Deep red leaves float across a gentle blue sky, gradually falling until they meet their reflection in the rippling water below. As paintbrush meets canvas, the scene becomes more detailed with each application of acrylic color.

Shippensburg University students came together to paint these scenes on Friday, Nov. 7, at the Activities Program Board’s (APB) PaintNite event. Through a step-by-step process, students learned how to paint a work titled, “Reflection on the Wind,” which featured a reddish purple tree and orange mountains reflected on water.

Master artist and party host Kate Barrick of PaintNite worked on her own canvas while explaining to students how to mirror her actions — mixing the paints just so and demonstrating how to hold the brush. Between explanations, Barrick played everything from country to hip-hop music. When the tunes turned up, students began to chatter and sing along, critiquing and complimenting each other’s work.

Barrick’s assistants roved around the room, offering advice or extra paint.

“I did one of these [events] over the summer and had a lot of fun,” junior Allison Wilson said. Wilson and her friends were attracted to the event for its low cost, $5 for students, and the fact that it was hosted right on campus in one of the Ceddia Union Building’s multipurpose rooms.

“It’s very calming. It’s like stress relief,” junior Elizabeth Karper said of the event.

Seventy-five people pre-registered for the event, according to APB entertainment co-chair Bryanna Beamer. Throughout the night, the hosts drew winners for raffles of painter starter kits.

Between strokes, students snacked on M&M’s, Jolly Ranchers and Rice Krispies Treats dipped in frosting to look like paint brushes.

While some artists followed Barrick’s instructions “to a T,” others decided to add a twist to their paintings. Some canvases depicted purple mountains, extra details or totally different scenes. Sophomore Sarah Kramer painted a black, starry sky with a yellow setting sun.

“I just wanted to do something different,” Kramer said. Although she decided to take her own approach on the painting, Kramer said she would enjoy attending another PaintNite event.

PaintNite is a fairly new business, having only started 31 months ago out of Boston, according to PaintNite employee Daryl Hull. There are businesses across the nation, hosting parties in bars, restaurants, private venues and more. SU hosted PaintNite at last year’s Parents and Family Day.

“We’re trying to get more involved in the colleges, in fundraising,” Hull said. Hull estimates that the business has 3,000 to 4,000 different paintings to choose from, like “Reflection on the Wind.”

Halfway through the event on Friday night, students lifted their paintings off the canvases to air dry, swinging them around to Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off.”

“It’s so much fun. I never thought I could paint before now,” senior Jenny Keller said.

As participants left with their paintings in hand, the easels stayed behind — the remaining evidence of a paint-filled night.

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