Final Friday of the month? It’s time to talk crafts and projects. Feel free to talk about your own in the comments!
I’ve been unusually busy this past month with work and travel and didn’t have much time for crafts, but I’ve found some real mental solace in some dried-up paint-by-number kids I’ve had for 15 or more years kicking around in the basement.
I got around to hanging up the first paint-by-number kit I completed at the tail end of last month. This is in my guest bedroom in its Goodwill $5 frame! I kinda love it.
And this was indeed beginner’s luck because each one after has been uglier, harder and worse than the last, basically! Ha! I wonder how long I can keep this going before I just can’t take how ugly they’re turning out? I’ll find out, I guess.
For the stack of dried-out kids I have, I decided I’d treat them like a coloring book, using the lines for guides, but I had to come up with the colors myself and ignore whatever didn’t work for me. As I have no experience in drawing or painting? This was challenging.
I bought a bunch of basic acrylic paint colors at the local art supply shop and a few tiny brushes and dug in. The ship went well — fairly simple and straightforward. I went ahead to the next one with too much swagger and stumbled.
I’m sharing stuff that I think looks bad because I want to make it clear that I’m not making crafts to sell, I’m not painting to be a professional or anything lofty. I’m not trying to “influence” you with my incredible skills.
I’m painting (and crafting) because it gets me away from endless scrolling, endlessly staring at a screen and also because it helps me use other parts of my brain. I’m a writer and editor and it’s all words and screens all day. To stay mentally engaged, I need to turn away from screens.
In short, I’m doing it because it’s relaxing and stimulating at the same time. It doesn’t have to be good. Ugly and failed art experiments are not a waste of time. And, if you are even slightly inclined to pursue creative endeavors (but not master them), I’d like to encourage you to do so.
If I have any life advice (and truly I don’t have much), I’d say that adults are afraid to fail. Give yourself permission to fail (and learn and grow — or at least keep other parts of your brain firing up).
And this was another one I completed. Again, I struggled with the colors, the textures, filling in large areas and making it look nice, etc. I probably should look up how to do this better? Ha! I did up doing a little research but it wasn’t much help on the fourth one.
Yikes, it was the worst.
I should have gone over the dogs a few more times and the bow is a complete mess! When mixing my own colors, I haven’t figured out how much to mix. Hoping to improve on that soon.
Some fun tips I’ve learned about painting by numbers in case you want to explore something similar:
Color matching is hard! Yikes. I did the best I could and it was meh.
Painting clear gesso on the whole thing first makes the paint stick better. When you’re done with the painting, paint the back of the board in clear gesso to help the board flatten up a bit.
Adding an acrylic flow aid is a good way to make tiny spots easier to paint.
Thanks for reading and indulging me in these Final Fridays emails. Feel free to share your own projects in the comments!
Hit the ❤️ below!
Leaving this message on a screen to co-sign temporary boycotts of the goddamn screens! Admirable that you just keep going and going. Your colors will look better, you'll pick up other tips, and your house'll be Louvre-in' it up in no time.