Paint And Sip

Last night I was given the opportunity to take a class at a local 'paint and sip' painting studio.  Hubby Tony, being the good sport that he is, decided to join me.

At a paint and sip class, a professional artist helps you create a 'masterpiece' by guiding you through the steps to producing that class's painting.  Everything you need is supplied, and no artistic experience is required.  Drinks and snacks are allowed, and even encouraged. 

After looking at the available options on the studio's website, I picked a date-night class called "Owl Always Love You".  This painting had two side-by-side panels that featured two owls perched in a large tree against a winter background.  When I called the studio to register, I found out we should bring any snacks and drinks we wanted, wear something we wouldn’t mind getting paint on, and arrive 15 minutes early. 

We showed up at the studio with a bowl or popcorn and a cooler of adult beverages.  The instructor greeted us and told us to choose seats at one of the stations set up with tabletop easels, brushes, and paint.  By time the class started there were about a dozen students sitting at the long tables.  The instructor asked how many people had been there before, and half of the hands went up.  She gave us a short introduction about the studio setup and a couple of dos and don'ts before we got started.

Our first step was to mix the color for the sky.  The instructor gave us the ratio of white, blue, and green paints she was using, but stressed our pictures didn't have to be exactly like hers.  The important thing was that my sky needed to match Tony's.  After the sky was done, we covered the bottom of the canvas with white, then blended a bit of dark blue at the intersection of the two colors (making sure our colors and textures matched).  We washed out our brushes while the paint dried, then each added a row of tiny background trees at the horizon line.

Once the background was finished, it was time to move on to the other elements of the painting. Tony's canvas had the trunk of a massive tree, and a couple of it's major branches grew over onto mine.  I had to wait until he painted his portion before I could start on mine, and It was a challenge to make sure the branches matched up.  Once the major branches were in place we added smaller branches, then watched the instructor demonstrate how to paint an owl sitting on a tree branch.  Tony and I each got to try our hand at an owl.  The last step was to add dots of white paint to represent snow flakes.

The instructor's painting was very good.  Ours, not so much, but we had a lot of fun trying.

Five years ago today: The Beautiful Color Of Love