Paint and Wine – a Winning Combination
Painting is one of those things that requires focus and a steady hand, as well as the ability to relax and move loosely. This is probably why those wine and paint events are so popular. A glass of wine helps loosen you up so you don’t hold the paintbrush in a death grip, but you’re still sober enough to concentrate. (Can you imagine a paint and coffee event? Coffee jitters would make for some very interesting brush work.)
Last weekend my husband and I attended one of these events. I had purchased the tickets as a Christmas present for him, so he got to choose the day and painting that we would do. The chosen painting was a sunrise over a lake. I think his choice had more to do with our schedule than the actual painting, but it was fine by me either way.
As an adult, I’ve only attempted painting a few times. The results were nothing to write home about, but not horrible either. I had done a similar event a few years. A friend’s mom was getting ready to teach a painting class, so she ran a test class with a group of us. Unlike the class she was going to teach, ours involved wine, which I think helped keep things loose and fun. I still have that painting hidden in my closet.
Whether you are just getting into painting or have been painting for a while, these events are a fun thing to do for a date night or girls night out. These have grown in popularity over the last couple of years so there are probably not too far away, and if you check Groupon or Living Social there are usually deals available. I paid $54 for both of our tickets, which included the instruction and all the paint supplies (drinks were separate for this one).
Our teacher said at the beginning of class that these events should come with a warning that they can be addictive. So true. Before the class was even over my husband was suggesting we attend another one. Which I am sure we will be doing in the next few months. Next time he said I get to choose the painting.
BEGINNERS WELCOME
Your skill level doesn’t matter. As long as you have a decent instructor you should be able to walk out of there with something recognizable. As someone with little experience, I think these are great. The teacher walks you through how to mix paint to get different colors (and what to add to fix the oddball color you might create) and what kind of brush strokes or dabbing to use to get different textures and effects. It’s a fun, low-stress environment and if you mess up, you have a professional teacher there to help.
Seeing the different colors and blending needed for the painting, I was a bit nervous. I was also curious to see how my husband’s would turn out since he’s partially colorblind (he has problems with shades – red is red no matter whether it’s light, dark or tinted with another color). To my surprise, and slight chagrin, his colors were actually a bit better than mine. Serves me right for thinking they wouldn’t be.
The main background color was supposed to be a lavender. My husband got pretty close, but mine was more of a dark blue. I decided that just meant a storm was coming in and gave my water lines a bit more curve to indicate more waves rather than calm waters (something the instructor taught us) – no happy trees or clouds for me.
The instructor was easy to follow and very considerate about giving adequate time for people to finish each piece as we went along. Unfortunately, that meant there were a couple of things that we didn’t get to, like making orange and blending that in to make it look more like a sunrise. Our paintings still looked complete, we learned a few things and most importantly had a good time.
TAKE-A-WAYS
What I found most interesting was how different everyone’s paintings turned out. I mean artistic skill levels aside; each painting had a uniqueness. Some added extra trees, different styles of trees, variations in color, etc. There was even one that was just the sun with the other colors blended prettily over the rest of the canvas. The teacher encouraged everyone to add or subtract from the painting as they wanted to make it their own.
After taking the class and learning some of the basics I feel more confident to buy some supplies to do some more painting at home. Not just confident, but a little excited. I had fun and found it relaxing. I’m not sure how confident I am to completely do a painting on my own, but I think I could maybe follow along with an online tutorial.
SUPPLIES
I did a quick Amazon search to see how much some basic supplies would be (most craft stores will have items in a similar price range). In my opinion, if you are just starting out, there is no need to spend a ton of money to buy the very best. You don’t want the lowest quality, but if you don’t know what you are doing then the top of the line supplies are just going to get wasted. There are exceptions of course, but as a general rule, it works.
There are some fairly low-cost options in the $30- $40 range that come with everything you need:
Or you can get the supplies separately:
- Tabletop Easel – $8 – $20
- Brushes – $5 – $30
- Acrylic paints – $10 – $20
- Pre-stretched Canvas – I found an Amazon add-on (2) 11×14 canvases for $10.42 but generally expect to pay $15 or more.
