YOU GUYS. I’m CRUSHING HARD ON THIS!
I don’t think I’ve been as excited about something like I am about this in a very long time!
From the beginning of the year I’ve had an urge to paint, but I always found some excuse not to do it. And then at the beginning of February I got a DM on Instagram from Paintillio about their business and Kickstarter campaign for this custom paint by numbers kit and immediately I was on board. SIGN. ME. UP.
Their idea is genius!
You can literally send in ANY (good quality) PHOTO and they turn it into a custom paint by numbers canvas that YOU get to paint!
Unfortunately, because they’re a small business (two amazing woman, Jess and Lyssa) who do all the work themselves, literally hand-mixing every single paint color for each project, they can’t create these amazing paint by numbers kits at an affordable price point for personal projects.
They started their business just over a year ago and have done private projects and events like weddings and huge wall murals where lots of people can pitch in and paint ( HOW COOL IS THAT? – I think I may want to get one for Dogwood! ) but getting smaller projects to us little people at an affordable price point has been more challenging. So they started the Kickstarter campaign to gain backing for their project to get machines to do the paint mixing for them.
Get the lowdown by watching the video below…
Not only am I 100% supportive of women startups, their custom paint by numbers idea is just amazing. I’ve been sharing my progress on my Instagram stories (and will continue, so follow along to see my real-time painting – I’ve highlighted them too under PAINTILLIO so you can see them all still) and I’ll post my finished painting here when I’m done next week or so. I literally can’t paint fast enough… and I can’t wait to see how it’s going to turn out! I’m loving it so far!
Check out the Paintillio Kickstarter page and donate if you can to help Paintillio get to the masses! You can donate (or just follow and share them socially to spread the word!) but they’ve also got deals on all of their kits.
The kit they sent me is on the higher end but it came with a 24 x 24″ ready to hang numbered canvas, an easy to asseble wooden easel, 29 paint colors in the cutest little glass corked jars I’ve ever seen with enough paint to finish 3 canvases (and you better believe I’m saving them after I’m done!), a set of beautiful paint brushes, two jars for water and holding the brushes, a wiping cloth and a painter’s apron. This particular kit is available for $565
They have a larger version (24″ x 36″) of the same kit for $595 …but they ALSO HAVE PaintSMALLIO kits for far less, though still expensive, but you’re getting an amazingly customized piece of artwork that you get to paint!
The next size down is a 12″ x 18″ numbered canvas and comes with the numbered paints and brushes and the cloth for $195.
The smallest size they offer is a 12″ x 12″ numbered canvas that also comes with the paints and brushes and cloth as well and it’s $125
And remember, any of your purchases are helping them build their business by hitting their Kickstarter goal! It’s a win win. You give and you get! They also make great gifts for friends and family 🙂
Check out their Kickstarter page and purchase or donate here! They only have until March 14th to hit their goal. I’m so rooting for them!
The Image I chose…
If you’re a longtime follower, you KNOW I’m a huge fan of having my dogs painted. I have one large painting by Nicole Newsted of Bebop and LeRoy in my reading room and Victorian portraits of each of them separately as well. Eventually I want to have Luke Jervis paint Trevor and Randy in their very own Victorian portraits, but I thought it would be fun to have a larger painting of the both of them together as well.
I love this image of me with the Bobes on my bed from my Marilyn Monroe inspired photo shoot a few years ago (we share a birthday) and I thought it would be the perfect image to use. I also loved the colors in the photo because I can hang it in my office or my master bedroom if I wanted, since it’s so personal. It’s not something I’d display in my living room, it’s just for me. I also knew that since the paint by numbers portrait would be a little abstract, that the Marilyn vibe along with it reminded me slightly of a Warhol piece… obviously very loosely, I know I’m not fooling anyone, but still, for all those reasons, I chose this photo.
HOWEVER, I wanted Trevor and Randy to be looking at the camera and if you’ve ever tried taking photos of your pets, it’s nearly impossible to get both focused on the camera at the same time. So I found two photos of their faces that I loved but that I also knew would work with their positioning in the photo and I did a little photoshop magic to make it work. I think it turned out pretty great and I knew that even if it didn’t, it would still work in the abstract painting.
Above you can see the before and after shots. I also lightened my hair (because I didn’t want any yellow tones in the painting) and my skin to be more peach-hued as well, and made all the whites brighter too. Even though I look a bit like a wrestler in the shot, I still love it. 🙂
I was GIDDY when my kit arrived, I couldn’t WAIT to start!
You can see the unboxing on my Instagram stories…
I began with the lightest pink tones, which ended up being my skin. I wanted to start light so that if I messed up, the darker colors would cover my mistakes… I thought if I messed up in the dark tones, it would have been much harder for the lighter tones to conceal it. I think it was the way to go, but it did take me a while to get a good technique down.
It’s really not difficult at all, and since it’s abstract, you can easily paint outside the lines and have it not be an issue. My one mistake in the beginning was watering the paints down too much. They are thin already, but initially I thought it was much easier to paint and stay in the lines with the watered-down paints. HOWEVER, the light colors didn’t cover the lines and numbered background, so I’ll end up going over those when I’m all finished … which I’m totally okay with. I just want it to look as good as it possibly can. So my one tip would be to lay it on thick! And the thicker layered painted sections gives it a more painterly quality as well, which I love.
The paint pots are little glass jars with PLENTY of paint, not like those little plastic cups we used when we were kids that never had enough paint to finish! And their colors are so pretty, it feels like you’re painting with frosting or yogurt or I don’t know what, but they’re beautiful!
My kit also came with a printed photo of what my painting would closely look like when it’s finished AND a paper printed with the numbered design in case you accidentally painted a space with the wrong color OR, like me, have to go over already painted sections.
It’s so smart. They’ve thought of everything!
My Bobes sit on the heater vent next to me while I paint every day 🙂
A little more progress in the photo above.
This experience has been really so fun! It does take some patience and breathing techniques, lol – I find myself holding my breath when I’m focused on painting a section – but it’s super calming and totally fun. If you’re not in a rush, you can keep it in a little corner somewhere in your house and just paint a little at a time when you want to zen out on something and be creative without too much work.
So stay tuned for the final piece and follow my Insta Stories to see me painting in real time… It’s already turning out really cool. I’m just overly excited about it, can you tell? 🙂
Follow on I N S T A G R A M // @paintillio
Get your own custom paint by numbers kit here and help these women turn their passion projects into a thriving business!
