What to do before starting your painting

There are things you need to do before you start on any custom pet portraits. They include the following:
• Find a room which is well lit and comfortable in which you are going to do the painting. The more detailed the kit seems to be, the tinier the spaces and the numbers might be. For the one with small spaces, you can utilize a lamp and a magnifying glass as they might be helpful.

• Get a table or desk which is comfortable where you will paint. When you are hunched over for so long a time, it might be bad for your back and neck and thus, a need to try making sure that you are comfortable, changing positions more frequently. Having to switch between paintings on a table top or flat surface easel is known to help.

• Clear the space of anything which shouldn’t get dirty or wet. As careful as you might be, the paint at times finds its way on something other than on the canvas.

• You have to ensure that you use your phone to take a digital picture of the canvas you are going to use. It is something which might give you a reference sheet that is permanent which you will not misplace, tear, spill paint, crumple, burn, or shred. It will be possible for you to zoom in on whatever small spaces or numbers. With that, you can ditch the use of the magnifying glass.

• Get a small water cup and a few paper towels. Ensuring that the brush remains most but not very saturated is necessary throughout the entire process. It is recommended that you go for one number, one color at any given time because it will ensure your paints are able to stay fresh and moist for the whole kit. To make it possible for the brush to remain clean and moist, you will need to dip the brush in water and then dry the excess water off using your towel. Ensure to clean it well whenever you are switching the numbers and colors

There are various ways of preparing your canvas. If you feel like using the gesso before the painting, you need to understand more about it. Gesso is not a must when handling acrylic paintings. So what is gesso and why are people using it? It is a primer which ensures that the paint is able to go on smoothly, making the canvas to be more absorbent. But it is not very necessary when it comes to acrylic paints as compared to when using oil paints.

The acrylic paints don’t corrode the way the oil paints do, making gesso to be less important. It is up to you if you want to utilize gesso or not. But it is recommended that, if you are using acrylic paint by number kits, no need. Gesso for acrylic paints will ensure that the canvas becomes smoother and more absorbent but might smudge your lines and numbers, making it more likely to run out the paint for your own paint by number kit.