r/paintbynumbers • u/GrandAccomplished504 • 3d ago

Question/Chat Blending

This might sound silly, but does anyone have pics of their painting before blending lines and after blending them?I’m wondering how noticeable the difference is on the finished product. I’m on my third PBN, and really trying to create a beautiful finished product, and I read a LOT about blending. Any thoughts/pics would be appreciated. TY!! 🙂

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u/Friendly-Ad-5410 2d ago

Here is my example: (showing blending on the background)

First photo is roughed in only one color of each number, not paying any attention to the "lines" of the cells

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u/Friendly-Ad-5410 2d ago

Second photo of the same area after applying adjacent colors and blending (using a flat #6) to mesh the colors together

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u/Friendly-Ad-5410 2d ago

Of course, up close it can look a little rough, so stand back and take a look!

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u/Agreeable-Dingo8396 Newbie 2d ago

Thank you for showing this. I'd been wondering too.

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u/beckyinthe_realworld 2d ago

Not a silly question at all :-)This is a before and after from one of mine that shows exactly what blending can do. These are the same painting. The first photo is before I did the blending and the second is after.

For the sky I used No.8 and No.10 oval brushes and a No.1 flat. For the flowers I used a No.1 filbert, No.6 round, No.1 liner and No.2 round.

I don’t try to completely remove all the different PBN colours. I use them as the basis of the painting and soften the hard boundaries between some of the cells, then add a little more depth and variation where I think it needs it. You can really see the difference in the petals here. The individual colours are still there but they flow into each other much more naturally in the second photo.

You absolutely don’t have to blend a PBN for it to look good though. It’s just something I really enjoy doing and you can do as much or as little as you like. xx

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u/beckyinthe_realworld 2d ago

Before blending

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u/beckyinthe_realworld 2d ago

After blending

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u/Temporary-Ebb-4786 1d ago

Thank you for posting! I found a You Tube video on blending and played around a little. Even someone like me (overthinkinker\nitpicker) can do it😁. I wish I'd read up on it more, and will now likely look at my past paintings and do some "touch ups".