What It’s Like to Attend a Painting and Wine Class with No Artistic Ability

Lesson One: Bring friends, family, and wine. Having a support system (and alcohol) calms the nerves and makes the whole thing more fun.

Jessica Hess, the studio’s owner, and Christine DiMiceli, the evening’s instructor, greeted me right away. They both told me not to worry about my lack of experience—these classes are basically acrylic painting for beginners—and Christine handed me my brushes. Thankfully, they came with easy-to-remember names like Big Brush and Baby Brush. She then gave me a basic palette and directed me to the paints, which had pump-top dispensers and clear instructions for exactly how much I would need. We’d all be working on the same painting—“Rainy Day”—which depicted silhouetted figures against an abstract, rain-swept background.

Lesson Two: More adventurous students can pick their own colors or even paint something entirely different, but most people play it safe and follow the instructions.

I poured a glass of wine and took a stool next to my friends Mike and Anita, the three of us at the end of a long table that held our easels and blank canvases. Christine stepped onto the small stage at the front of the class and began to paint. We all followed along, starting with a simple gray background. I mixed black and white paint directly on the table—the studio had covered the table surfaces in white paper, making things extra easy. Even better, the staff would take care of cleaning everything afterward … except for my jeans.  

Lesson Three: Wear old clothes, or an outfit you think would look better with a few random streaks of paint.

I used Big Brush to make wide strokes, occasionally dipping its bristles into water. Christine, meanwhile, walked the room and gave advice, which for me was, “Don’t be afraid to use more paint.” The next hour or so passed in a blur of activity as Christine taught us how to paint with acrylics: she showed us how to transform rectangles and teardrops into people, dots and half-circles into umbrellas, and streaks of red, yellow, and blue into a rainy scene. She even painted larger examples on a separate paper, breaking down the painting’s more detailed parts into easy-to-follow steps. The only thing she didn’t teach me to paint was my signature, and I probably made it too big.

Lesson Four: Don’t be afraid to ask for help, even in the smallest details. The instructor can also tell you how to recover from mistakes.

Christine’s encouragement kept me from turning into a bundle of nerves, as did having my friends nearby. We laughed and assured one another that our paintings were fine. I wasn’t convinced, but I was thankful that they were the only ones who could see my work—until I heard the words “we’re done,” and it was time to pose for photos.

This was when the drinks helped, though I was too focused during the class to down more than a glass and a half. The “BYOB” in BYOB painting classes seemed more about creating a fun atmosphere, and having a glass of budget wine in hand made me realize no one was really there to judge my work.

Lesson Five: Almost everyone thinks their painting is the worst. At the end of the class, you see that yours and everyone else’s is good, even if they don’t look exactly like the example.

At the end, I posed unabashedly with my finished painting. I even plan to hang it in my apartment. Though probably at the end of the hallway, because as my Arts n Spirits instructor taught me, even great art looks better from a few feet away.

Still nervous? Watch our video to see what to expect: