Painting by Numbers and the Freedom to Express

Painting by numbers or paint by numbers also known as diy painting by numbers is a type of art activity that has been around since 1950s. As the name suggested, it is a type of art performed by filling numbered areas with specific colours that have been numbered to match.

Today, I would like to share with you a quote from the Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paint_by_number) about the beautiful history of painting by numbers. It is so touching that it has influenced me to start this business and the hope to share the joy of being able to create a beautiful painting the first time anyone try:

"In 1951 Palmer Paint introduced the Craft Master brand which sold over 12 million kits. This public response induced other companies to produce their own versions of paint by number. The Craft Master paint-kit box tops proclaimed, "A BEAUTIFUL OIL PAINTING THE FIRST TIME YOU TRY." Following the death of Max Klein in 1993, his daughter, Jacquelyn Schiffman, donated the Palmer Paint Co. archives to the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

The archival materials have been placed in the museum's Archives Center where they have been designated collection #544, the Paint by Number Collection, available to both the public and museum staff for research and exhibition purposes. Artifacts which establish Max Klein as the inventor and main merchandizer of these items have been placed in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

Employees from the Voyager Telecommunications Section, too anxious to wait for the first official processed image from Mars, attached strips side by side to a display panel and hand colored the numbers like a paint-by-numbers picture.In 1992, Michael O'Donoghue and Trey Speegle organized and mounted a show of O'Donoghue's paint by number collection In New York City at the Bridgewater/ Lustberg Gallery. After O'Donoghue's passing in 1994 the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History exhibited many key pieces from O'Donoghue's collection, now owned by Speegle, along with works from other collectors in 2001. Since then, the vintage kits and paintings have experienced a resurgence through yard sales and eBay auctions.

In 2008, a private collector in Massachusetts assembled over 6,000 paint by number works dating back to the 1950s from eBay and other American collectors to create the Paint By Number Museum, the world's largest online archive of paint by number works.

In 2011, The Museum of Modern Art in New York accepted four early designs of Paint by Number by Max Klein for its Department of Architecture and Design, donated by Jacquelyn Schiffman.

In May 2011, the original inventors of paint by numbers, Dan Robbins and Palmer Paint Products, Inc., together developed and brought to market a new 60th anniversary paint by number set. This collectors set was created in memory of the survivors and those who had lost their lives on September 11, 2001, and depicts the Twin Towers standing in spirit across the Manhatan skyline. A portion of the proceeds of this set is being donated to the charitable organization Voices of September 11th."

After reading the above, it makes me realise that painting by numbers is not just about putting paint into an already printed areas or even worst as suggested by some people as the "beginner's art" or the "cheat sheet". Whilst it might be true (depending on how you view it, afterall everyone has the right to have their own opinion), my own interpretation of the history is that it is about helping anyone, anyone who appreciates arts to be able to create their own masterpiece. It is about helping the would be artists to develop their confidence and to have the freedom to express and connect with their artistic nature.

Whilst painting by numbers kits are normally pre-assigned with a certain colour, it really is up to the artist to express how they would like their painting to look and feel like at the completion. 

I hope you enjoy this article and I certainly hope that this article can create a great perception of how people value painting by numbers kit.