Real Art!: The Paint by Number Book & Kit Hardcover ¨C November 1, 2004

love this kit, every thing is in that you need, large pots of paint, 2 brushes and booklet telling you how to/and change the finish your painting. good for the beginer. even the numbers dont show though the paint!

This is a wonderful kit in as far as the information and basic resources you are getting. However, you have to realize that with anything you order that has items that have a shelf life such as paints there may be some problems. If you buy this from a marketplace seller and if it is used the paints may be dried up or altered due to time. It depends upon how long they have had the kit from the date of manufacturer. Also with marketplace sellers dealing in used items if you read the explanations of books that have other items involved such as cds, paints, etc. Those may not be with the books anymore. This info is stated in their explanations of the books - you need to read it. Also, the boards that the picture outlines are printed on are not top quality neither are they canvasses if they were you could not afford the kit! The same goes for the paints! The outlines on the pictures are faint blue - they have to be faint or the paint won't cover the lines. As to the amount of paint - there is enough but you HAVE TO use them sparingly they are acrylic and cover very well. You have not been sent enough to use the thickly. What you have to do to have success with this kit if you want a high quality end product is to use buy better paints -go to Walmart and buy a variety acrylic set the set in the small pots and use them. Buy some graphite paper and trace the designs onto paper made for watermedia or canvas boards stretch canvas etc. Yes this is buying extra things but again if you want to end up with a high quality end result that is what you need to do. The kit does not promise a high art quality painting. The book gives good information about different painting styles the can be used more so than your average paint by number. There is a nice picture variety and if you trace them off or photo copy them you can use them indefinitely. Just use the info they give you then you decide how you want the end result to be. Again if you buy a brand new kit then you should expect the paints to be useable but again realize that even when these paints are new they are not top quality. To keep the kit affordable the boards and paints will be on the lower end. The information and the access to the outlines is great!

I ordered this item for a friend for Christmas. When she opened it all the paints were dried up and way too thick to bring back to life. I ordered a replacement and the replacement was as bad as the original. Very disappointing for her as she is elderly and this is her hobby. I would not recommend this item. I only gave it one star because there was no "0" choice.

This kit is fantastic!!! It is really a lot of fun & the paintings cover nearly every taste in paint-by-number artwork you can think of (except for kitties!). The kit itself is really neat. One side contains the canvases, 10 in all. The canvases themselves are a Japanese scene, a French scene with a poodle, two puppies in a basket, a Southwest scene with pottery, a snowy cabin, the Mona Lisa, Sunflowers, a large ship at sea, a still-life of fruit & two parrots. The other side contains the paints, 2 brushes & a neat little book on the history of the art form. Some things to consider & are usually true with any kit. 1. The paints are REALLY thick! This is good in the sense that you can water them down a lot, but they do require prep work before you can use each paint pot. Water, stirring, more water, etc. Use some toothpicks & stir well! 2. The brushes are WAY too thick! I have some of my own brushes from other kits & you really need a very small one for the tiny pieces. 3. Always fill in the spots with the arrows before the bigger places! Otherwise, how else will you know what to do? 4. The blended colors don't always come out exactly, but that's what makes each piece unique. Try mixing with one drop at a time. I ended up making too much of a few color combos & went through the other canvases to see if I could use that color elsewhere. The colors also didn't match to the pictures in the book, sometimes they were way off! The pictures in the book were too small also, but they gave you a general idea. 5. Several colors, especially the dark ones, needed a couple of coats. You will tell this when you put on the first coat. I started with the Japanese scene & will be moving to the other pieces soon!

All the paints were like rocks, completely dried out. The canvases look great though, only wish I had paint.

How they sold this so cheaply is beyond me. Just wish it had of included the nude female painting that is in the included book. Also the Swiss Alps scene in the book,(the paint by number I saw on the tour of Alcatraz on the wall of a cell a prisoner had painted). Very nice.