PopUp Painting in London

When I lived in Covington (Louisiana) back in 2010, one of the new, fun things to do was social painting. I gathered a few friends and went to two different painting classes. The first time was just a few weeks before the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl, so quite a few classes had football themed paintings. The second class I went to was another Fleur de Lis, but a much prettier one.

The location in the New Orleans area had their own venue, so classes were available every day (sometimes twice a day) and they had a separate room for private events. The range of pictures to paint was huge - not one picture would be repeated in a months time, unless it was an extremely popular piece. They also allowed you to bring your own bottle of wine for no extra fee. That right there was the draw! Painting and drinking? Yes, please! In no way am I an artist, so I was really nervous the first time I went. After I saw how patient and slow with directions the instructor was, I quickly calmed down. Or maybe that was the wine talking? Either way, it was a blast! 

Three and a half years later, London has caught on to this fabulous social activity! My friend, Rachel, approached me a few weeks ago about going with her to PopUp Painting. Currently, the company does events once a month as the company is still very new. The cost for the event is £29 and includes all of the art supplies needed and a complimentary glass of Prosecco.

Rachel and I (along with two other friends of Rachel's) decided to attend the event at Babycakes in Richmond last Thursday at 8pm to paint Lichtenstein's A Retrospective. 

{source of photo}

As each future artist arrived at Babycakes, we were greeted with a warm welcome and our glass of Prosecco. Everyone socialized for a few minutes while waiting for all attendees to arrive.

Once everyone arrived, we took our seats and were given a few instructions regarding the class. We were encouraged to make the painting how we wanted such as changing the colors.

{notice that there are differences in this painting and the actual painting by Lichtenstein}

The instructor had a finished picture of A Retrospective at the top of her easel to help us get a sense of what we were aiming for. She also had a blank canvas to show us step by step on how to create our masterpiece. Finally, we received paint, and began.

After a few directions, she would stop and wait for us to catch up. During these little breaks, we socialized and painted at the same time while listening to some fun music. The whole purpose after all is the socializing, not so much the painting. The instructor walked around the room and checked on everyone. She helped where needed and gave loads of encouragement! We were like children - we needed positive reinforcement... and more Prosecco!

{this girl has got some serious eyebrows... but who am I to talk?}

We only received red, yellow, blue, black and white paint, so for quite a bit of the picture, we needed to mix colors. The hardest color to make was the flesh for the skin. It is really fun to look at everyone else's paintings! The instructor was extremely kind to all of us. It really takes a special person to teach a painting class! 

{my finished painting}

Finally, we were given the final instructions. Everyone did what they could to make it perfect! We took a group picture while allowing the paint to dry on the canvas. Before leaving, we were given a bag to protect our work during our journey home. 

{our little group of four that Rachel gathered together for the event}

The experience was very similar to the ones I had previously - loads of fun! It may seem like a stressful activity to do for an evening if you are not an artist, but the event is casual, relaxing, and fun! I am convinced that the instructor makes her painting look a little bit funky to make the rest of us feel better. No matter what, someone else's work will look worse than yours - trust me! - so there is no need to worry about what yours looks like.

Have you done a social painting class? What was your experience like? Did you enjoy it?