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Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Paint Nite



**Note: This is not a sponsored post! I had fun at Paint Nite and wanted to tell you about it!**

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...Growing up, I was never particularly interested in art. In elementary school, I don't remember feeling excited when it was a day we had art class, and in high school, I took the one art class we were required. I knew I wasn't that great at it. The projects I made were sloppy. I cared a little bit that I wasn't good at it, but not too much.

After college I started scrapbooking but gave it up after a year or two. It started to get a little overwhelming, and of course it was hard to keep the kitties from laying on my expensive paper!


I am extremely impressed by the talents of other artists. When I draw, nothing looks real. It looks like a bad cartoon. Many of my friends are very talented artists and I appreciate their talent and hard work!


This Saturday, I made my first artistic creation since high school. I attended a Paint Nite at the VFW in Dillsburg. A couple of friends of mine were going, so I thought it would be a fun time! I had seen pictures of the paintings people had created at Paint Nite and was always impressed. How was it that everyone's painting looked really good!? They couldn't all be artists, so there must be hope for me. Maybe mine would look good too? I went into the event as an open minded skeptic. Surely I would screw something up, but at least I'd be with friends and would have a good time!



The class began with our instructor, Lisa, explaining how the class would be run. Then we all took the Paint Night Oath and raised our glasses to toast our creativity!



As someone who would never even know how to begin to paint a canvas on her own, I thought the $45 cost of the class was extremely reasonable. All of our materials were provided for us and were at our tables when we got there. (At the end of the class we got a code for 35% off our next paint night. I have since found codes all over the internet... It looks like it will be quite doable to attend more paint nights for only $30.)

Me and Karen getting our paint on!

Our instructor, Lisa, was fun, positive, and easy to follow- which is saying a lot for this painting newbie! She took us step by step through the process of creating our "B-You-tiful Blooms" painting. She had music jamming while we worked at our own pace. An assistant came around if we needed more paint, a paper towel, or individual help.

The venue had food and beverages for purchase. I had a soda. It would have been fun to drink and paint, but it was only 2 o'clock in the afternoon and I had just done a hard run. I didn't think wine would be a good choice after that! But many of the other class participants ate and had something to drink.

I'm not going to lie, there were times I added certain details to my painting that didn't look so hot. Why didn't mine look like the instructor's? Oh yeah, because this is my first shot at it! But as the two hour class went along, I started to figure out how to fix or work with things in my painting that I didn't initially like.

Amazingly, by the time two hours were up, we all had a "B-You-tiful" painting to take home!



Here is mine a little more close up. However, it looks best from farther away!


Signing my name in the bottom right hand corner gave me such joy!
I never did that before!

I hung my painting in our dining room so I can look at it. Eventually, it will go in the guest room because it perfectly matches the color scheme.


It's a little silly, but I smile every time I walk past my painting and feel very proud of it! I know it is nothing compared to what real artists do. I just followed someone's instructions step by step and didn't screw anything up too badly. But for someone who feels like they are not artistic at all and never MADE anything, this painting is special to me!

I will definitely be going to another Paint Nite! Who wants to come with me!?
Have you ever gone to Paint Nite?
Are you an artist?

25 comments:

  1. I love this! Matt and I had dinner with friends yesterday and I asked if they'd want to go to Painting with a Twist (which is painting with wine) and they're both excited to do it, so we're going to go sometime soon! I used to paint a LOT and I was a fairly good artist but I've lost all my skills because I never use them. Matt and I will have duplicate paintings and his will be better than mine, so we'll probably just hang his! I think yours looks very nice!

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    1. Cool I can't wait to hear about your experience! I am wondering if people who are actually good/experienced at painting can have fun at classes like this? I mean, would it be like me taking an intro to music theory class? You will have to let me know what you and Matt think.

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  2. This actually sounds like alot of fun! I have always been nervous to try anything like this because I have no artistic talent, but I like how they guided you through what to do. Your paining came out great!

