Paint Along for Book Clubs and Bookish Friends
Welcome to the Yours is the Night Paint Night! I’m so excited to spend some time with you creating these scenes and chatting about the story.
With a few basic watercolor supplies available at any arts and crafts store, and a small bit of time, you and your club will be on your way to creating this charming scene of fireflies in the forest, as well as a poppy vignette. No experience is necessary! While we paint, I’ll also discuss some of the themes of the book and symbolism of the cover elements.
Optional: Here is an invitation graphic you can save and send out as a text or email, adding your event details to the body of the text/email. Right click to save, or screen-capture using your phone.
Where to Access: Click on the video at the top of this web page. Be sure to click the full screen icon in the bottom right corner for the easiest viewing experience.
Time needed: 30 minutes to 1 hour (depending on whether you do one or both paintings)
Supplies needed are listed below or can be found in a convenient Amazon shopping list here .** Please note that in most cases, the majority of these items will be more cost-effective if purchased locally at your craft store or an art supply website (for the art-specific supplies such as paints) or dollar store/Walmart (for tape, cups, paper towels/napkins etc.)
–1 small tube of watercolor paint in each of these 4 colors: Payne’s Gray, Turquoise, Cadmium Red, and Cadmium Yellow. 1 tube of each color will provide more than enough for your whole group to share. If those specific color’s aren’t available, just aim for a dark grey, a bright blue such as Cerulean or Cobalt, a red such as Alizarin Crimson or Light Red, and a bright primary yellow such as Lemon Yellow.I’m using the Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolor series which she purchases at cheapjoes.com (allow plenty of time for shipping) or at Michael’s craft store.
–two small pieces of watercolor paper each (any size will do; size 4×5 is shown in video, which is an 8×10 piece of paper cut in half, giving each person two papers)
–tape such as scotch tape, masking tape, or washi tape, to secure paper to a surface such as a table, placemat, clipboard, or piece of cardboard
–cup of water for rinsing brush (one for each painter– plastic cups are fine, clear is fun in order to see the paint and water mingle)
— 2 paper towels for each person: one for blotting, and one for another purpose
–1 paintbrush per person, ideally size 6 round (size 4 or 8 would do, too!)
–A plate for each person, for mixing paint. White ceramic works best for mixing and to easily see colors, but plastic will do, too, if you don’t mind the water beading up a bit!
*The additional inspiration poppy tutorials mentioned during the video can be viewed here and here. Such talented painters!
