I do have an adult colouring book but much prefer the bird/nature colouring book that I bought for my grandson and myself do together. We've tried felt tips and coloured pencils but our favourites by a long mile are the fine line coloured pens (0.4 mm). Almost got a needle like point, giving a neater finish.


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## clover (Jan 23, 2016)

Pam said:


> I do have an adult colouring book but much prefer the bird/nature colouring book that I bought for my grandson and myself do together. We've tried felt tips and coloured pencils but our favourites by a long mile are the fine line coloured pens (0.4 mm). Almost got a needle like point, giving a neater finish.



Surely it's very difficult to blend the colours in though Pam !


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## Cookie (Jan 23, 2016)

Never tried the paint by numbers and always wanted to, they are probably a lot better quality now than they used to.  I too have adult coloring books which are beautiful and more challenging than one might think and very relaxing too.  I think these things can be jump-off tools for more independent artwork.


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## Pam (Jan 23, 2016)

clover said:


> Surely it's very difficult to blend the colours in though Pam !





We haven't tried any blending, only straightforward colouring. But I do see what you mean, we'll have to have a try with some pencils. I'm not at all arty or creative but it's fun, something  we can do together and I'm so glad that we've progressed from colouring in pictures of wrestlers. lol


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## fureverywhere (Jan 23, 2016)

I never really liked paint by numbers, I don't follow directions well. Besides if I want the bird to be green with red highlights I'm doing it. I draw free hand rather well so I just color my own stuff.


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## SeaBreeze (Jan 23, 2016)

When I was a young kid, I remember my oldest sister doing a large paint by number picture of a boat in the ocean.  It came out very well, everyone loved it.  She actually framed it and hung it over her couch in the living room.  I thought she was very talented to complete such a painting, I never even tried to do one myself.  Never saw an adult coloring book either.  I have done some drawings, paintings, pastel art on my own, but it was never very good and always ended up in the trash.


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## Cookie (Jan 23, 2016)

We seem to have a few artists in my family, my cousin does prints, my sister acrylics and my other cousin does pysanky (ukrainian easter egg).  
I dabble with different media, have taken numerous classes at night school and am still learning, but don't hang anything I did in my home, just hide them away in a binder for reference. I think it takes lots of practice and perserverence to be happy with our work. I do better with quilting and sewing media which is more practical.


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## SifuPhil (Jan 23, 2016)

Getting away from PBN, I know, but I used to watch Bob Ross on TV for many years. His voice and manner were almost like Mr. Rodgers - soothing and quiet and always positive. He made painting look like an easy thing, so I went out and bought an easel and paint and brushes and tried to follow his show.

I always ended up with something that looked like the efforts of an insane asylum resident. 

Maybe that's why I appreciated PBN.

Every once in a while I'll try my hand at pencil sketching, but quickly rip it up and consign it to the trash. I'm just not artistic.

I like the idea of colored pencils or pens for the coloring books - that would make me feel far more artistic than using crayons. layful:


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## jujube (Jan 23, 2016)

I used to get a paint by number set almost every Christmas.  Loved them.  Now I have five of the "adult" coloring books and some sets of pens and pencils.  I find them very restful and stress-relieving.  I like embroidery for the same reason, but the eyes are getting too bad for that.

Remember Jon Gnagy "Learn to Draw" sets?  I've never been able to draw flies, but I enjoyed _trying_ to learn.


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## Cookie (Jan 23, 2016)

I think the reason adult coloring books and paint by numbers seem 'safe' and not intimidating is that they are drawn by someone else and we don't feel so identified with it and responsible for the outcome.

I really dislike drawing, even though I think I can more or less do it.  It think because I never went to nursery school or kindergarten or got to play around with paint with I was a small kid, now I enjoy making a mess with paint - inner child wants to have fun. I always envied my sister's fingerpainting pictures she brought home from school.

Phil, even wax crayons have their place in the art supply drawer. I see that the stationery section of my local drug store has a huge selection of Crayola art supplies (cheap) that are quite adequate to goof around with.

Jujube this is inspiring me to try the PBN -- maybe I'll get one, I hope they're not too pricey.


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## SifuPhil (Jan 23, 2016)

jujube said:


> I used to get a paint by number set almost every Christmas.  Loved them.  Now I have five of the "adult" coloring books and some sets of pens and pencils.  I find them very restful and stress-relieving.  I like embroidery for the same reason, but the eyes are getting too bad for that.
> 
> Remember Jon Gnagy "Learn to Draw" sets?  I've never been able to draw flies, but I enjoyed _trying_ to learn.



