Your first pre-outlined canvas painting session

For anyone painting a pre-outlined canvas for the first time, alone or with friends. It walks through the whole session: what you are starting with, setting up a place to paint, the first strokes, pacing yourself and finishing. No instructor is needed and no drawing experience either.

What you are starting with

Every canvas is primed cotton on a wooden stretcher, stapled at the back, with the design printed as a permanent black outline that several coats of paint can cover. Canvases come in 8 × 10 and 11 × 14 inches, portrait or landscape, and one order can mix sizes. The outline shows where the shapes are. Every color is your choice: you can follow a sample, invent your own scheme or leave areas plain.

If a line ends up somewhere you did not want, a few coats of paint will cover it, so nothing is ruined by an early mistake.

Check what you actually have

Check the contents of your own order rather than assuming; kits are optional and canvases can be ordered on their own.

From your order

  • The canvas, and a paint kit if you added one
  • If you have a kit: 12 colors, two brushes, an apron, a six-well palette and a color-mixing guide

From home

  • A cup or jar of water for rinsing brushes
  • Paper towels or a rag
  • Something to cover the table
  • Acrylic paint and brushes, if you did not add a kit

Prepare a place to paint

  1. A stable surface

    A table at a comfortable height. Lay the canvas flat or lean it against something firm.

  2. Good light

    Daylight from the side or a lamp, so you can see the lines clearly without glare.

  3. Water and brush rest

    Water on your painting-hand side, with a folded paper towel to rest brushes on.

  4. Protection

    Cover the table and wear the apron or old clothes.

  5. Room to step back

    Leave space to lean back now and then and look at the whole canvas.

Try a small first step

  1. Practice a stroke

    On the palette or a scrap of paper, load a little paint and try a few strokes.

  2. Pick one open area

    Choose a large shape away from the edges, such as the sky or a background.

  3. Paint inside the lines

    Work from the middle of the shape towards the line, slowing down as you get close.

  4. Rinse between colors

    Rinse and blot the brush before changing color so colors stay clean.

Pause and continue at your own pace

There is no fixed finishing time. Take breaks, step back to look and come back to areas when they have dried a little. If you stop before the end, keep the canvas flat somewhere it will not be touched, with the paint and brushes cleaned and put away.

Painting with others? How to run a painting session covers pacing for a group.

Finish the session

  1. Rinse brushes

    Rinse brushes thoroughly in water before the paint dries on them.

  2. Let it dry flat

    Leave the painting flat, away from elbows and pets, until it is dry to the touch.

  3. Carry it by the edges

    When you move it, hold the sides of the frame, not the painted front.

  4. Decide where it goes

    A shelf, a wall or a gift: stretched canvases can hang without a frame.

What next

Want a different subject next time? Choosing a design compares options, and a photo, theme or idea can become an outline through design assistance, which is free, including revisions you request. We reply and prepare a first outline within one business day, and you can ask for a digital preview.

For current order questions, contact the team. Read shipping and tracking guidance or order-problem and return guidance.

Keep planning

Canvas Paint Party supplies physical pre-outlined canvases and optional paint kits. Your organizer arranges the venue, facilitation and other event supplies. Ask about a custom canvas or contact us about group supplies.