your great aunt b

This last weekend I decided to dive into a new hobby ... why? Why not? I have always wanted to paint ... but I don't have that kind of talent! And I was watching Mona Lisa Smile with my chubby bunny friend (she had her wisdom teeth out last weekend) and they paint by numbers and it reminded me that I had seen a kit in Pulp on 14th street. So I thought that this would be a great time to take up painting by numbers.


I believe I officially became an old grandma or your great Aunt B (hey, my nieces and nephews call me Aunt B anyway, might as well add the great - meaning old - now that I paint by numbers). But did you know that the paint by numbers hearkens back to the 1950's? I bet you didn't. Between 1952 and 1954 North Americans bought 12 million kits and the fad soon spread to Europe and the Far East. Macy's in NYC of course was at first the only retail store to sell the kits developed by artist Dan Robbins and paint manufacturer Max Klein (the kit idea was to boost sales for Klein's Palmer Paint Company in Detroit). Robbins cites Leonardo da Vinci as his primary inspiration, saying that he remembered hearing in art school that da Vinci had drawn segments of large paintings for pupils to fill in with numerically coded colors, after which the master applied finishing touches. Anyway - all this info. is from the book that came along with my kit - interesting huh?!


I took the first picture after my first "studio session" ... I call it ... Still Life: Paradise (real original, I know). You'll notice that I am following correct paint by numbers technique by painting all parts of one color at a time. Oh, and that tall glass of orange drink is not tang or pineapple orange juice ... that is the glass I thoroughly clean my brush in and then dab on a paper towel - just as the instructions told me to do. I also must note that this is my first time and because that is the case I picked a "canvas" I didn't particularly like. I have ten to choose from and I would say that I don't like 5 of them. The above picture is what the painting should look like when I am through ... blah and uninspiring. Would I ever really want to have a painting of "Parrots in Paradise" hanging on my wall??? I think not. And thus it is the practice run.


This is my progress as off yesterday - but I must confess that I didn't finish painting all of the blue background yet ... it takes sooo much time and I was just too tired after an hour or so. But you can kind of see it taking shape can't you???!!! So fun!

And in conclusion, this is one of the canvases I will NEVER paint ... all I have to say is boo! I guess I am not your grandma after all.