: How to make this painting look more realistic? I am no artist. But I spotted a paint by numbers kit which looked pretty cool at my grans, the image on the box was really nice, anyway as

@Shanna688

Just found your question from last year. Don't know if you changed your painting. I think you can definitely improve it. I'm not an expert - have done Paint by Numbers, some non-PBN kits (Famous Art Kits), and a couple group painting classes.

I think what you want is to (1) blur the odd PBN shapes, and (2) lighten/mute the colors.

I suggest getting a 3-pack of basic painting brushes, for about -4). With a small brush and a light hand, do some tiny brushstrokes of a light color, all around the fur. Switch to another light color. Switch back. You will be layering paint, which looks more realistic. In some places, the brushstrokes will be wavy, because it's fur. Don't try too hard. You're not looking for perfection, which tends to look fake - but impressionism, which ironically, looks more realistic.

I would repaint the nose, so you can make the shine softer. What were they thinking?!

If you want, you could soften the background - but I don't think it's essential.

Put a dot of white symmetrically in each eye when you're done (think Minions) - makes it look more real.

I'm really glad you asked this. I had been avoiding PBN, but now I realize I can improve them as well. Cheers.

Vote Up Vote Down

@Shelley591

Paint-by-numbers, by design, is a low resolution drawing.

The painting on the box is a high resolution drawing.

This is called 'marketing' (Making something look better than reality) :)

Vote Up Vote Down