Pet paint by numbers has quietly become one of the most popular custom gifts in the world. The basic idea is simple — turn a photo of your pet into a numbered canvas you can paint at home — but the details matter more than most people realise.
This guide covers everything we wish people knew before ordering their first custom kit: how the design process actually works, how to pick a size, and how to end up with a finished canvas that genuinely looks like your dog or cat.
How a Custom Pet Kit Is Actually Made
A custom kit starts with one photo. From there, the photo is converted into a paint-by-numbers design: the colours are reduced to a manageable palette, the outlines are drawn, and each region is numbered to match a specific paint pot.
The whole kit — canvas, numbered paint pots, brushes, colour card — is then printed and packed around that one design. The quality of the finished painting is decided almost entirely at the design stage, not the painting stage.
The Photo Decides Everything
A good photo will give you a kit you cannot wait to paint. A poor photo will give you a kit that feels frustrating from the moment you open it.
Look for: clear focus on the face, natural light, eye-level angle, a calm expression, and a background that doesn't compete with the pet. If you have a choice of ten photos, pick the one where the eyes are sharpest.
Choosing a Size
The most common mistake is going too small. Pet portraits live in the eyes and the small details around the muzzle, and those details need room to breathe.
30×40 cm: the smallest size we recommend for a single pet. Fine for a side table or shelf.
40×50 cm: the sweet spot. Big enough that the face has detail, small enough to paint over a few evenings.
50×70 cm: for above-sofa wall art, or for portraits of two pets in the same canvas.
What's Inside a Good Kit
A properly made custom pet kit should include: a pre-printed numbered canvas (ideally on linen rather than thin cotton), pre-mixed acrylic paint pots labelled by number, at least three brushes (fine, medium, broad), a printed colour card, and a reference sheet showing the finished design.
Cheap kits often skip the colour card, which is the single most useful thing in the box once you're a few hours in.
How Long It Takes
A 40×50 cm pet canvas takes most people 12 to 20 hours, spread across two to four weeks of evenings. Larger canvases can take 30 hours or more. Most people underestimate how engrossing it becomes — the first hour is curious, the second is calm, and after that the canvas tends to call you back every evening.
Painting Order: What Actually Works
Paint the background first, then the body, then the face, then the eyes. Save the smallest details for last, when you've already developed a feel for the brush.
Almost everyone is tempted to start with the face because it's the most exciting part. Resist. The face will look ten times better if your hand is already warmed up by the time you get to it.
Custom pet paint-by-numbers kits are not really about the painting. They are about the four quiet weeks you spend looking very carefully at your own pet's face — and the finished canvas that comes out the other side carrying every one of those hours.
You can preview your own pet's design, for free, from any photo before you order anything.
— Be Artistic Club