Can you draw? No? Me neither. I’ve been told you either have an ‘Art’ brain or a ‘Maths brain’. I’m definitely the latter. Although I’m quite creative, in that I have a lot of ideas, translating that on to paper is an absolute no go.

When I was invited by LovePopUpsLondon to spend an evening painting at ‘The Paint Republic’, I honestly thought I’d be laughed out of the room. I imagined everyone there to be seasoned artists, and didn’t believe I’d be able to produce what I ended up producing! I decided to give it a go, and put my faith into our professional teacher, to see if she could work her magic on me.

After 2 hours of painting, I left feeling so proud of myself. I couldn’t believe what I had created. Here’s all the details you need to know for an evening with The Paint Republic.

Logistics

The Paint Republic is hosted at the ‘Stane Street Syndicate’ pub, located on the Northern Line, opposite Clapham Common station. Stane Street Syndicate tend to host a lot of events including weekly pub quizzes, and ‘Pint of Science’ which I had attended the week before.

We had dinner provided, which included a burger of our choice and a portion of fries. I opted for a traditional beef burger and a side of sweet potato fries. The food was pretty decent – nothing extraordinary, but some good pub grub nonetheless.

A Paint Tutorial

We made our way into the function room, where a sea of blank canvases filled the room. Delicately placed in the spotlight at the front of the class, was a masterpiece of two flamingos dancing in the moonlight – that was our challenge for the evening. How was I ever going to paint something so amazing?! I took my seat amongst my friends and anxiously waited for our teacher to appear.

As our instructor entered the room, she immediately put me at ease. She was bubbly and friendly, and most importantly, assured me that everyone can paint if they are taught how to.

Before we began, we were given a quick tutorial on the different brush types, their thicknesses, and when to use each brush. This was extremely helpful and made it a lot easier to achieve the correct stroke while painting. We were provided with our own workstation, complete with brushes, water, paint, and a mixing tray. Our mixing tray contained just five colours; the three primary colours ‘blue’ ‘red’ and ‘yellow’, as well as ‘black’ and ‘white’. These five colours made up the entire painting just by mixing them together.

Ready, Steady, Paint!

We started with the background, painting a thin horizon line, colouring the top half a light grey and the bottom half a dark grey. It was very easy to follow. So far, so good. We then moved on to the trickier part of painting the flamingos. Fortunately, our teacher broke down the sections for us, taking us through step by step, starting with the heads, the bodies, and finally the legs. She gave us tips on how to create shadows, reflections, and movement within our paintings, which people had fun playing around with.

The atmosphere during the class was fun and chilled, with classic ‘cheese’ music playing in the background, and lots of opportunities to grab a cocktail and chat to people whilst painting.

Despite everyone painting the same image, each and every painting was unique. The more experienced painters decided to put their own spin on it, with one person painting a sunset background instead of a moonlit sky.

The Results

I became more confident as the picture came together and I really amazed myself with the final painting. It is genuinely the best thing I have ever painted – I’m so proud of it! Let’s put it his way, the instructor was better than my school art teacher, that’s for sure!

I would definitely recommend The Paint Republic to all those looking for a chilled enjoyable activity in London. It caters for all levels, from absolute beginner, to a professional artist, and there is a new image every week, meaning you will always have something different to paint, with new techniques to be learnt. Tickets cost £25 and are strictly 18+.

For more information on available dates, and how to book, please see their website: The Paint Republic

Disclaimer*

I received a complimentary ticket to this experience in exchange for a review. Views are my own.