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    1. I can assure you, that if I can make a decent looking painting, anyone can! I have no artistic experience/talent at ALL yet I feel like mine came out okay!

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  3. I love this my friend and I am so proud of you! I have always been interested in art. When I was growing up I had a little area of a play room tagged as my "studio" and I took art throughout junior high and high school. I got away from it as an adult. I started scrapbooking when my sister's boy was born and that has been so fun. He has a book for each year of his life (goal to stop at 18!) and a few years back I got back into my art. It brings me so much happiness. My final results always vary but like with running (for me) it is not about the results, it's about the process. It relaxes me and gives me such a creative outlet. This past December we did an overhaul of my office and I was able to move my art studio upstairs which I love because it's such a sunny room and makes me happy! P.S. one of my "dream jobs" would be to be an elementary school art teacher!

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    1. You would be an AWESOME elem. art teacher!!! :)

      What an awesome gift to give your nephew. I wish I had done that for my nieces. :) I wish we lived closer, I could give you all my scrapbooking supplies because I don't think I'll do it anymore.

      That is so cool that you have a studio now. :)

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  4. I think you did a fantastic job with your painting! I would be totally intimidated to go to an event like that because I would be so worried mine would not be very good LOL. It does look super fun though!

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    1. Oh if you had our instructor you wouldn't be nervous at all. She put all of our minds at ease. :)

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  5. I recently did a paint night at our local running store. My painting was quite challenging, so it did not turn out as well as I would have liked. My husband now has it on display in his office at work! Yours turned out really well. I'm impressed. Definitely wall worthy in the home. If you could paint anything, what would you choose to paint?

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    1. I remember you went to one and I thought your painting turned out quite nicely! That is sweet your hubby put it in his office. :)

      If I could paint anything, maybe like a creepy dark tree? Or a bird singing to hang in my music room.:)

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  6. I would LOVE to go with you! I'm terrible at painting but I love it. Wine definitely helps. I don't paint anything realistic because I'd just butcher it. I paint "abstract" lol. It's so fun! I need to do it again soon. I haven't painted since the summer.

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    1. I would love to see some of the stuff you paint! You should feature it on your blog.

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  7. I did a paint nite once before! It was a lot of fun and my painting didn't turn out half bad. My daughter stole it and put it in her room. Yours looks great! Both from close up and further away!

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  8. Great painting. I would like to try it. I am not very artistic either. I really wish I could draw or paint.
    Could you choose your colors?

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    1. They had the colors out already for you but said if you wanted different colors, they would bring them to you. :) Some did different shades of blue rather than different shades of pink/red. I stuck with what was given since I'm a newbie.

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  9. It was a ton of fun. It was nice to meet you. We should all go again!

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  10. Aww, great job Meg, that is beautiful! They have paint nights here but I always found them to be quite pricey and I don't like the idea of painting a pre-selected design that everyone else is painting. Mostly because I am very particular on what I hang on my walls and I bet I wouldn't hang what I painted anyway.
    I do think the class would be fun though. If they said we were all going to paint portraits of or pets, i'd be in for sure...lol

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    1. Oh my gosh, pet portraits... I know mine would look horrible but if I thought it would look good, I would try!

      I definitely understand that someone may want it to be something they would actually hang on their walls. When I go again, I am going to make sure I sign up for a design I like. This one I just happened to like, I didn't really pick it on purpose. But to keep spending money I think I would like to make sure it is a class I like the design. And if it turns out horrible, I can always hang it in my classroom. ;)

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  11. IT LOOKS AMAZING!!!!! Honestly, I am so so impressed! Besides none of my friends wanting to take this kind of class with me, I also haven't gone because I don't think I could keep up with everyone else! In my heart I'm a great painter, a singer, a dancer, etc. but in real life I am bad at all of those things!

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    1. Kristina, please believe me when I say if I can make something halfway decent, you could too. I never felt rushed either. Do one with your momma! Or go with Adam! Oh my gosh all the ladies would drool over him!

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  12. I have stick people talent too. :)

    So they painted their own pets??

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