Paint-by-Numbers Tips: Why Advice on Water, Varnish and Painting Order Conflicts

There is no single paint-by-numbers technique that works for every brand. Official instructions and users’ experiences disagree about adding water, applying gloss varnish, and painting dark or light colors first. Start with the instructions for the materials you own, then test a small area for coverage, flow and the surface after drying.

If the paint has already dried rather than simply become thick, start with the three-level dried-paint check.

Adding water: the sources really do give opposite advice

ArtLife’s beginner guide allows 1–2 drops of clean water when paint is too thick. The FAQ on the same page also advises stirring in 1–2 drops when discussing paint that has started to dry.

A Dcard user’s paint-by-numbers account, by contrast, emphatically says not to add water, citing loss of color saturation. It also advises blotting the brush with tissue after rinsing it.

HOMEHERE’s FAQ takes a similar approach to the user: paint directly without wetting the brush, then dry the brush after washing it between colors before picking up more paint.

The three sources are not discussing exactly the same situation. ArtLife addresses overly thick paint or paint beginning to dry. Dcard and HOMEHERE focus on avoiding continued dilution during normal painting. Permission to adjust thick paint slightly is not an instruction to dilute every color as you work. One user’s experience does not establish that every formula must never touch water, either.

How to decide whether your paint needs water

Stir with a clean tool first; do not transfer brush-rinsing water into the pot. If the paint still moves evenly but is too thick, make only the smallest adjustment permitted by its manufacturer. If it has formed a skin or hard flakes, water cannot reverse that dry film.

After adjusting, test at the edge of the canvas. If the brush glides more easily but the printed outlines become harder to cover, you are trading coverage for flow. Stop adding water and let the test area dry before deciding whether to add another coat.

Gloss varnish: neither always necessary nor always forbidden

ArtLife’s product FAQ advises against gloss varnish. Its stated reason is that the varnish and its paint have different properties and may react, causing discoloration over time.

For preserving a finished painting’s colors, HOMEHERE’s FAQ recommends a protective gloss varnish. Manto also sells a three-in-one gloss medium, listing clear and glitter options.

This disagreement cannot be settled by counting votes: the paint and finishing products may use different formulas. If your manufacturer explicitly advises against a product, another brand selling it does not override that warning. A supplier offering a compatible medium establishes only its position on its own combination. Before deciding, check whether the label specifies acrylic compatibility, whether a test is required, and the application conditions once the painting is fully dry.

When the lines and numbers show through, identify the cause

Pale and highly saturated colors may have lower hiding power. In its FAQ and after-sales guidance, Manto acknowledges that colors such as pure red, yellow, orange and green are harder to cover with. It suggests covering the numbers with white first, letting that dry, and then applying the intended color.

ArtLife’s product FAQ also recommends building up pale colors in layers, allowing each coat to dry before adding the next. That is its guidance for its own materials, not a guarantee for every paint and canvas. Let the previous layer dry before covering it with the correct color; repeatedly brushing a half-dry surface can create particles.

Paint diluted with water leaves less pigment in each coat, so covering the outlines may become harder. This explains how advice favoring water for smoother application and advice against water to preserve saturation can both exist.

Painting order depends on the problem you want to solve

Common sequences serve different purposes:

• Completing one color number at a time reduces repeated brush washing and searching for colors.
• Working from top to bottom reduces the chance of resting your hand on wet paint.
• Painting the background first establishes large areas before subject details.
• Starting with light colors reduces the impact of accidentally transferring dark paint into them.
• Starting with dark colors establishes outlines and tonal relationships earlier.

ArtLife favors light to dark, top to bottom and one color at a time. The Dcard user describes completing the numbered colors in sequence. Neither has to invalidate the other. Your working position, dominant hand, the size and location of areas, and the risk of touching wet paint all affect which order is convenient.

Difficulty labels are not comparable across brands

Paint Plot’s difficulty guide explicitly bases Easy, Medium, Hard and Advanced on the size of the areas: smaller areas are harder. Davincified’s guide considers color count, area size and subject matter together, and its products offer 24-, 36- and 48-color options.

Two kits labeled easy may therefore contain very different densities of tiny areas. Two 24-color kits need not have the same detail level. Look at the smallest shapes, facial details or gradients, canvas dimensions and whether an enlarged outline reference is available, rather than relying only on a difficulty name.

A workflow that does not depend on one brand

1. Photograph the printed design and the arrangement of color numbers before starting, in case labels wear off.
2. Open only one paint pot at a time, and close it immediately after taking paint to reduce moisture loss.
3. Test a small area for the original consistency, coverage and dry color.
4. Wash the brush when changing colors and blot excess water so rinse water does not enter the paint.
5. Let each coat dry before adding the next. Do not repeatedly brush back and forth over a half-dry surface.
6. When finished, check the manufacturer’s instructions for protective products. If sources conflict, use the compatibility information for the materials you actually have.

This workflow does not prescribe one painting order or turn a seller’s formula into a universal rule. It deals separately with three frequent problems: contamination, drying and coverage.

This article is part of the coloring-industry research series (Traditional Chinese), comparing paint-by-numbers kits, adult coloring books, printable coloring sheets and coloring for older adults through user needs, market participants, prices and product characteristics.

Keywords: paint-by-numbers tips, adding water to kit paint, gloss varnish, painting order, covering printed numbers, paint-by-numbers difficulty