I well remember John Gnagy - haven't heard that name for many years.


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## Linda (Jan 23, 2016)

jujube said:


> I used to get a paint by number set almost every Christmas.  Loved them.  Now I have five of the "adult" coloring books and some sets of pens and pencils.  I find them very restful and stress-relieving.  I like embroidery for the same reason, but the eyes are getting too bad for that.
> 
> Remember Jon Gnagy "Learn to Draw" sets?  I've never been able to draw flies, but I enjoyed _trying_ to learn.



I had never heard of Jon Gnagy till I cleaned up an estate that had 2 of his teaching booklets in it.  I think they are from the 50s.  Very simple stuff.  They are new so I put them on eBay with some old Walter Foster art instruction books but they didn't sell.  I need to sit down at the computer and put a lot of those back on eBay.

I went in Micheal's Craft store today and they had a big display of adult coloring books just inside the door.  They must be quite popular now.


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## SifuPhil (Jan 23, 2016)

Linda said:


> I had never heard of Jon Gnagy till I cleaned up an estate that had 2 of his teaching booklets in it.  I think they are from the 50s.  Very simple stuff.  They are new so I put them on eBay with some old Walter Foster art instruction books but they didn't sell.  I need to sit down at the computer and put a lot of those back on eBay.




Walter Foster - another name that takes me down Memory Lane!



> I went in Micheal's Craft store today and they had a big display of adult coloring books just inside the door.  They must be quite popular now.



No, it's just that the elderly folk can't make it to the back of the store.


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## jujube (Jan 23, 2016)

I once bought my granddaughter a certificate for a service that will turn a photograph into a paint-by-number canvas, complete with all the necessary paints.  She sent a picture of her cats and got back quite an elaborate 18"x24" canvas, which she proceeded to turn into a painting.  Did a pretty darn good job on it, too.  But then, she has talent.  Didn't get it from me, unfortunately.....


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## chic (Jan 24, 2016)

I've always been good at art and enjoyed paint by numbers and any kind of artsy craftsy kits. I painted pictures and made mosaics which my family and relatives hung on their walls for their entire lives ( a great compliment there ) so I must've been good at it and I had great fun with it too.


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## Ken N Tx (Jan 24, 2016)




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## SifuPhil (Jan 24, 2016)

I'll never forget my first X-rated paint by numbers - I ran out of flesh-colored paint.


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## Pappy (Jan 24, 2016)

:lol1:
Bad boy, bad boy, whatcha gonna do.


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## SifuPhil (Jan 24, 2016)

Pappy said:


> :lol1:
> Bad boy, bad boy, whatcha gonna do.



Whatcha gonna do 
When your paint is through


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## RadishRose (Jan 24, 2016)

Yes, I had  few paint by number sets as a child. They were disappointing, took too long to finish, looked awful and I was too young to handle them.

These adult coloring books aren't really new. I had several of what was called "Designs To Color" at least 25 years ago. The series were numbered and the books were full of intricate designs on good paper. Using colored pens ,I found them very relaxing and stress relieving. I think I'd like to color some more!


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## clover (Jan 24, 2016)

Thanks Ken.. Love seeing these time lapse videos


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## Ruth n Jersey (Jan 24, 2016)

I think coloring does relieve stress and has a very calming affect. I just started mine early yesterday afternoon. I had my pencils out on the kitchen table and was happily coloring away when my husband came in and started putting out the dishes for dinner. A hint that I better get the show on the road. I had been coloring for over 4 hours! Needless to say,dinner was late.lol


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## Ruth n Jersey (Jan 24, 2016)

This is absolutely beautiful. I doubt mine will come out as well but am having fun trying.


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## deesierra (Jan 24, 2016)

jujube said:


> I once bought my granddaughter a certificate for a service that will turn a photograph into a paint-by-number canvas, complete with all the necessary paints.  She sent a picture of her cats and got back quite an elaborate 18"x24" canvas, which she proceeded to turn into a painting.  Did a pretty darn good job on it, too.  But then, she has talent.  Didn't get it from me, unfortunately.....



jujube I love this idea, never knew there was such a service. I'll have to check into it.

I was always pretty good at pencil and charcoal sketching as I was growing up, but putting color on paper was intimidating which is why I really enjoyed the paint by number sets. Plus I found them to be therapeutic....something to focus on (focus has never been my strong suit ). My dear mother saved EVERYTHING that my brother and I ever created, and when we had to clear out her house after she passed away, I found all my old drawings and paintings. Most were salvageable so I brought them home with me, with the intention of framing and hanging the paintings. Haven't done that yet, but they are in a safe place for now.


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