Quick answer: Leonardo da Vinci, Edvard Munch and Paul Cézanne make three very different paint by numbers experiences. Da Vinci's portraits — the Mona Lisa, Lady with an Ermine, Ginevra de' Benci — are built from dozens of close skin and shadow tones, so they are the slowest and the most rewarding of the three; allow 30 to 40 hours. Munch's paintings — The Scream, Girl on the Bridge, Two Women on the Shore — are made of a few bold, sweeping shapes in strong color, which makes them the easiest famous-artist kits in the shop; 15 to 25 hours. Cézanne sits in the middle: his apples, card players and Mont Sainte-Victoire are blocks of warm and cool color that paint quickly and look painterly the moment they dry. All come as 16 × 20 inch canvases with numbered paints and brushes.
After Van Gogh, Monet and Klimt, these are the three painters people ask about most — and they could hardly be more different to paint. This guide takes each one in turn: which kits exist, what the canvas actually asks of you, how long it takes, and which painter suits which kind of evening.
What you will find in this guide
Three painters, three kinds of canvas
A paint by numbers kit turns a painting into sections, and how a painter worked decides what those sections look like. Da Vinci blended his edges until they disappeared — the technique is called sfumato, Italian for "smoky" — so a kit of the Mona Lisa approximates that smoke with many narrow bands of near-identical tone. Munch dragged color across the canvas in long, simple strokes, so his kits have fewer, larger sections than almost any other artist. Cézanne built his pictures from flat patches of color laid side by side, which is close to what a numbered canvas already is.
| Painter | What the sections look like | Difficulty | Typical time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leonardo da Vinci | Many narrow bands of close skin tones; dark, quiet backgrounds | Hard | 30 to 40 hours |
| Edvard Munch | Few large, sweeping shapes; strong contrasts | Easy | 15 to 25 hours |
| Paul Cézanne | Medium blocks of warm and cool color | Medium | 20 to 30 hours |
Leonardo da Vinci: the Mona Lisa and the soft portraits
There are eleven Leonardo kits in the shop, and they divide neatly into portraits and religious scenes.
The portraits. The Mona Lisa is the one everyone asks for, and it is honestly the hardest canvas in this guide: the face and hands are a great many small sections in browns, ochres and olive greens that differ by a shade or less. It is a project for someone who has finished two or three kits already. Lady with an Ermine is kinder: the dark background is one restful color, the red and blue of the dress are clear blocks, and the white ermine gives you an easy, satisfying shape to finish on. Ginevra de' Benci has a pale face against dark juniper leaves — a strong contrast that helps — and Profile of a Young Fiancée, with its braided hair and flat profile, is the easiest Leonardo portrait by some distance. La Scapigliata is almost monochrome, a study in browns, and the Self-Portrait in red chalk is the same idea: few colors, many tones.
The religious scenes. The Last Supper is a wide room full of figures — the sections are small, but the architecture gives you long straight bands to rest in. The Virgin of the Rocks, Madonna Litta, Saint John the Baptist and Salvator Mundi all share the same dark, quiet backgrounds that make the lit faces glow once the canvas is finished. Of these, Salvator Mundi is the most approachable: one figure, a blue robe in clear sections and a plain dark ground.
Difficulty: hard, with Profile of a Young Fiancée and Salvator Mundi as the gentler entries. Time: 30 to 40 hours; the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper can take longer.
Edvard Munch: The Scream and the bold shapes
If da Vinci is the hardest painter in the famous-artists collection, Munch is the easiest, and it surprises people. The Scream is a sky of long orange and yellow waves, a blue fjord in a few bands, a brown bridge in straight lines and one pale figure. There are not many sections, and most of them are large. It paints in two weeks of evenings and looks just as dramatic on the wall.
The rest of the nine Munch kits follow the same pattern. Girl on the Bridge has a long white railing, a dark mass of trees and calm water — generous shapes and a lovely summer-evening mood. Two Women on the Shore is even simpler: two figures, a shoreline, a sea in broad stripes. The Girl at the Window is a quiet interior in blues; Boys Bathing and Landscape from Kragerö are bright, loose and outdoors. Madonna, The Kiss and Vampire II are darker in mood and in palette — mostly deep reds, blacks and skin tones — and suit someone who wants something less pretty on the wall.
Difficulty: easy. Time: 15 to 25 hours. If you want a famous painting and have never finished a kit, start here.
