Weaving diverse media styles with a bit of low brow…
Altered Paint By Numbers is a collection of actual paint-by-numbers canvases in which I have thrown away the color key and prepackaged Paint By Number (PBN) paint tubs, substituting higher grade Acrylics.
PBNs had its heyday in the 1950s and 60s; the world was in crisis after crisis, the Cold War was heating up. Novice artists, housewives with free time, and parents looking to encourage creativity in their children were encouraged to sit and relax, creating art for the masses: usually pastoral landscapes and portraits.
Once altered there is pleasure in the strangely familiar feeling of many of the works, and a bit of tension from interpretations. In some I only threw away the color key; in others I changed a bit of the scenery or added key words.
A few of these PBN have been further altered with acrylic, colored pencil, feathers, ribbon, rapidiograph, assorted textures, sprinkles, sparkles, sheen and shine, assorted textures and sprinkled with a bit of magic; and in many cases – mystery.
In this PBN; I changed the painting strokes, I eliminated the dry road and added a babbling brook. I also changed the name of the shack to “Love Shack” (“…The love shack is a little old place where we can get together; Love Shack, baby”
Title: A River Runs Through It
Medium: Acrylics on Paint By Number Board. SOLD
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In this PBN using quality Acrylics I played off the pastoral landscape with a gentle reminder of “Stay Calm”; using tints of each corresponding color inside each letter
Title: Stay Calm
Medium: Acrylics on Paint By Number Board. SOLD
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This PBN is a bit of a memory, I added a few Scatterlings© amid wild horses in a surrealistic lightning storm. You Be Trippin’… you would have had to have been there.
Title: You Be Trippin’
Medium: Acrylics on Paint By Number Board. SOLD
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I used the same color scheme above as in this set of PBNs (above and below). I used quality Acrylics; what you can’t quite see until you look up close and in person are the gold metallic highlights.
Title: Altered PBN; one of two.
Medium: Acrylics on Paint By Number Board
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Title: Altered PBN; two of two.
Medium: Acrylics on Paint By Number Board
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In this PBN I honored a recent change I made in life. I altered the summer setting to that of fiery autumn colors – burning strongly and brightly;having a passionate, quick-tempered nature. “Metanoia: change in one’s way of life resulting from penitence or spiritual conversion.”
Title: Metanoia
Medium: Acrylics on Paint By Number Board
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In this PBN using quality Acrylics I played off the pastoral landscape with a gentle reminder of “Stay Calm”; using tints of each corresponding color inside each letter
Title: Suddenly Left Alone Again On The Sunny Path
Medium: Acrylics on Paint By Number Board
I don’t take too much credit for this painting. I did paint it but I found the black and white underpainting canvas for $4; the color key and paints missing. It was perfect for my purpose: to relight my creative spark.
