I was invited by a wonderful friend to join her for an evening of paint and sip at Ladder Art Space in Kew, Victoria. When I heard the words ‘wine’, ‘painting’ and ‘Van Gogh’ in one sentence, it was music to my ears. The idea of recreating an iconic piece, while enjoying a glass of Pinot Noir with great company, was an opportunity I couldn’t resist.
Painting is always a bittersweet experience for me. On one hand, I love it and find it really therapeutic. I can stay in one spot and paint for hours if I’m feeling the vibe. On the other hand, it can also be a really stressful activity, as I have an unfortunate tendency to be a perfectionist.
So, when I found out we only had two hours to complete the painting, I knew there was going to be a self-inflicted mental battle ahead. But, thankfully, at least there was wine.
My first paint and sip experience
Although I’ve attended many painting classes in the past (thanks to studying Fine Arts at university), this was my first official paint and sip class. I don’t know what I was expecting, but for some reason I didn’t think we would start with a blank canvas.
I had in my mind that it would be like paint-by-numbers with the linework already drawn on the canvas. My reason for thinking this was because two hours seemed like a very short timeframe to paint an entire canvas. (Once again, this probably just pertains to my perfectionism.)
What made this class enjoyable and easier was having the teacher guide us through the process of painting the canvas. We painted it in layers, starting with the blue background and filling in the outline of the landscape. Next, came the infamous starry night sky with the swirly clouds and bursts of starlight.
One detail I hadn’t really noticed about the painting until recreating it was that the moon is actually a crescent. It’s so obvious, but I guess I’d only ever glanced at it without really taking a closer look.
As previously mentioned, I’m a really slow painter. So by the time we were 1.5 hours in, my painting was nowhere near where it should’ve been. While others were starting to paint the little village, I was still tackling the swirly cloud. Van Gogh used a lot of short, choppy strokes and I wanted to imitate his style. This meant I had to paint over my existing strokes a few times, because the colours kept blending into a murky mess.
The result of my attempt at painting a Van Gogh
And here it is—the final result after two solid hours of painting (well, semi-solid). To my surprise, it turned out better than I expected for the time I had. I didn’t even drink much wine during the class because I was so focused on getting it just right!
Class may be over, but I’m still painting
After the class, the painting still didn’t feel quite finished to me. So I ended up spending a few hours at home adding the final touches. In the class, we only had basic primary colours to use, which made it tricky to get the shades I wanted. At home, with a wider palette, I was able to bring the painting closer to what I had in mind. I added plenty of white highlights and layers of blue to give it more depth and texture.
Final thoughts
Overall, this paint and sip experience reminded me how enjoyable it can be to just paint for fun. Will I be hanging my masterpiece in a gallery anytime soon? Probably not. But as far as fun, creative nights go, this one was a winner!
