Paint-by-numbers started out decades ago as a product; now it is heading back in that direction. I just put it through my own filter.

This is where beloved paint-by-numbers sets come in. When first exposed to simple paint-by-number sets as children, they imbued us with oodles of creative confidence.

Working at a paint company after World War II, Robbins used techniques he learned from Leonardo da Vinci to develop the system that let countless non-artists experience the pleasure of painting.

Paint-by-numbers, whose originator Dan Robbins died earlier this month, put brushes in the hands of millions who had never painted before ...