Real Art!: The Paint by Number Book & Kit

I expected this to be the book and the kit as described in the description. Was very disappointed that it was only the book, no kit.

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!

Very pleased with price and quality. Everything you need to paint and wonderful pictures included.

Paint the Mona Lisa! This is a great paint by number set, but not your typical paint by number. Have your kids painting great works of Art.

Just bought a copy of Douglas Brenner's Real Art ! In a word, stupdendous. I labored over the Mona Lisa for several weeks. This is almost as good as the original. Authentic colors, vivid hues, all at a reasonable cost. If you're looking to buy a gift early for the kids for Christmas, this is the perfect choice for "hues". Enjoy and don't listen to those other reviews. They're way off the mark - Jeanne

Luv this kit ! I have absolutely no artistic ability and when I got done I was painting like Monet. A great gift for kids too.