SIOUX CITY | Staring at a canvas printed with the outlines of a face and tons of tiny numbers can be a little intimidating at first. But once you pick up your brush and start filling in the white spaces with different shades of a single color, Barb Clayton, owner of Creative Spirits, said initial fears subside.
She said it helps to take a deep breath now and then or a sip of wine.
"They're breathing-taking when they're done," Clayton said motioning to a line of finished paintings sitting on easels at the Sioux City Creative Spirits studio, 3208 Singing Hills Blvd. Among them was the head of a husky flanked by a blue sky, a blond-haired toddler sucking her thumb and two young sisters smiling as they embraced.
Gifted Custom Art allows you to upload a photo to its website. Then they use special software to convert that photo into a simple paint-by-number project that is printed on canvas. Kits come with simple instructions, paint brushes and five shades of a single color of acrylic paint
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Clayton added "Paint Who You Love" classes to Creative Spirits' studio schedule in November. She described the project as "brilliant, vibrant and fun."
"It was a neat concept that we ran across. Our normal events are similar to paint-by-number, but we guide you through it," she said. "We thought that this would be something nice and fun to add to our repertoire."
Although some customers have chosen to paint landscapes, she said a portrait-style photo works best. She said Gifted Custom Art can remove the background from the photo upon request or the client can leave it in and paint over it if they wish.
Clayton said there are several colors to choose from including brown, pink, blue, green and lavender. She said she's never seen a color palette she didn't like.
"Most people go with the gray-scale palette," she said. "I would've never picked pink, but one of our employees chose pink. Isn't the pink gorgeous!"Â
The paintings are numbered 1-5. Clayton said you start with No. 5, the darkest shade of color, and work your way down to the 1s. She said you can stop at any time to refill your wine glass and not forget where you were painting, thanks to the numbers.
"Once you get the 4s and 5s painted in, you feel pretty confident. You're seeing your painting a little bit more," she said. "Just take a breath and then move ahead."
She said the portrait of the husky took less than two hours to paint, while the picture of her granddaughter took about 3 1/2 hours.Â
"If I would've painted out my background I'd still be working on it because there was a forest in the background," she said with a chuckle.
Clayton likes to add a pop of color to her Gifted Custom Art paintings. She started with a gray-scale paint-by-number of her granddaughter, but opted to paint the background green and the child's sweater pink.
"When we do the events in the studio, we have all of the paints available for background colors," she said. "If you ordered one and did it at home, you could pick up some color or if you came in for an event sometime and wanted to take home a little container of color, you could do that also."
Creative Spirits will host a "Paint Who You Love" event from 6-9 p.m. Feb. 21 at The Meeting Place, 106 E. Second St., in Galva, Iowa. The deadline to register is Feb. 12 at 11:55 p.m. The cost is $65. Visit creativespiritssc.com or call 712-212-9588 to register for this event or future events.
You can also have a Gifted Custom Art paint-by-number kit shipped to your home. The cost is $45 plus shipping and handling with coupon code: creativespirits. Visit giftedcustomart.com to order.
