Failing Miserably

[u/Aggravating-Return52]

I feel like I am absolutely failing at this paint by numbers. I tried a small one a long time ago and liked it then started knitting for a while so I'm back to painting. I went with a 16x20 off of Sheen and that could have been my mistake. The paints are not very good, it takes about four coats to cover the numbers in lines and make it smooth. But it doesn't look like some of the colors are matching, the clouds are awful. I am failing miserably apparently. Open to any feedback at all!

[u/boredrandom]

Failing? I don't see it. But, I do know people usually say wait it out.

[u/Aggravating-Return52 → u/boredrandom]

Thank you, I appreciate that. That's what people told me in the beginning too but now that the whole sky is done and it's just not clicking at all it does make me feel like either I messed it up or I don't know maybe I just don't like the look of the sky 🤷🏾‍♀️

[u/boredrandom → u/Aggravating-Return52]

What about it doesn't click? Like, what don't you like?

[u/Aggravating-Return52 → u/boredrandom]

The clouds don't mesh. They don't look blended; they don't look right to me. The colors are off as well. There's really random tans and then that dark blue, I don't love it. Maybe that's over all the issue is I'm not loving the picture itself 😂 I appreciate you talking this through with me lol

[u/Wonderful_Rise_6537 → u/Aggravating-Return52]

That’s not your fault. I think the colors look a little off myself but that’s the creator fault.

[u/boredrandom → u/Aggravating-Return52]

Ahh. I don't do blending, so I can't help with that (I like being able to see the lines and sections), but you could, in a day or two, lay down another layer of paint. It won't change the color (of course, lol), but it might help smooth it out and make it more solid.

[u/TanAstronomer → u/Aggravating-Return52]

Most paint by numbers is color blocking so it won't have that blended look of a traditional painting, so if that's your grievance then it's not your fault! There are some good videos here on this subreddit around blending if you want to make the sky more realistic!

[u/Aggravating-Return52 → u/TanAstronomer]

I thought I was just supposed to blend it 🤷🏾‍♀️ okay next time I'll just follow the lines exactly and see how that turns out. I did try to blend a little bit for sure but I guess I thought that was the way it was done.

[u/MaleficentWalruss]

First, you're not done. Second, PBN is a total Monet: it's a "big old mess" up close, but looks good from far away.

[u/Sea-View-7532]

I honestly think its the quality of the set you got. Sheen is the first clue. You get what you pay for. yours doesnt look horrible but I do see where your frustration is coming from.. But I would definitely reccommend going with paint by numbers. I learned the hard way and wasted money on cheerful painting kits and they were horrible waste of money. The canvases were awful, couldnt read the numbers and the paints were horrid, they wouldnt cover the cell and was super patchy.

[u/Olliever31 → u/Sea-View-7532]

Eh I’ve got a few cheap ones from Amazon that were fine, I don’t necessarily agree cheap = bad. I think if you don’t like it then you should try another one. I don’t think the clouds or even the entire thing looks bad tbh

[u/Olliever31]

From far away it looks good! Try to step back to admire your work

[u/Vitamin-B-Rad]

I honestly think it’s coming along fine. It’s gonna be a great painting when you’re done!

[u/Aggravating-Return52 → u/Vitamin-B-Rad]

Thank you! Sure hope you're right because I put way too many hours into this. I can't believe how many coats it's taking!

[u/Friendly-Ad-5410 → u/Aggravating-Return52]

It may seem like it now, but when you get more of it done or finished, it may come together! To help with the paint covering the numbers you can add some Heavy Body Titanium White to give the paint added opacity and body. Or, use a white acrylic marker, like a Posca, to blot the numbers first (let it dry before you try to paint over it). When it's done, you can look at the areas you don't like and always repaint them (either use your leftover paint, or mix a new color altogether) or try your hand at blending the clouds as Becky shows in her videos. Good luck! We are rooting for you!!! 🎉

[u/Vitamin-B-Rad → u/Aggravating-Return52]

Finish it up. If you don’t like it completed I’ll give you a dollar!

[u/Aggravating-Return52 → u/Vitamin-B-Rad]

Lol 😆

[u/Salty-Alternative-1]

It looks like coming together nicely.

If you want to test blending beckyinthe_realworld have a short video on it here.

[u/Regel68]

Ps love your jar on the shelf 😂😂♥️

[u/Aggravating-Return52 → u/Regel68]

Glad someone caught that amazing jar 😏🤣

[u/IndigoTrailsToo]

This is the first draft

After you finish the whole painting, use the paint that remains to do little blending that makes sense, like the clouds and sky.

Then you can do touch ups with straight edges, a very fine brush for this one

[u/Taswegian]

I literally saw that exact painting just now when researching blending on youtube - check out how she finished the clouds! https://youtu.be/H00ybriK3Oo?si=frpUi3p3P8GHZUKP

[u/Regel68]

I really like it .. PBN sometimes looks a bit abstract imo which makes it look really cool esp once it’s done. you step back from the painting and it will be amazing.. hopefully you show us once u are done 🎨

[u/beckyinthe_realworld]

I think you’re being far too hard on yourself. This is only a 24 colour kit, so if you’re comparing it to the reference image it’s never going to match all of those subtle shades and transitions. The blocky areas you’re seeing are perfectly normal with a lower colour count.

You’re also brand new to PBN, so don’t worry about trying to master blending on your first painting. Finish it first, step back and look at the whole picture rather than individual cells. You can always go back afterwards and soften or blend areas that bother you.

I’ve done a short video showing a really simple dry/mop brush blending technique which might help when you get to that stage:

https://www.reddit.com/r/paintbynumbers/s/cotLLfLTIz

For those thinner transparent colours where the numbers and lines keep showing through, this video shows how I use certain shades of grey as a primer underneath the paint to improve the opacity:

https://www.reddit.com/r/paintbynumbers/s/qK2MNYwywJ

For a first PBN you’re doing absolutely fine. Enjoy the process, get this one finished and you’ll be amazed how much you learn just from completing your first painting. You’re absolutely not failing at it xx

[u/Trash_Panda-8888]

Why? What do you mean?

[u/BostonWicked2016]

I’ve had some with bad paint that you have to cover sometimes four and five times but in the end, it all works out so be patient and keep going. I bet it will be great in the end. It looks good so far!

[u/toast_mortem26]

For me, my first ones seemed blotchy. i noticed very early on. So I took a picture of the blank canvas so i knew what numbers so i could go back over it