So one of my New Years resolutions was find new ways to destress. Just started this masterpiece tonight and it got me wondering, has anyone else tried this? Anyone actually finished one?
I saw “adult paint by numbers” and thought I would need to add an NSFW warning. I’m mildly disappointed.
(I have coloring books and colored pencils, I hope to use them someday.)
I have a couple of these. It takes me about 6 months to do the most detailed ones. About a month on the smaller ones or the larger ones without the tiny bits. I get pretty hyper focused and time and stress just melt away.
They are addicting!
I’ve done some. I enjoy it. They still come out like paint by numbers tho. I also have adult coloring books but I don’t like all the spirals and just designs. I found some with actual pictures and I enjoy that too. But prob my fav destresser would be jigsaw puzzles. Online ones too. Online jigsaw puzzles
@lseeber Oh, geez! I don’t know whether to thank you for the puzzle link or glower because I know my resolve for keeping my screen time to 8 hours a day has just been shot down.
@lseeber@magic_cave
I love doing on-line jigsaw puzzles! I prefer the “magic puzzle” app. I like the way it works a lot better and it’s free. Well what I really meant was, I ONLY do the free ones.
Painting by numbers would be a stress inducer for me. Any time I accidentally had too much paint on my brush and it oozed over the line, I would be giving my best Charlie Brown “aaugh!”.
My wife did this and enjoyed it, and I have thought periodically about arranging it as a thing to do with my office staff. I understand that the painting:fun ratio is directly proportional to the alcohol:consumption ratio. I can work with that.
@pooflady
Check Amazon. They have so-called adult coloring books for every level of de-stressing you could want.
I have quite a few that are Zendoodle (I think that’s what they are called), but I found some that are simpler designs. Fewer teeny areas, no zendoodle designs inside of designs. I found one for DD that is Dr Who themed. I can help you if you need.
@pooflady Yeah, also found that out about my own needs. Which Ghods of Evil Intent ever thought adults (many of us with less than optimal eyesight) would really find relaxation in working with 1960’s acid-trip images of flowers and paisley?
@pooflady Not technically a coloring book, but the author has retweeted pictures of it colored in, so he definitely approves of it being defaced… The mentioned-in-a-previous-thread Everyone’s a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too is a destresser just to read, and the adorable illustrations (not super detailed!) beg to be colored. I have it on Kindle, but think I’ll be getting myself a physical copy soon (the Kindle doesn’t like to be colored, so much).
@pooflady@sarahsandroid
I sometimes make my own designs for my mother-in-law when she runs out of her coloring books. Just make endless swirls & twirls, it does the trick and she loves them! The adult coloring books are to light and to small, she can’t see the print.
Good luck!
Have you thought about ironing your paper before you get too far in? Ironing it and pinning it to a foam core board (available for $1 at Dollar Tree) would help make the project more doable and less stressful. Trying to paint on that surface would drive me nuts. Plus you could stand it up when you aren’t working on it.
I haven’t done paint by number since grade school, but I do original art in most media.
@RiotDemon I used to have a subscription to Playgirl. My friend came by and found me sculpting with a copy pinned up that I was using for posture and musculature. He said he’d never believed anyone actually ever used a skin mag for art.
@RiotDemon I never thought you were clueless, it’s just my kids don’t know anyone over the age of 30. In the issue issue I had with Don Johnson he was really young, totally naked, dick on display, and standing under a waterfall if I remember correctly. I guess he needed cash and never expected to be a star.
I saw “adult paint by numbers” and thought I would need to add an NSFW warning. I’m mildly disappointed.
(I have coloring books and colored pencils, I hope to use them someday.)
@Thumperchick i, too, came here with high hopes.
Nice painting! It’s super detailed. Looks like it will take a long time. (Approximately forever at the pace I complete personal projects).
I have a couple of these. It takes me about 6 months to do the most detailed ones. About a month on the smaller ones or the larger ones without the tiny bits. I get pretty hyper focused and time and stress just melt away.
They are addicting!
@sarahsandroid
I’d love to see pics if you have any.
Taking that much time out to de-stress would cause too much stress.
I’ve done some. I enjoy it. They still come out like paint by numbers tho. I also have adult coloring books but I don’t like all the spirals and just designs. I found some with actual pictures and I enjoy that too. But prob my fav destresser would be jigsaw puzzles. Online ones too.
Online jigsaw puzzles
@lseeber Oh, geez! I don’t know whether to thank you for the puzzle link or glower because I know my resolve for keeping my screen time to 8 hours a day has just been shot down.
@magic_cave hahah… I have done those puzzles a LOT!! Some, twice.
@magic_cave ditto. I just wasted ~41mins on a single puzzle.
@elimanningface Fun, ain’t it?!
