Starting the night off with only a paintbrush, a painter’s bib, primary color paints and a blank canvas, each participant left the Ceddia Union Building (CUB) multipurpose room with a handcrafted “fall sunset” themed masterpiece. Paint Nite, an event put on by the Activities Program Board, was held this past Friday.
Paint Nite events typically cost around $40, but Shippensburg University students were able to participate for only $10 with their SU ID. With only a limited number of spots available, the hit event sold out well before the day it was held.
Filling both sides of the CUB MPR to the brim, Paint Nite had a large turnout of creative enthusiasts, each falling quite differently on a spectrum of artistic abilities. However, there is no prior painting experience needed to attend a Paint Nite event. The only requirements are to have fun and let the creative juices flow.
Music and light refreshments were offered to Paint Nite attendees as they waited for further instruction. A few minutes after 7 p.m. instructors Brittney Barauskas and Kate Barrick welcomed those in attendance, and jokingly refused to begin until everyone expressed their excitement with genuine animated cheers.
To prep their paintings, participants were first instructed to paint their canvas with a thin layer of water in order to break up the fibers and prime the canvas. After that, through a series of steps, each began to construct their paintings, starting with the background of a sunset sky, and working their way to the ground, trees, leaves and other personalized details.
Between instructions, background music played and each painter was given ample time to paint until all were ready to move on to the next step. To ensure that all individuals were painting with ease, the leading instructors painted on a canvas in front of the groups to give them a visible example of what their painting should look like. There were also assistants walking around to replenish paint and give tips and extra help to those who needed it.
This was senior Jessica Richardson’s second Paint Nite event at SU, and she has yet to be disappointed.
“Paint Nite gives you a chance to be creative without being worried that you are going to mess up. The instructors give relatively easy steps that are easy enough to follow that even if it doesn’t come out looking exactly the same as the sample, it will be pretty similar,” Richardson said.
Throughout the night, everyone eagerly painted away, with the hopes of their paintings turning out decent enough that they could show their friends and family, and each exceeded that low set expectation with flying colors.
“It starts off looking like a blob,” freshman Samantha Mallette said, “but you get to see the progress and watch that blob turn into a painting.”
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