I was invited to a Dock 4 Ladies painting night, scheduled for this evening. I don’t usually have time for socializing but this sounded like fun. Not the drinking part. The painting!
When I was young, I wanted to be an artist. The problem is, no matter how many classes I took, and no matter how many sketching and painting how-to books I purchased and studied, I was awful. Worse than awful. My drawing and painting skills never advanced beyond the Kindergarten stage.
I still wish I could draw or paint but I know I just don’t have the talent for it. I have done some okay fiber arts projects over the years but my artistic talents end there.
Over the past couple of years, I’ve seen many posts on Facebook of friends sitting in what looks like an art studio, holding wine glasses, and all holding up identical paintings. I can’t say any of the paintings every looked like something I could produce. They always look great! So, there must be a magical secret. And, it’s a secret I want to learn!
Maybe they do it like the Bob Ross TV show used to. Whip the brush this way and that and, voila, a perfectly shaped mountain with lilies in the valley below. Or, wave the brush in the air, poke the canvas a few times and, poof! A beautiful, blue, bubbling stream!
All the dock gals are excited because there will be wine. I won’t be having any wine because I will need to drive home…and nobody wants to see a mug shot of me plastered (oooh! a pun!!) up on WritersWeekly next week! But, I will be enjoying painting something that doesn’t look like this:
Yes, I really painted that monstrosity during a painting lesson a few years ago. It was a self portrait made from a photo of me when I was (apparently a very ugly) little girl. Our Managing Editor, Brian Whiddon, just saw this and said, “What the h*ll is that?! It looks like Ted Turner with a mustache!”
And, look at the price tag. I tried to sell it at a garage sale a few years ago for 25 cents. Nobody would buy it. And, later, even Goodwill wouldn’t take it.
Hopefully, tonight I’ll do a better job.
If you’ve been to one of those painting-while-drinking places, please tell us about it in the comments box below! 🙂
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The first “class” I attended was lots of fun. I have things in my mind that never seem to translate down through my fingers, so I thought it would be a good learning experience. I got some good pointers and enjoyed the time there, but we painted various steaming coffee cups…and I wasn’t too pleased with it. Since it was done in beige, brown and black, it didn’t fit anywhere in my house, so I stuck it in the utility room on a shelf and finally tossed it out four years later! 🙂 Last fall, I was invited to another “party.” We painted a seascape–beach, fence, ocean, moon and clouds. At least I love the ocean, so this one is now hanging in my house…over the shower in the bathroom because I have an ocean theme in that room. 🙂 I am definitely more musically inclined!
Our local “drink ‘n paint” place also has ceramic painting, mosaics and clay pottery classes. My friend and I found out two things the day we went: One, it was a blast; and two, we suck at pottery. We each started with a ball of clay the size of a large fist. As the instructor whipped out a beautiful, tall, curvy vase, I painstakingly produced a wavy bowl that varied in thickness from one inch to the next; my friend created the perfect dinner plate for a doll house.
We can’t wait to go back and paint something this time.
Treated my mother to a wine and paint event for Mother’s Day. It was so relaxing.
I went to a painting party fund raiser for Women’s Sertoma of Venice Club. 40 of us, ate drank wine and painted wine glasses. We burst into song, giggled and painted for a few hours. Everyone made the same turtle and jelly fish. Had a blast and would do it again.
Myrna Lou Goldbaum
I did once! My sister was teaching it for charity. Mine came out pretty good, but then, I’m already an artist and I don’t drink.
If you’d like a small critique:
1. You seem to have been trying to draw with the paintbrush. That really isn’t what they are made to do. When painting, think in terms of mass, not lines. Stay far away from attempting any lines until you are very late in the process. Build up blocks of color instead.
2. Your brain is getting in the way by recognizing the subject and taking shortcuts with your perception. Do not think of your subject as the thing that it is. Look at it only as a collection of shapes. Turn your reference picture upside down and cover all but the bit you are trying to recreate with post-it notes. Take them away as you go.
3. Don’t use any black. Black is very harsh, especially when painting portraits of children. You picked a tough subject for a beginner! Don’t be discouraged because it didn’t turn out like you wanted. Try again!
Good luck and have fun!
Thank you so much!! You’d THINK the instructor would have pointed those things out. He probably quit his job after seeing what I did that day… 😉
I went to one last year. We painted Van Gogh’s “Starry Nights.” I learned once again that painting is not my thing. Will stick to fabric collage landscapes that look like a painting from a distance, but is actually layers of fabric.
I won’t go back–the noise level was extremely painful. Mostly 20-somethings to 40s, all on their cell phones talking very loud. That tells me they all had hearing losses already from listening to very loud music on their phones. The cross conversations were so juvenile (for that age group), and littered with bad grammar, I left as soon as I could. Not a pleasant experience. Friends think my painting is great. Okay..
We had a really good time! It was just 7 Dock 4 ladies. The music they played was nice. The instructors were very nice. I was very pleased with the outcome! I’ll post it next week. I’m glad they handed out aprons. I made a HUGE mess. 😉
I have been to these “Paint Night” parties and loved them! But then I have the spatial ability to draw and color what I see, but hadn’t touched brush or paint to canvas in years. I went with my son once and we had a lot of fun. Neither of us drink, so it was fun to see the works of those who had perhaps imbibed a bit more than others.
Another night, a friend and I went to a “Uka-Play-Me” night where instead of painting, we were in on a pilot program of building our own Ukulele’s. The venue was held in Boston.
Being this was a first time event, we ended up going over the allotted time–ok, an hour and a half longer–but everyone had their Ukulele put together and stained, painted or decaled by the time the night was over.
I had always wanted to learn to play a Ukulele and now spend a few days a week strumming. Now if I could only learn to carry a tune…
A Ukulele making class?! That is SO cool! I would LOVE to do something like that! Anything that doesn’t involved drawing a straight line…and filling in said line!! 😉
I always drop my self portraits at an UNattended goodwill donation box located in a different part of town:)
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!
Hey Ang,
Is that your self portrait?
Seriously now I started to draw and paint also seriously a couple of years ago. I was told not to throw away [my pathetic beginnings] and I can see why. I came a long way with a ways to go even though my mantra was I can’t draw, I can’t paint.
Oh yes I can.
But not to paint people like you did.
I like my paintings to look like suggestions of subject, not real subject, and often like my pre-sketch (where I am not afraid of putting marks on the sketch paper) is way better than the real watercolour paper where I (am afraid to put a mark on that paper too) end up doing too much realism.
Just. Do. It. I did. And email me what you did.
Yeah, it was a private painting class. The guy came to my house. No matter what he suggested, my piece of “art” just got more and more scary as the night went on! 😉 I’ll post tonight’s “masterpiece” (ha ha ha) next week. It’s actually not too bad! The instructors were great!! 🙂
Angela, I thought the same, I couldn’t draw a stick figure. On of the things I excel in now is abstract art. I dont use a brush much, I use a paint knife. Go to use my and take on on line abstract class. You will love it. I c as nt paint faces but I can paint abstract for sure. Takes practice just like writing.