I'd seen Paint Nite deals floating around on Living Social and Groupon, so when a friend came to visit from out of down I decided to buy one and sign us up for a Sunday night painting party. When I originally bought the deal from Living Social, it was quickly cancelled, which was a disappointment. However, a few days later I noticed the deal on Groupon, so I bought it again - clearly there are some technical/promotional issues, but thankfully, this time it was on!
We did a Sunday paint nite at Head House Crab & Oyster Co, on 2nd and South. The space was huge and the restaurant and bar were pretty dead on Sunday at 7pm, so I can understand why they'd welcome a crowd of 30 painters - especially when those painters are being encouraged to drink throughout the entire class. I understand the reciprocal relationship of Paint Nite using the space and encouraging people to buy drinks from the bar, but the pushiness was obvious and got a bit annoying after 2 hours.
As for the class itself, we painted "Fireflies" - an abstract sort of image that is evidently their most popular piece. Although the instructions were vague at time, it was an "Easy" level painting, and so they came out fairly well. Perhaps the most interesting and fun part was to walk around and see how 30 different people could interpret the same scene so many different ways - although I have to admit, it inspired some artist envy!
Overall, the novelty of painting your own masterpiece, while being able to sip drinks, makes for a fun night out, especially if you gather up a group to go. At $50 a person, I wouldn't pay full price, but there seems to be no shortage of half-price deals floating around on the inter webs. Not sure if I'll be a repeat customer, because really, what do you do with a bunch of giant hand painted canvases? Nevertheless, check it out yourself, eager to see more reviews up here! read more