@lseeber @magic_cave
I love doing on-line jigsaw puzzles! I prefer the “magic puzzle” app. I like the way it works a lot better and it’s free. Well what I really meant was, I ONLY do the free ones.
Painting by numbers would be a stress inducer for me. Any time I accidentally had too much paint on my brush and it oozed over the line, I would be giving my best Charlie Brown “aaugh!”.
Well I’ll let you all know how it turns out…if it turns out that is.
@mandirose yes, it’d be awesome if you posted it when you’re done. Just don’t stress about it.
My wife did this and enjoyed it, and I have thought periodically about arranging it as a thing to do with my office staff. I understand that the painting:fun ratio is directly proportional to the alcohol:consumption ratio. I can work with that.
@shahnm so there this new website called Casemates…
@Targaryen
Arguably better than Case-Mate.
Might I suggest this?
Penguin paint by numbers.
Spoiler alert: It involves penguins.
I’d like to find a teenage coloring book. I like to color, but the adult coloring books would send me round the bend.
@pooflady
Check Amazon. They have so-called adult coloring books for every level of de-stressing you could want.
I have quite a few that are Zendoodle (I think that’s what they are called), but I found some that are simpler designs. Fewer teeny areas, no zendoodle designs inside of designs. I found one for DD that is Dr Who themed. I can help you if you need.
@pooflady
@sarahsandroid Thank you both. Turns out it wasn’t teenage I wanted, it was seniors!
@pooflady Yeah, also found that out about my own needs. Which Ghods of Evil Intent ever thought adults (many of us with less than optimal eyesight) would really find relaxation in working with 1960’s acid-trip images of flowers and paisley?
@pooflady Not technically a coloring book, but the author has retweeted pictures of it colored in, so he definitely approves of it being defaced… The mentioned-in-a-previous-thread Everyone’s a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too is a destresser just to read, and the adorable illustrations (not super detailed!) beg to be colored. I have it on Kindle, but think I’ll be getting myself a physical copy soon (the Kindle doesn’t like to be colored, so much).
@pooflady @sarahsandroid
I sometimes make my own designs for my mother-in-law when she runs out of her coloring books. Just make endless swirls & twirls, it does the trick and she loves them! The adult coloring books are to light and to small, she can’t see the print.
Good luck!
Have you thought about ironing your paper before you get too far in? Ironing it and pinning it to a foam core board (available for $1 at Dollar Tree) would help make the project more doable and less stressful. Trying to paint on that surface would drive me nuts. Plus you could stand it up when you aren’t working on it.
I haven’t done paint by number since grade school, but I do original art in most media.
@moondrake @mandirose
Oh jeeze, just noticed this post is from 2018!! I bet you know by now wether or not you finished!
Can’t say I’ve tried, what with my house needing painting for reals.
Cat plushies are my destress.
https://www.teeturtle.com/products/reversible-cat-mini
@narfcake we got these for my kids at Christmas. They played with them for about 30 minutes and I haven’t seen the stuffed animals since.
@capguncowboy @narfcake I feel like it’d be handy to keep one at my desk, let my coworkers know right off the bat what sort of mood I’m in…
@mandirose Is that a cat in the photo? How long until it wants to play with the crinkly paper and drags paint across the floor?
@medz It is actually a dog, easy to confuse him for a large cat though
Aw…who is a cute kitty? Yes, you are!
@medz
Did you just call @mandirose a cute kitty?
@PlacidPenguin
/giphy meow
@mandirose @medz
A real beauty!!
@mfladd art is just an excuse for you to look at butts.
@RiotDemon I used to have a subscription to Playgirl. My friend came by and found me sculpting with a copy pinned up that I was using for posture and musculature. He said he’d never believed anyone actually ever used a skin mag for art.
@RiotDemon
@moondrake nice. I’ve looked at one playgirl in my life.
RIP Peter Steele
@RiotDemon The one issue of Playgirl I owned had Don Johnson in it. (He’s the guy from Miami Vice if you need to look it up.)
@sammydog01 thanks for remembering that I’m young and clueless!
Peter Steele, bless him… he did not realize that playgirl was mostly read by gay men when he agreed to do it.
@RiotDemon
I never thought you were clueless, it’s just my kids don’t know anyone over the age of 30. In the issue issue I had with Don Johnson he was really young, totally naked, dick on display, and standing under a waterfall if I remember correctly. I guess he needed cash and never expected to be a star.
@sammydog01 haha, I’m not quite that clueless. Older stuff sometimes slips by since I wasn’t in the states until 1990.
The only Miami Vice I’ve seen is the remake with Colin Farrell.
I can’t see myself taking so much time painting something that doesn’t look that pretty in the end. IMO.
I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to art. I think I’d drive myself crazy.
I should probably add… if I do an adult paint by number… I chuck it when I’m done. Not artwork I want to keep.