Canvas – Xapa to the World

Friday night, I indulged in a fun evening of painting at Paint By the Glass. I’ve gone three other times, the last one being to paint a vibrant color rendition of Union Terminal in downtown Cincinnati. This time, my mom joined me to paint Van Gogh’s Starry Night.

We have been so excited to do this one. In case you don’t know about Paint by the Glass, here’s the gist. A “class” is held and people can sign up to come to a specific painting class. The painting is sketched out on the canvas and the artist instructs and demonstrates for those in the class. They serve wine and such as well as hors d’oeuvres. You can read about my first visit here. I’ve gone with friends and also by myself and enjoyed myself in both settings. I’m not usually intimidated by flying solo for an evening.

Sampling of the paintings they do in the class.

Some of these I hadn’t seen before; I would love to do the butterfly and flower one at the bottom!

Nothing like well-loved brushes.

This is probably my new favorite thing! If only it didn’t come in a plastic bottle!

They always start you off with a blank canvas and the picture sketched onto it. This is the first time I’ve ever seen them give any guide to the colors and such on the canvas, but it was very helpful since there was a lot going on with this painting.

Blues are fun. This painting took a lot of blue. I mean, A LOT of blue. And yellow, but that comes later. You always start from the furthest thing back and come forward in the picture. We were supposed to do it all in flat colors, but I wanted to make mine with a little more texture before putting on the etch strokes. I like how it turned out.

Cloud etches, purple mountains and swirls in the sky

Yellow!

I wish I had paid closer attention to how big the yellow circles were and actually closed them in a bit with the blue, but it turned out alright having really large moon and stars. Making the swirls within the stars was probably my favorite part.

My final product! ‘Twill look great in The House!

I love how my tree and village turned out on the bottom. I had so much fun painting this! I think I do a lot better with more abstract painting. There aren’t as many rules, but I love coming to these classes and learning little tricks here and there to be a better painter. Kat and Ashley were the instructors that night and they were so helpful. We had such a large class that both were painting a canvas and walking around to help.

Well, you already know that I’m a pretty big nerd, but I do get it honestly! My mom loves to watch the show Doctor Who and got me hooked on it as well. One episode, I think last season, had The Doctor and companion Amy go back to visit Vincent Van Gogh. Afterwards, when they were in a modern art gallery, they looked closely and found a Tardis (his space ship) tucked into the painting. Mom was really keen on duplicating that into her painting. She got the basic shape down and then Kat (a fellow Whovian) helped fill in the details. Mom is so excited for her painting now.

Check out my previous review of Paint by the Glass here!

A month or so ago, I logged into my email and found a Groupon in Cincinnati, OH for Paint by the Glass in West Chester, OH. I had never heard of this place, but I love painting and upon reading more information, I was pretty sure I’d have a good time.

Here are the specs:

Paint by the Glass
8179 Princeton-Glendale Rd.
Suite G.
West Chester, OH 45069
(on 747, it’s across from the Kroger)
513.874.1101
Facebook

The schedule really varies, so I’m not going to put their hours up. Generally, the adult classes are in the evenings and the kids classes in the afternoon (2pm) but you’ll have to go to the website to check out the calendar. The calendar features which painting they are working on which night, so you can choose the class you’d prefer to attend.

My friend, Lanna and I went the Saturday before Valentine’s Day and had a really great time. The painting was called “Love Tree”, for obvious reasons. I was surprised to see so many men there, but it was a predominantly Valentine’s Day theme, so, I’m sure many of the guys were forced into it. I did see one couple in particular, where the guy was just observing his SO painting and didn’t seem to be much preoccupied with anything else. Anyways, since I’m not really a fan of Valentine’s Day, to spend an evening doing something crafty with my best friend was all I could have asked for this year! We also sat at a table with a cool, trendy Christian couple and had a lot of fun talking and joking with them.

Here’s how it went:

At each table there was an easel with an unpainted canvas, an assortment of brushes, and a plate with all the primary/secondary colors and white. Oh, and of course, a cup of water. On the canvas, as shown to the right, the basic picture is sketched in pencil, so it’s like a paint-by-number without the numbers. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about that, but it was really nice.

The artist (I forget her name! boo) was really great at helping us through the process. It’s been ages since I’ve painted on canvas, so getting the pointers was really helpful. Like, wetting your brush before blending colors. When I paint on wood, that’s not helpful, because then it thins out the color which means I have to do multiple coats and if it’s a blended color, I don’t always have a lot of it. But this tip was good for both surfaces: Start from the furthest area “back” and come forward. Basically, start with the background and build on top of it. I usually do this when I paint on wood, but I wasn’t thinking about it for canvas.

So we built and built and painted and painted and blended and blended. At this point, we took a “break” and were able to eat some of the yummy hors d’oeuvres they were serving; chocolate-covered strawberries, meatballs, veggies.

By the way, they serve wine and such in the evenings. If you’re not savvy to that, they also have pop available (not a huge selection, but good enough). They also have a kids class called “Canvas & Cocoa” which is in the afternoons on Saturdays, with age-appropriate paintings with a drink/snack served as well.

I’ve also seen a “Canvas & Causes” class posted on their calendar where certain amount of the class fee goes to a good cause. The painting seems to be related to the cause.

While we were painting, the artist/teacher was painting along with us, at pace, so we could see technique, ask questions about brush selection and blending, etc. What I really enjoyed about the class is that everyone was of a different level of ability. No one was excluded. Also, you could choose whatever colors you wanted, and the style of painting could be whatever you felt most comfortable with, or maybe thought would best fit your home decor. She coached but didn’t dictate or criticize. I felt like I was back in any of my high school art classes where creativity and exploration was encouraged and only technique was taught.

Oh, and if you’re worried about drying time, don’t be. They have blow-dryers handy to help you get your painting nice and dry for the ride home. (Acrylic paint is a quick dry-er anyways) 🙂

I am fully expecting to go back sometime. My only negative is the cost. $35 for one class, and as far as I could tell, that didn’t include the drinks. (I had to pay for my Coca-Cola.) So, here’s the breakdown:

The class: Really fun. Casual. Definitely felt like an art studio. Our class was scheduled to go from 6:30p-8p. I don’t think we left until a little before 10p. But they were gracious hosts and didn’t make us feel rushed or try to shove us out the door.
The food: For hors d’oeuvres, excellent. Just don’t go expecting them to take care of a meal. You’re there to PAINT not dine!
The help: Everyone there was great. The artist/teacher, it was apparently her first night, and she did a wonderful job! Whenever we needed something, extra paint, another plate, more water, a paper-towel, etc, they were quick to get it to us.
The parking: It’s in a strip-mall across from Kroger and there is lots and lots of parking in the lot there.
The accommodations: The room is narrow but it’s easy to get yourself around the table to the food, drinks, restroom. I was sitting pretty close to the artist/teacher, so I didn’t have any problems seeing. I didn’t check from other parts of the room though.
The price: For the adult class, it’s kind of pricey, by my scale. $35 for adult classes. $17.50 for Canvas & Cocoa. There is also the option to schedule a private party, but there are no pricings available on the site for that.
Returnability: It was a lot of fun. And if I see a really wonderful painting on their calendar, I may fork over the moolah, if I have extra in my budget. But really, to go back on a regular basis, it’s more than my budget of a post-college grad paying off student loans. I’m more open to the Canvas & Cocoa though…so long as I can kidnap a kid to take with me. 🙂