Paint by Number

Paint by numbers are the first subset of picture logic puzzles, in which cells in a grid have to be colored or left blank according to numbers given at the side of the grid to reveal a hidden picture. more...

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In this puzzle type, the numbers measure how many unbroken lines of filled-in squares there are in any given row or column. For example, a clue of \"4 8 3\" would mean there are sets of four, eight, and three filled squares, in that order, with at least one blank square between successive groups.

These puzzles are often black and white but can also have some colors. If they are colored, the number clues will also be colored in order to indicate the color of the squares. Two differently-colored numbers may or may not have a space in between them. For example, a black four followed by a red two could mean four black spaces, some empty spaces, and two red spaces, or it could simply mean four black spaces followed immediately by two red ones.

Another variant (the \"triddler\") uses a grid of equilateral triangles, with three banks of clues.

Names

Paint by numbers are also known with many other names, including Crucipixel, Edel, FigurePic, Grafilogika, Griddlers, Hanjie, Illust-Logic, Japanese Crosswords, Japanese Puzzels, Kare Karala!, Logic Art, Logic Square, Logicolor, Logik-Puzzles, Logimage, Nonograms, Zakókodované obrázky, Maľované krížovky, Oekaki Logic, Oekaki-Mate, Paint Logic, Pic-a-Pix, Picross, Pixel Puzzles, Shchor Uftor and Tsunami. It has also been called Paint by Sudoku, although this name is technically inaccurate.

History

Most Americans who grew up during the 1950's and 60's should remember how satisfying it was to complete their first \"paint by number\" masterpiece. Even without any formal artistic training, anyone could be an artist.

The origin of this fad is attributed to Max S. Klein, owner of the Palmer Paint Company of Detroit, Michigan, and to artist Dan Robbins, who conceived the idea and created many of the early paintings. Paint-by-number kits first appeared in 1951 and by 1954, twelve million kits had been sold. Despite Robbins' proposal that the first kit contain an abstract painting, most consumers preferred realist subject matters such as landscapes, seascapes, and animals and clowns. So confident was Palmer's assurance to its customers' ability to paint that each kit boldly declared, \"Every man a Rembrandt!\"

In 1987, Non Ishida, a Japanese graphics editor, wins a competition in Tokyo by designing grid pictures using skyscraper lights which are turned on or off. At the same time and with no connection, a professional Japanese puzzler named Tetsuya Nishio invents the same puzzles. From this, the concept of Paint by numbers and picture-forming logic puzzles is born.

Read more at Wikipedia.org