Paint and sip
Of a year ago three friends and i also attended a Paint and Sip session. By looking at such an affair you pay a small fee and then receive a blank canvas, a tray of paints, a drop of vino (or two) or another beverage of your choice, and also the opportunity to participate in 2-3 hours of “copy art”. In copy art, the teacher tells you what to do, then s/he demonstrates and you also copy. It is fun, especially for a novice painter including myself, but it may become tedious if the instructor works with the pace of the slowest painter (not I!) and everybody waits and waits until each attendee is at the same point prior to the lesson continues. For a speed demon including myself, this sluggish pace failed to lead to creativity but rather the fatigue of non-participation well, i simply abandoned my leader and moved along at my own pace. Using a finished product to replicate and occasion listening, I ended up with a fairly decent wine beverage representation with added touches, dashes, and flourishes of my own.
Paint and wine
The instructor, unfortunately, was not a teacher. She knew some techniques and he or she had obviously led this lesson more than once in the past, but she has not been attuned to her students. We plodded, she yapped; we waited and she yapped some more. It was clear the slowest painter was never planning to finish but we patiently killed time exactly the same. During this “free” time the teacher filled any empty spots of air with criticism to her fledgling artists: “Too much color”, “Stop attempting to fix that mess”, and “Please quit” were are just some of her remarks. Really makes you want to paint, right?
But the class had been fun because I was with friends and dibbling around with colors is entertaining and critiquing non-teacher types is a lot more so. As a result I decided to host my own paint and sip without having pressure applied. Ten friends gathered at my home one evening excited to check this activity. Each easel was set with a clean canvas, water and brushes were available, and an array of paint drops filled each pallet. I had a finished example to talk about so that I could explain some tips i had done, when and how, and in addition clarified some important steps like having a damp canvas, the way to cover errors with white, tools designed for special touches, and the like. For those who were too nervous to self-launch, I led them step-by-step with the process. For those who just wanted to plunge, I allow them go with maximum freedom.
As my buddies painted, I wandered, offered advice, analyzed other bottle shapes and backdrops on the web, and commended their efforts. Even though some replications were a bit on the mysterious side, much like the command “draw a bottleneck approximately 1-inch wide” produced tiny traces and thin lines instead, nevertheless the idea was creativity and that was just how some translated my attempt to their canvas. Others, with amazing vision, added dogwood blossoms, fancy wine beverage labels, and intricate designs with delicate shades. The interior personality was exposed as well as imagination and magical conceptualizations in every painting. The finished products were fantastic.
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