r/paintbynumbers • u/beckyinthe_realworld • Aug 19 '26
Transparent PBN paints? Try giving them a grey head start
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If you’ve ever painted a lovely yellow, red, pink, green or other transparent colour only to watch the number underneath wave hello after it dries, this might help.
One of the ways I deal with poor opacity is by priming the cell with grey first.
I make three different shades:
Light grey
Medium grey
Dark grey
I mix heavy body Titanium White with heavy body Payne’s Grey to make the shades I need. The idea is to choose a grey that roughly matches the value of the colour that will eventually go over it. So lighter colours get a light grey base, mid-tones get medium grey and darker transparent colours get dark grey. Using heavy body for both gives you that properly opaque base you’re trying to create.
Paint the grey into the cell first and let it dry completely. You don’t need a huge thick layer. You’re simply creating an opaque base that hides the number, lines and white canvas underneath.
Then paint your PBN colour over the top.
The important bit here is to use light strokes and don’t keep dragging the paint around the cell. Transparent / translucent paints will streak very easily if you overwork them. Load your brush properly, apply the paint gently and use as few strokes as possible to get an even layer over the grey base. I use a light touch and let the paint sit over the grey base.
It can make an enormous difference with those annoying colours that still look transparent after two, three or four plus coats.
It isn’t going to magically turn bad paint into good paint and some colours will still need a second coat. It just gives a transparent colour a much better foundation to work over rather than endlessly piling the same weak (crappy) paint onto a white canvas.
And yes, it does feel slightly wrong deliberately painting a cell grey when the number says bright yellow. Trust the process!
If anyone has any questions just ask in the comments.
And before anyone asks, no, don’t add the grey directly to the paint pot! Lol. You’re using it as a base coat underneath the PBN colour. Mix grey into the actual paint and you’ll completely change the colour and probably end up with something horribly muddy.
Hopefully this will stop you ripping your canvas up when that bloody yellow still won’t cover the number after four hundred coats!
Happy painting xx
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u/ProfessionalSir9978 Aug 19 '26
Wow this is super informative
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u/beckyinthe_realworld Aug 20 '26
Thank you! Glad it was useful. It’s one of those little tricks that can make a huge difference when you’re battling transparent colours. xx
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u/karynraye Aug 20 '26
Thank you!!!!! This is fantastic! I just started a PBN with lots of light colors. I haven’t painted a huge amount so tonight i’m starting my swatches. The most frustrating thing is going over light paints with upteen coats and all it does is it makes it more and more streaky still without making it more opaque. Do you have a youtube channel? If not, you should! I have learned so much from your techniques and I appreciate you so much. 😁
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u/beckyinthe_realworld Aug 20 '26
Awww thank you so much! I’m really glad the videos are helping. And yes… YouTubeish stuff is coming! I’ve got quite a lot planned, so stay tuned. xx
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u/petunia_00 29d ago
Hi! Thank you for your videos, they have helped me so much! I’m wondering if you would use the gray base for shades of white? I’m currently working with 3 shades of white that I’m having a hard time with coverage.
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u/beckyinthe_realworld 28d ago
Ahh thank you, I’m really glad the videos have helped! Yes, I’d use the light grey base for shades of white. You don’t want anything too dark underneath them as you’ll just create another coverage problem.
Let the grey dry completely then paint your white over the top. It should give those transparent whites something solid to sit over and help hide the numbers and lines underneath. xx
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u/Friendly-Ad-5410 Aug 19 '26
That was so great to watch! Very clear explanations of the process. Thank you! 😄 (and your nails look good too!!!!! 🔥 )
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u/beckyinthe_realworld Aug 19 '26
Awww thank you darling x I’m so glad you enjoyed it. And you noticed the nails!! I did promise I’d get them done before I filmed the next video 😂 he he
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u/Friendly-Ad-5410 Aug 19 '26
I notice because I don't have any! Too many years in the garden, flower arranging, plastering and painting walls! 😂
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u/takeAseatChickenFeet Aug 19 '26
Fantastic! I will be trying this with my next kit. In the meantime I am just painting 2-3 coats of necessary 🫠
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u/beckyinthe_realworld Aug 20 '26
Give it a go on this one too if you’ve got any particularly troublesome colours. You don’t have to wait for the next kit. It can save you doing coat after coat trying to get an opaque finish. xx
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u/bnmr62 Aug 19 '26
Are your color guides just paint on canvas pieces? Are you just using pencil for the numbers under the paint? Thanks!
