I received an email from JoAnn Fabrics about taking an online painting class. So, I decided to see what paintings they had to offer. I saw a waterfall with cherry blossom trees that I liked. My boyfriend and I like to paint, so I decided to sign us up for this class. The class was put on by a company called YAYMAKER. Once the date of the class came, you have 30 days to watch a video recording of a lady teaching you how to make the painting. This was nice, because I am typically a slow painter. So, it was nice that we could pause and rewind the video as needed. The instructor made it easy to follow and was encouraging. She even showed you how to mix colors if you did not have many paint colors to work with. It was not a very detailed painting, but that made it less stressful and more relaxing.
This activity was very cheap to do. The particular painting class I pick happen to be a free one. The other classes were about $10. It also said you got a $10 JoAnn rewards when you sign up for the classes that cost. So, it sounds like technically all of the classes could be free. I purchased the canvases from Dollar Tree. The paint and paint brushes were all acrylic paints I already had.
We started out by making the water fall. We made the shape of the water fall first, then added and blended some white into it. We then did the same thing for the base of the water fall/the water at the bottom. We then painted the background black, which also helped shaped our water fall. The waterfall was supposed to be thicker at the top, and gradually get a little thinner as it went down.
As we let the black dry we moved onto the rocks. We were told to make a rough outline of our rocks first. Then we added a little white to the tops of our rocks and blended it into the rest of the rocks. This helped separate one rock from another. This is probably where we spent the most of our time. Both of our rocks and the instructor’s rocks all looked very different, but that is the beauty of painting. You can add your own touches to it and make it your own.
We then let our rocks dry and started to make the branches to our trees. I made a lot more branches than Fernando did, but I think both of ours turned out nice. We then went back and added some moss and greenery to our rocks and the water. I was not sure about this part. I almost did not add it at all, but now I am glad I did. It adds some nice extra color. I was afraid I was going to mess up my rocks by adding the green, but I think it added to the rocks nicely. If there is ever a piece to a painting you do not like, it is okay to just skip that part. I have done this in other painting I have done.
Next, we added the water to the base of our waterfall. I did up and down dabbing motions to create my water mist. I believe my boyfriend, Fernando, did more stroke like motions to make his waterfall mist. This was the same for our flower petals. I did more of a dabbing motion, and he did more strokes. I tried to make strokes, but was not liking how they were looking. I really like how Fernando added flower petals in the water and falling from the trees. I would have liked to added this feature to my painting, but I was not sure how it would look with the way I made my petals in my trees.
I think we both enjoyed this painting class. It was a fun break from our typical day, and something nice to do together. This could be a great activity to do as a family no matter the skill level. It is funny how we both like different aspects of each other’s paintings. For example, we both like the water foam/splash and the rocks on my painting better, but the flower petals and water on my boyfriend’s painting better. It is fun to see how different our paintings turned out, even though we were following the same instructions. While our paintings were drying the sun was hitting mine, which I thought was pretty.
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