The Paint On Numbers Promise: Quality, Community, and Service

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My name is William Murdock, and I founded Paint On Numbers because I genuinely believe that paint by numbers, done properly, is one of the most underrated creative hobbies available to adults. Not in a nostalgic or childlike way, but as a real, satisfying, screen-free activity that produces something beautiful and gives your mind a proper rest.

The market is full of kits that look appealing in product photos and disappointing in person. Thin canvases that warp at the first brushstroke. Paints so watery you can see the numbered canvas through three coats. Generic designs sourced from the same overseas catalogue as every other store. Automated custom kit processing that turns a carefully chosen photo into something unrecognisable. I know this because I tested a lot of those kits before deciding to build something different.

This page is our promise. Not a list of marketing bullet points but a specific, honest explanation of the choices we make and why we make them.

Our commitment to quality

Quality in a paint by numbers kit is not one thing. It is five things that all have to be right simultaneously. The canvas material, the paint pigmentation, the brush set, the design conversion, and the completeness of what arrives in the box. We think carefully about all five.

The canvas

Every kit we sell uses a linen blend canvas pre-primed with gesso. The gesso layer is what prevents paint from soaking straight into the fabric and going dull. It gives the acrylic something to grip and produces a smooth, even surface that makes the finished painting look like real artwork rather than a craft project. The numbers and section outlines are printed crisp enough to read clearly throughout the painting process, but not so heavy that they show through two coats of paint.

The paints

Our acrylic paints are pre-mixed and colour-matched specifically to each design, not pulled from a generic palette and assigned by rough approximation. They have enough pigment concentration to cover sections fully in one or two coats, which is the only way to avoid the frustrating experience of painting the same section four times and still seeing numbers underneath. All our paints are water-based and non-toxic.

Custom kit design review

This is where we invest the most and where the gap between us and budget alternatives is most visible. Turning a personal photo into a numbered canvas that is actually enjoyable to paint requires human judgement. Automated software assigns colour regions based on pixel data, which sounds reasonable until you try to paint the result and find that faces look muddy, important details have been lost, and sections do not make visual sense in isolation. Every custom kit we produce goes through review by a design specialist who refines the colour mapping, protects the most important elements of the image, and checks that the final canvas is genuinely paintable. That step costs more and takes longer. We do it anyway because the alternative produces kits we would not be proud to put our name on.

Production and fulfilment

Our kits are produced through a specialist overseas production partner to the quality specifications and standards we set. This allows us to offer a wider range of designs, sizes, and colour options than would otherwise be possible, while maintaining the material quality standards that matter most to us. Every order is reviewed before it ships.

Our commitment to the creative community

Paint by numbers works best when it is treated as a genuine creative practice rather than a one-time novelty purchase. We try to support that in everything we do, through our blog, through the guidance we provide with every kit, and through the way we handle things when something goes wrong.

Our blog covers the techniques that actually make a difference to your results. We have written in depth about paint by numbers tips and technique, colour blending, sealing and varnishing, fixing dried paints, and getting your canvas ready before you start. We write these because we want your experience with the hobby to be genuinely good, not just your experience with the first kit.

We share finished paintings from our customers, with permission, because the work people produce with these kits is genuinely impressive and deserves to be seen. If you have finished a kit and want to share it, we would love to hear from you.

Our commitment to service

Good service in this category means a few specific things. Being reachable when something goes wrong. Responding quickly and with a real answer rather than a template. Standing behind the product when a kit arrives damaged, or a paint pot is missing. Being honest about shipping times, product specifications, and what a custom kit will actually look like before someone orders.

We are not perfect, and we do not claim to be. Occasionally, a canvas has a crease that will not iron out, or a custom kit does not quite capture the photo the way the customer hoped. When that happens, we fix it. That is the standard we hold ourselves to and the one our customers can expect from every order.