In Which Order Should You Paint a Paint by Numbers?
Every guide says "dark to light" and then stops. That rule is real, but it is one of three that matter, and they sometimes contradict each other. Here is what each one is actually for, and what to do when they conflict.
Rule 1: top to bottom, and away from your hand
This is the one that saves you from smudging, and it beats the other two whenever they disagree. Your hand rests on the canvas while you paint. Anything under it that is still wet gets ruined.
So: start at the top edge and work down. If you are right-handed, move left to right within each band; left-handed, the other way. Put a sheet of paper under your painting hand regardless — it costs nothing and it catches the mistakes this rule misses.
Rule 2: dark to light
The reason for this rule is coverage. Light paint over a dark area needs two or three coats; dark paint over light covers in one. If you paint the light areas first and then have to correct an edge with a dark colour, you win. The other way around you lose an evening.
There is a second reason nobody mentions: the dark areas are usually the outlines of the subject. Once they are in, the painting stops looking like a random patchwork and you can see where it is going. That matters more than it sounds like at hour three.
Rule 3: one colour at a time, largest first
Open one pot, find every area with that number, paint them all, close the pot. This is the rule that saves the most time. Swapping colours means rinsing and drying the brush every time, and that is where a session leaks its minutes.
Start with the colour that covers the most surface. It gets the big empty spaces out of the way and gives you something to judge the rest against.
When the rules conflict
They will. The darkest colour is often in the bottom half of the canvas, so "dark first" and "top first" pull in opposite directions.
The order of priority:
- Do not smudge. Never paint next to something that is still wet, whatever colour it is.
- One colour at a time, as long as the areas are not adjacent and still wet.
- Dark before light, when you have the choice.
In practice this comes down to: work through your colours from dark to light, but within each colour go top to bottom, and skip any area that touches something you painted in the last few minutes. Come back to it at the end of the pass.
The details go last
Eyes, lettering, the thin light lines in hair — leave all of it until the surrounding areas are dry. These are the areas where a slip is visible, and they are easiest when you can rest your hand on finished, dry paint. Trying to do the eyes early, on a canvas that is still half wet, is how first paintings get abandoned.
Drying time, honestly
Acrylic is touch-dry in fifteen to thirty minutes and properly dry in a couple of hours. Touch-dry is enough to paint next to it. It is not enough to rest your whole palm on it. If you are unsure, test on an area that will be covered by another colour anyway.
What this looks like as a session
| Session | What you do |
|---|---|
| First | Stir every pot. Paint the two or three darkest colours, top to bottom. The subject appears. |
| Middle | Work through the mid-tones, one colour per pass. This is the bulk of the hours. |
| Second to last | The lightest colours and the highlights. Second coats where the print shows through. |
| Last | Eyes, fine lines, edges. Fresh light, fresh eyes, small brush. |
Before any of this
The order only helps if the pattern underneath is good. If the areas are too small for a brush, no painting order fixes that — that is decided when the canvas is made. See how many colours your painting needs and, for the brushes themselves, which brushes you actually need.