Tuestorial: Group Painting Project

So I've been trying to think of an interactive Group Craft Project that could be fun for a group of friends to do together at a Craft Night as an Ice Breaker...
I guess I'm mentally preparing myself for this weekend's awesome Etsy Party!
Last night I tried out one of my ideas with a group of friends at my house.

THE PROJECT:
Pass The Painting
THE GOAL:
Break the Ice, have fun, giggle and take home a treat!

THE CREW! Some Artistic and Wonderfully fun people...
You'll want more than one person...preferably 4 or more for best results.

Allie Felton (Organizer)
Katy Atchison (Hostess)
Allie Zee
Angela Holmes
Also my friend Stu and his girlfriend came...which made a nice sized group of six people.

A spin off the Drawing Game, Pass the Garbage...this is pretty much exactly the same as that but more challenging because you have to have a basic understanding of how to paint or draw on a canvas.

Materials Needed:
Canvases (I bought a 10-pack of pre-stretched canvases at Aaron Brothers for $21), Acrylic Paint (because it's fast drying), Sharpies & Markers for detailing if you want...timer, water for cleaning, and various brushes.

STEP ONE:
Hand each participant a Blank Canvas...
On the back of the canvas...have them write one sentence that describes the painting.
Be Imaginative! The crazier your sentence is...the more creative your other players get to be.
My Sentence: "Don't judge a rainy day by the unicorns eating ice cream in a sailboat by the bay."



STEP TWO:
Pass the Painting to your left!
Without revealing your sentence to the group...pass the painting to the first artist.
It's fun for the artists to get to read your sentence as they receive the painting.



STEP THREE:
Each artist has 5 minutes with the canvas at a time.
Set the timer the minute people start to paint on the canvases.

You can increase or decrease the amount of time that you give each person...but please note that every person around the table will get 5-10 minutes with your canvas and you'll need to also have a bit of drying time at the end. Therefore, in this case...since there were 6 people who were part of this Painting Party, we were painting for 45 min. to an hour.

STEP FOUR:
Paint! Taking inspiration from the sentence on the back...paint on the canvas in front of you... Try to leave some room for other participants...but get creative...and QUICK! part of the fun is that you don't have a lot of time to think about what you're going to be painting.
Plus, if you're not a skilled painter...you're welcome to just doodle a little flower in the ground or paint some background color in during your 5 minute turn. Also remember that the painting you're working on isn't going to end up being yours...so don't be afraid!

STEP FIVE:
Be sure to let your paintings dry before your friends leave your house....or ask them to be careful while traveling home. What's fun about this game is that everyone takes home a memory of the evening.

STEP SIX:
Present your work to the group.
At the end... stand up and read your original sentence to the group....showing your masterpiece to everyone at the same time.
Here are some of what we did!








ADVANTAGES TO THIS STYLE OF GROUP CRAFT:
No directions... allowing people the freedom to go crazy with no directions to follow also allows you to really get to know the artists around you.

DIS-ADVANTAGES TO THIS STYLE OF GROUP CRAFT:
you need to have the space and the time to do it. A bit messy as well...but I didn't mind using my large craft table for it. Also...it takes a lot of letting go and allowing yourself to not get hung up in the end result. Personally, I like the surprise of it all. Some artists also don't like the pressure of having to work on something for 5-10 minutes...but others really like that type of challenge.

Here's the aftermath of the project: (can you tell we really got into it?)


Have any of you done something similar? What are you most looking forward to this weekend?

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If you're an Etsy seller in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact Jen from Mama's Magic Studio about joining SFEtsy!