Monday, September 23, 2013

Easy123Art - a review


Back in April, I was reading an issue of Modern Cat magazine when I saw an ad for Easy123Art I thought that it looked really interesting and I thought it would be fun to contact them to see if they might be willing to send me one so I could review it on my blog.

I looked around and saw they had a Facebook page, so I contacted them there. They replied in August telling me to send them a picture and they would send me a sample kit.

It took me a while to decide what photo to send. It is hard for me to single out one of my own cats for the honor, so I picked one of my favorite photos from around that time..

Yup, it is the great and wonderful Odilia!
A few days later the kit arrived..


The canvas is mounted on a wood frame for easy displaying. Everything was included, including those two paintbrushes. Since they gave me a 'detailed' version of the image I didn't think those brushes would cut it. The instructions say you can trim them, but it has been decades since I did a paint by number and I didn't really want to fumble around with it so I went to the local hobby store and got one of the finest detail brushes I could. It was great for the wee bitty bits, but a bit harder on the slightly larger ones.

The kit also came with a paper copy of the image for you to practice on. I immediately made a few more copies of it because as I said, it has been decades and I don't remember being all that good at it the first time around and I was so expecting them to give me a 'simple' version of the kit.. but I figured I would just go really slowly and take my time and have fun with it.


After starting the sample, I figured I'd finish it so I would have two copies. The instructions say that the paint would cover up the numbers, and it did for the smaller ones, but the larger numbers were not so easily covered and I had to go over them three or four times. The numbers on the paper copy were much harder to cover.

the lines are very visible on the paper copy

All in all, it took me somewhere between five to seven hours over 10 days or so to finish it. I probably could have done it less time if I didn't do both images and since the paint dries pretty quickly I really didn't need to wait as long as I did. I really enjoyed doing it, and it was so fun to watch the photo come to life. I am both disappointed and pleased that the colors were not true to the photo. Odilia is a silver gray kitty but the paint she came out brown / gold. I don't like it because it isn't her color, but I love it because it goes very well in my bedroom where I've currently chosen to hang it.  *update* Rene mentioned vintage in her comment, and that makes a lot of sense.  They do offer a 'vintage' option which would change the colors if you want to, and I bet that is what they did.

I have more than enough paint left over to do several more of these. They also gave me more paint than was necessary to do the image. Greens, blues, and reds were all included I am guessing because it is easier to include standard paints that have the numbers needed than to put only the necessary paint in the pots they send out.  After I was done, I thought it might be fun to do it again but changing up the colors and making it all psychedelic.. I don't think I will.. but I would seriously consider purchasing from them in the future..



Easy123Art provided the material, but the review is 100% mine..

13 comments:

  1. WOW! despite the colour, it is so obviously Odi. It's a taken painting by numbers to a different level!! Well done on your patience in getting it right .. well as right as you could!

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  2. So glad I read your review because I've seen these kits advertised. I'd be very disappointed about colors not matching if it was me spending all that time. However, the finished product is truly adorable! Thanks!

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  3. How fun!! I haven't done paint by numbers since I was a little girl. Cute!
    xo Catherine

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  4. the pictures are adorable...but I agree it is a shame the colors aren't right.

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  5. You can get a custom paint by number? I had no idea. While the colors are off, it sure turned out nicely. Much nicer than the "vintage" paint by numbers I've seen. Thanks for sharing--this is neat.

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  6. ooh.. vintage.. maybe that explains the color difference?? they do offer that as an option..

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  7. Well. That is TOO COOL!

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  8. The painting looks great, even with the wrong colors for Odilia - you can still tell it is her, and a very nice rendition of her at that.

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  9. Oh the picture is so lovely! And sounds lots of fun. It sure is fun to see the photo come to life!

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  10. You did a great job! Even with the wrong colors we can tell that it's Odilia.

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  11. it looks very vintage to me ,Love it,xx Rachel

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  12. looks like fun!!! They should have offered a give-away for your readers with the exposure :)

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  13. This sounds like something we could get Dad for a special gift. Nothing he would like better than to spend more of his free time working on, well, us.
    Timmy

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