How to run a paint party: Part 1

So here’s the deal: I don’t enjoy running paint parties as much as I enjoy teaching consistent classes each week, as I find you really have to simplify what you are teaching and you can’t get the students to get a full painting experience that comes from fully focusing and taking the time to complete a painting. But it does offer a taste of the joy of painting when done correctly, and the joy of the participants is such a great vibe that I do enjoy doing them and will share how you too can enjoy running paint parties. 

So here’s  a simple guide to running a paint party:

Make sure you have worked out which supplies are best to use. You aren’t looking for artist quality, but you do not want to use kid’s craft quality. Something in between like Daler Rowney System three or Blick value bottles. 

You will also need to factor in the size and price of the canvases. I like to use Daler Rowney paintbrushes as they have ten per pack in different sizes, but you want a lot of flat square brushes as well as most paint parties paint landscapes and cover large areas of a canvas at a time. 

You also need to determine what you are using as a palette. I use disposable plates and shallow containers that don’t spill easily. You will also need a plastic tablecloth to cover the tables, easels for each participant and a paper towel/kitchen paper for the participants to dry their brushes. 

I suggest buying a set of brushes, paints and easels in bulk as chances are you will be asked to run many paint parties as word gets around of how great you are (which you will be if you follow these steps). 

Here’s a list of recommended supplies: 

• Brushes- You can get this pack or this one. You want enough flat, square brushes so that it’s easier for the participants to cover their canvas when painting. 
• Easels-It’s best to buy at least 20 that you can use each time you do a paint party event
• Paint- think ahead and buy a bulk big bottle like these from Blick that you can then fill up in these containers for easy pouring each time you do a paint party
• Disposable plates to use as palettes
• Shallow containers- these are the best to use for water to wash brushes in between colors as they don’t spill easily like taller plastic containers
• Kitchen paper towels- tear off a bit for each participant to use to dry their paintbrush after they wash it in between colors
• Canvases- Buy in bulk, any size under 30 x40cm is good. You don’t want too small, but not bigger than 30x40cm.

Other supplies to think about is buying a microphone you can use as this will make it much easier to teach large groups. You also may want to buy a large roll of plastic to cover the tables each time, although the host may provide that. 

You will also need an easel for yourself to use, to set up your sample so everyone can see and you will need another one to put your blank canvas and show them step by step what to do. 

Pricing

The next step is to determine your pricing. This is largely based on which area in the world you live in so find out from others how much they charge based on where you live. Now if you have never run a paint party before , I would suggest starting at a low price as that mentally gives you leeway to make mistakes and use your time as a learning experience. Make sure to factor in the price of supplies.

As you gain more experience and run more paint parties, you can go up in price. You will also know when you reach a price that has you running to do a paint party and gets you all excited about it and when you have this feeling of dread as you feel like you aren’t being paid your worth. 

Please don’t charge premium prices when starting out-charge your value and know that it will increase with experience!

The next step is to prepare the painting you are going to teach: (we will go through more ideas in Part 2 but here’s a quick rundown)

Some tips to choosing a painting: 

Ever heard the saying ‘Keep it simple, stupid’. Well, I think it’s a saying, but in any case it goes through my mind whenever I need to think of a painting to teach. If you are an accomplished artists, chances are is that painting comes so intuitively to you that you’ve forgotten how you started painting and how simple your paintings were. 

Usually, the participants in a paint party are not serious artists and will need a painting on their level. Coupled with the fact that you are teaching a lot of students at once, the simpler you make the painting to complete, the easier your job will be! Plus, you don’t have much time to teach them the full methods for drawing and mixing colors (which is the part that frustrates me) so make sure it’s something approachable without too many steps. 

Now I am not a fan of too simple, but no crazy details or crazy mixing of colors. Simple color mixing and blending techniques and a focus on tonal values are all a painting needs. 

My number one suggestion is to complete a landscape painting. Landscapes don’t need exact colors or brush strokes and so they are more forgiving. They also look nice in one layer. Think beach scenes, or autumn trees. Once you start adding in rivers or lakes, or snow capped mountains you are setting yourself up for a lot of hard work. 

Keep the colors simple and the process simple enough that you are able to explain it clearly step by step. 

When you prepare your own painting to show them as a sample, think about how you are going to explain it. 

How are you going to show them how to hold the brush? How will you explain how to blend the colors? How will you show them how to mix the colors and go from dark to light value tones? 

You may find when you are preparing your sample that you have put way too many colors in to the painting and they will find it hard to follow along having to mix so many colors, and you may need to simplify it. 

You also need to think if there is any detail like leaves on a tree- how will you explain how they should hold their brush and what strokes will they need to create?

I also find with paint party paintings is that they often can appear very simplistic and flat. This can be the case when you are overdoing it with the white and not mixing colors correctly. If you are nervous that this may be you, you may want to brush up on your color mixing skills and learn some more about painting and mixing hues so you have what to give over. 

Paint parties are great fun, but remember they need to be planned out properly, catered to the right level of the participants and keep it simple! 

Plus, working on your own paintings and developing your own skills will make you a much better artist  and a much better teacher as you will be able to give over much more value and feel more confident when teaching a paint party. 

You will also be less scared and more likely to try something new and bring some excitement to the paint party scene!

All of these ideas are included in my module in my art teacher course, in the module where I teach how to teach canvas painting. This is a condensed version to get you started teaching paint night parties. 

We will go through more tips, ideas for painting and how to teach it and strategies you can use to run a successful Paint party event in our next blog post, but I hope this gives you a little idea of what it takes to run one.