One of my very favorite things that I do every week is get together with a group of college-aged international students from all over the world. The kids come from the ends of the earth to attend school at a local community college and a group of us shares life with them every Friday night. This girl who grew up in the least diverse small town is learning all about different cultures and countries and spending time with some pretty cool humans. I get to plan activities for them, and one of the ones that was a hit was our very own canvas painting night. We don't have the budget to pile into a trendy art studio, so I thought of a way that I could bring a paint studio to them. And I left them with a little piece of Seattle that they could bring back home with them too. Come see how easy it is to host your own canvas paint night for your friends, family, or for a party.
How to Host Your Own Canvas Paint Night
I knew that I wanted to create a canvas that the kids could paint that would be representative of our area. They will all leave here and travel either back home or transfer for University around the globe, and I liked the idea of giving them a little souvenir. I found a coloring book image with Mt. Rainier and the Seattle skyline {including the Space Needle}, and thought it would be perfect to paint!
In order to transfer your image from your coloring page to your canvas, you will need carbon paper. You can use the same carbon page more than once. I used one carbon page to make about six canvases.
Speaking of canvases, shop around. I found a super sale at Michael's on a multi-pack and they cost around $1 each. Amazon has canvases for around $1.50 each regular price, so even if you don't find a sale, they aren't too expensive.
I wasn't quite sure how much paint to get. I shouldn't have worried! A little paint goes a long way. Make sure you tell your budding artists that. A plate in the middle of the table was plenty for 4-6 students.
I planned the night for 20 students.
You will need:
canvas{1 for each person painting}carbon paper
acrylic paint {this set would be more than enough for a party}
bowls or cups for water
paper plates for paint
a value pack of paint brushes in various sizes {mostly small tip}
newspaper to protect your work surface
napkins or paper towels for wiping brushes
If you want, you can provide your guests with the carbon paper and several ideas. They can simply use a sharp pencil and trace over the image onto the canvas {with the carbon paper between}, to transfer the image to the canvas. I completed this step and created the canvases ahead of time giving everyone the same image to use to paint.
A plate and several water bowls were placed in the center of the table to share. This amount of paint was MORE than enough for a group of 4-6 students to use.
Some students wanted to have paint closer to them and several chose to blend the basic paint colors that I had offered them. Make sure you provide extra plates or paper so that they can do this.
I honestly was surprised with little instruction on how to paint, how many different variations of the same canvas image was created.
Feel free to let your guest use their imagination!
Before you know it, the masterpieces will be finished and your party will be nearing an end!
I was really impressed with how smoothly the evening went and how creative all the students were.
Even those who claimed that they weren't that talented or "artsy" really seemed to enjoy themselves.
3 comments
What fun! I love how different each one is. You can see the different personalities in the colors people choose.
I think this is a FAB idea! By any chance do you have other transfers that could be used? Thanks!
Coloring books or free printables you find doing a google search is a good place to start on finding transfers you can use to create your cavases. Good luck!
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