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Several years ago, maybe as much as a decade or so, a popular past-time product was a Painting by Numbers kit.  Using the supplied paints, you could colour in a template for a particular scene which consisted of numbered areas by applying the appropriate numbered colours in the outline sketch.  This concept of art-made-easy was an ideal candidate to make the transition from a physical kit to a digital environment.  One such example is the entitled Modern Art 13 product forming the basis of this review.

Developed by TI Games, Modern Art 13 comes with the usual adjustable settings regarding volume levels, full screen viewing and profiles to record the progress of different individual artists.  The product consists of 64 image sketches that are spread over eight sections.  Once the default first section of eight images has been completed for suitable practice, you can then free to select your next project from any of the available template sketch scenes for your next painting.

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With the selected sketch scene taking over most of the screen area, a panel, providing certain user's facilities, will run down the right side of the sketch.  This panel features two colour palettes, a slider bar to adjust the zoom level of the sketch and revert to normal size.  You can also adjust the zoom level of the sketch by using the mouse wheel plus move the sketch using the right mouse button.

As mentioned the panel holds two colour palettes which are to be used for different purposes.  The main colour palette will feature all the colours, numbered appropriately, that will be required to paint the sections of the sketch.  To assist with applying the correct numbered colour to the necessary sections, the appropriate sections will be highlighted.  This is where the second palette comes into operation, Using this palette, the artist can select the colour to be used as the highlighting facility.  I often found that it would prove useful to occasionally switch to a different colour for highlighting especially when working with small sections.

The initial view of the basic sketch appearance with its multitude of numbered areas waiting patiently for the appropriate colour to be applied, some might find the depicted sketch to be rather confusing until the actual colouring work begins.  While you do have the option of choosing your own order in which to proceed through the colour numbers, I found it simpler to work in numeric order while allowing the software to automatically move on to the next colour in line and next number once the current colour had been fully applied.

Once a sketch image has been completely coloured, then you have the option to move on to the next sketch or retry the current one using the same colours.  Unfortunately the software does not offer the artist an option to save their work for use elsewhere.

While it was possible to produce coloured images that were of a reasonable standard, I was disappointed in the lack of facilities to use or personalise the individual paintings by adjusting to colour palette settings to produce different effects  You do not seem to be able to add a title to your work.  I downloaded my copy of this product from Gamehouse.com where it is priced at $9.99.  The game is also available from Big Fish Game priced at £7.93.  The game requires a 1.0 GHz processor with 512MB of RAM and 200MB of hard disk space running Windows 7 and later.

Modern Art 13 | Big Fish Games

Modern Art 13 | GameHouse