Paul Cézanne: apples, card players and the mountain
Cézanne is the painter who taught the twentieth century to see in blocks of color, and that is exactly why his ten kits are so comfortable to paint. Nothing is blended; every apple is a handful of red, orange and green patches sitting next to each other, and when the last one is filled in, the fruit looks round.
The still lifes. The Basket of Apples is the classic: a tilted table, a bottle, a plate of biscuits and a tumble of fruit. The apples are satisfying, the white cloth is a few large cool-grey and warm-white sections, and the whole thing takes about three weeks. Flowers in a Rococo Vase is busier — many small petals — and Still Life with Skull and The Three Skulls are for painters who like their still life with a little gravity; both are mostly warm browns and creams, and both paint quickly.
The landscapes. Mont Sainte-Victoire is the mountain Cézanne painted all his life: a pale blue peak, a patchwork of green and ochre fields, a sky in two or three tones. The version with the viaduct adds a pine tree in the foreground and a long bridge in the distance. Village by the Water, The House of Père Lacroix and Panoramic View of Auvers-sur-Oise are village scenes with the same calm geometry of roofs and walls.
The figures. The Card Players is two men at a table, a bottle between them, in browns and blues. It is one of the most famous paintings in the world and one of the easier Cézannes: large coats, a plain wall, and faces that are built from blocks rather than blends.
Difficulty: medium. Time: 20 to 30 hours.
Which one to choose
- Your first famous painting: Munch's The Scream or Girl on the Bridge. Big shapes, strong colors, quick visible progress.
- Something calm for the kitchen or dining room: Cézanne's Basket of Apples or The Card Players.
- A landscape that is not Monet: Mont Sainte-Victoire. It hangs beautifully next to a Monet garden if you are building a wall.
- A real project for the winter: the Mona Lisa or The Last Supper. Clear a month of evenings and enjoy the slowness.
- A portrait that is not too hard: Lady with an Ermine or Profile of a Young Fiancée.
- A gift for someone who already paints: any da Vinci.
Painting tips for each
Da Vinci: trust the numbers on the face
The skin tones in a Leonardo kit look almost identical in the pots — three or four browns that differ only slightly. Do not try to judge them by eye; paint strictly by number, one color across the whole face before opening the next, and the modeling appears on its own. Paint the dark background first so the face has something to glow against, and leave the eyes and the corners of the mouth for a fresh evening with your smallest brush and a good lamp.
Munch: keep the strokes going the same way
Munch's shapes are long and curved, and the finished canvas looks best if your brush follows them. Paint the sky waves in The Scream from one end to the other in a single direction rather than dabbing. Where two strong colors meet, let the first dry fully before painting its neighbor; Munch's contrasts are what make the picture, and a muddy edge shows. The light colors (the figure's face, the pale railing in Girl on the Bridge) will want a second coat.
Cézanne: do not smooth the patches
The temptation with Cézanne is to blend the blocks on an apple into a smooth sphere. Resist it — the blocks are the painting. Fill each section cleanly to its edge and stop; the kits look right exactly as numbered.
All three: seal and frame
Dark backgrounds and deep reds dry a little chalky in acrylic; a coat of gloss varnish brings the depth back. See how to seal and how to frame.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Mona Lisa paint by numbers kit hard?
Yes, it is one of the hardest in the shop. The face and hands are made of many small sections in very close browns and greens. Finish two or three easier kits first, then allow 30 to 40 hours.
Which Munch painting is easiest to paint by numbers?
The Scream and Two Women on the Shore. Both are a handful of large, sweeping shapes in strong color, and either can be finished in about two weeks of evenings.
Which Cezanne kit is best for a beginner?
The Basket of Apples or The Card Players. Both have medium-sized blocks of color, no fine detail, and look painterly as soon as they are dry.
Do the da Vinci kits include the dark background as paint?
Yes. Every section on the canvas has a numbered pot, including the large dark areas. Paint those first so the lit faces have something to stand against.
How large are the canvases?
All of the da Vinci, Munch and Cézanne kits are 16 × 20 inches (40 × 50 cm), with the option of a wooden frame.
Can these hang together as a set?
Yes, and they do it well because the sizes match. Three Cézannes or a Munch next to a Monet landscape make a natural group. Frame them identically and keep the spacing even.
Pick your painter
Three painters, three different evenings: the slow, glowing portraits of Leonardo, the bold, fast shapes of Munch, the calm blocks of Cézanne. Browse the Leonardo da Vinci, Edvard Munch and Paul Cézanne collections, or see every painter at once in Famous Artists. Whichever you choose, the method is the same one that works for every kit: one color at a time, lids shut, and the small sections last.