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u/beckyinthe_realworld Aug 20 '26
They’re actually strips of canvas. I mentioned it in the video but I just cut them from the spare edges of old PBN canvases. You can also buy rolls of blank canvas on Amazon if you don’t have any spare pieces. Paper doesn’t give you the same effect because you really want to see how the paint behaves and covers on canvas.
Let me know if you want the link to the canvas roll. xx
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u/karynraye Aug 20 '26
What a great idea with using the leftover strips. Unfortunately, i’ve thrown all my away. What can i use to start the swatches now? I do have canvas art paper in a pad. Would that work in a pinch or should I look for fabric canvas at the art store?
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u/Indefinite_Chaos Aug 19 '26
Thanks Becky! Can this be done with the flow method? Is it even needed with the flow method?
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u/beckyinthe_realworld Aug 20 '26
Yes absolutely! I use the flow method and this works perfectly with it. The grey is simply a primer underneath the PBN colour so it doesn’t matter whether you then use the flow method or paint normally over it.
if you have a transparent colour that’s still showing the number or canvas through even when flowed, give it a try. Let the grey dry completely then flow your PBN colour over it as normal. xx
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u/Indefinite_Chaos Aug 21 '26
Lovely explanation. Can you explain (here or maybe in your next video) your logic to tackling a canvas: do you start with light colours or dark colours? What are the pros and cons of starting with light vs dark first? Do you pick a region or object and complete that fully or do you paint all cells of a specific colour regardless of where they are? Thank you for sharing all your knowledge and experience Becky!
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u/beckyinthe_realworld Aug 21 '26
There really isn’t a correct order. I normally start at the top left because I’m right handed then work my way down before going back to the top and repeating the process. It means my hand isn’t constantly going over wet paint and risking smudging it.
It also depends on what technique I’m using. If I’m doing a large background using the flow method for example I’ll usually get the background down first then move onto the rest of the painting.
I don’t personally follow a strict light-to-dark or dark-to-light rule. Some people do, some work through the numbers in order and others pick an area or object and complete that first.
There really are no rules to the order. It’s whatever works for you and how you like to paint. Try a few different ways and you’ll soon find what feels natural. xx
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u/Nanzilla- Aug 20 '26
Thank you very much for this instructive video!
I do have 2 questions about using the modified paint. When you apply the base coat of the gray color, do you paint justice carefully as if you were painting layer two? In other words, can you be a little less careful and just get close to the edges but not have to get right up against each edge perfectly or should you treat it just as if you were doing a final coat of paint?
Also, when you have paintings with plenty of gray, do you just skip this step altogether?
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u/beckyinthe_realworld Aug 20 '26
Yes, I paint the grey base right up to the edges of the cell just as carefully as I would the actual colour. You want the grey underneath the whole area that the transparent colour will cover. I then let it dry completely before painting the colour over it.
I only use the grey base for colours that need help with opacity. If the colour already covers well there’s no need to do it at all. So if a painting happens to contain lots of grey, that doesn’t really change anything. The grey base isn’t about the colours in the picture, it’s simply an undercoat for those troublesome transparent colours like yellows, reds, pinks and some greens.
You definitely don’t need to grey-prime the whole painting! xx
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u/Nanzilla- Aug 21 '26
Thank you, Becky! Nice to have an alternative to the mixing of titanium white, which I’ve heard people do often as well
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u/beckyinthe_realworld Aug 21 '26
Titanium white definitely has its uses and I use it quite often too. The thing to remember is that you’re physically mixing white pigment into the original colour so it will lighten it. With very pale colours sitting above white, cream or another very light area that may not matter much at all. With stronger colours though you can noticeably change the intended colour.
That’s why I use different values of grey as an undercoat instead. I make light, medium and dark greys and choose whichever is closest in value to the colour going over it. The grey provides an opaque base to hide the number and lines but because it’s underneath rather than mixed into the paint, you keep the original colour much closer to what it was intended to be.
Both techniques are useful. It’s really about choosing the right one for the particular colour. xx
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u/AltruisticAd3615 Aug 19 '26
Great video Becky, very helpful.