There is no standard for what extra large means in paint by numbers. It gets used for anything from 16x20 up to 24x36, and for multi-panel sets that only add up to something large once they are hung together. So the first useful thing to know is that the number on the box is not what decides whether a kit is enjoyable to paint.
What does decide it is whether you have enough of the colors you use most. running out and replacing it covers what to do when a pot empties early.
Section size is what matters, not canvas size. A bigger canvas printed with the same design gives every numbered shape more room, which makes it easier. A bigger canvas printed with a more detailed design gives you hundreds of extra small shapes, which makes it harder. Both get sold as extra large.
Bigger is usually easier, not harder
This is worth spelling out, because the usual framing is backwards. Large canvases get presented as the advanced option, something to graduate to once you feel confident.
Take the same artwork at two sizes. A 16x20 is 320 square inches; a 12x16 is 192. That is two-thirds more room for exactly the same number of shapes. Every section is larger, the edges are easier to keep to, and the printed numbers are bigger. If eyesight or a slightly unsteady hand is a factor, the bigger canvas is the easier canvas, not the braver one.
Where large canvases genuinely get harder is when the maker uses the extra space to add detail instead of enlarging what is already there. So look at the picture rather than the dimensions. Judge how small the smallest shapes are, and check how many separate colors are listed.
What actually changes when you go large
Time
A 16x20 takes most people 10 to 20 hours. A 24x36 is nearly three times the area, so plan on something like 30 to 60 hours. Spread over a couple of months that is pleasant. Over a weekend it is not.
Paint
This is the one that catches people. Large kits generally ship with pots the same size as small kits, and a wide area of sky can empty a single color before the canvas is finished. Running out of one heavily used color is the most common complaint on large canvases anywhere in this category. Check whether replacement paint exists for the design before you buy. Every design in our own range has a matching replacement set, which is not the norm.
Space, and where you will actually paint
A 24x36 does not fit on a lap tray or a TV table. It needs a table you can leave set up, or a floor easel. Working on something that large at a dining table you have to clear for every meal is how a project ends up in a cupboard half finished.
Creases
Nearly all large kits ship the canvas rolled or folded, and the bigger the canvas, the worse a fold line looks across it. Rolled in a tube is fine. Folded is not, and the crease often never fully disappears. Ours are rolled in a tube for exactly this reason, and it is the thing our customers mention more often than anything else.
Framing at the end
Framing is the cost nobody budgets for. 16x20, 18x24 and 24x36 are standard frame sizes and cheap enough to buy for. Odd dimensions are not, and a custom frame for a large canvas can easily cost more than the kit did. If a kit measures something like 41 by 17 inches, work out what you intend to do with it once it is painted. We go through the framing options here.
Multi-panel sets
Some kits described as extra large are really two, three or four smaller canvases meant to hang side by side. They are a genuine option, with two catches worth knowing about.
The first is that the panels have to be painted consistently. Finish one over a weekend and the next one three months later and the second will not quite match. Hung side by side, that difference shows.
The second is hanging them. Getting three canvases level with even gaps takes a pencil, a level and a tape measure, and the eye is unforgiving about it. A single canvas is far more tolerant of a nail in roughly the right place.
What we actually offer
Plainly, so you can decide whether we are useful to you here.
- Stock designs go up to 16x20, framed or unframed. The framed version arrives pre-stretched on a wooden frame with a tabletop easel, ready to hang. All 39 designs are here.
- Custom from a photo goes up to 18x24, framed or unframed, and it is the largest thing we make. It is printed in the USA from a photo you upload.
- We do not make a 24x36. If that is specifically what you came for, we are not the right shop, and we would rather say so than sell you a 16x20 and call it extra large.
18x24 is a genuinely good size for a custom photo, and the better choice over 16x20 if there is more than one face in the picture, because faces get small quickly. There are finished ones in the customer gallery.
Painting a large canvas: what to do differently
Work one number at a time, all the way across
On a small canvas you can get away with finishing one area before moving on. On a large one that means opening the same pot a dozen times and washing the brush between each. Pick a number, paint every shape carrying it across the whole canvas, then move to the next. Fewer brush washes, less paint wasted, and near-identical shades stay separated because you are never judging two of them side by side.
Top to bottom
Work down the canvas rather than up it, so your hand and sleeve are not resting on something you painted an hour ago. At this size a smear across wet paint is a real risk rather than a theoretical one.
Mistakes
Paint in the wrong place is not a problem with acrylic. Let it dry fully, then paint the correct color over the top. It may take two coats to cover, particularly a light color over a dark one. Do not try to lift wet paint off with a rag, because that spreads it into the sections around it.
Light
A lamp pulled close, positioned so your hand does not cast a shadow over the section you are working on. On a large canvas you will be reaching across, so the light wants to come from the side you are not painting from.
Common questions
Is extra large a good idea for a beginner?
The size is fine and often helps. The commitment is the risk. Thirty to sixty hours is a long time to find out you do not enjoy something. A 16x20 first is the sensible order. Our guidance on matching size and difficulty to the painter applies at any age, not only to older painters.
What is the largest paint by numbers canvas you can buy?
Retail kits run up to around 24x36, with occasional panoramic and multi-panel sets beyond that. Above roughly that size you are into commissioned work rather than kits.
Do large kits come with more brushes?
Sometimes, and it matters less than the listings suggest. Two or three brushes in usable sizes will cover any canvas. What matters is whether the finest one holds a point.
Will a large canvas be heavy on the wall?
A stretched 24x36 canvas is light, a couple of pounds, and one properly anchored hook handles it. Any real weight comes from the frame, if you add a heavy one.
