Frogbert, Darth Ribbit, and SEPP

Time with friends, painting, frogs, and SEPP make for a great night

On Thursday, March 28, if you were at the University of Regina near the University of Regina Students’ Union’s Multi-Purpose Room from 5-7 p.m., you may have noticed a small group of people painting. This was the Saskatchewan Equity and Parity Project (SEPP) Paint Night, where attendees were instructed on how to paint a frog on a tree branch.

This paint night was $20 for students and minors, and $25 for the public. These ticket prices covered the price of paint, paint brushes, a canvas, and some refreshments for each attendee for the night.

Although there was an instructor present, they did not claim to be in complete control over how each attending artist painted their frog. As such, when one of the attendees painted a beautiful rendition of… something distinctly un-froglike, everyone in attendance took great enjoyment in being able to see it.

For those of us who did make a frog, each of our frogs was different and beautiful in their own ways. For my part, my frog – whom I named Frogbert – was pink instead of green, and had confused eyebrows. There were a few other frogs that stood out to me for their creativity or for the jokes that were made about them.

One of these frogs was sort of heart-shaped, though that was a happy accident. There was another attendee who was wearing a Star Wars shirt who painted a sith frog with a rendition of the Death Star exploding in the background. That was a truly inspired addition to the group’s collection of frogs.

We were jokingly told at the beginning of the night that, in order to pass, we had to name our frogs, and there were so many frog-themed names at the end of the class; it was glorious. Puns are, of course, loved by everyone, so that was not too surprising.

All in all, SEPP’s paint night was a greatly enjoyable and relaxing event. Though there aren’t currently any released plans for another paint night from SEPP, I highly recommend attending if you have the chance. They also are doing incredible and important work that is supported by attendance at events like this.

For those who don’t know, according to their Instagram account (@sepp.yqr), SEPP is a project which provides “programming in promotion of gender equity and parity within positions of leadership. We encourage community building and have a focus on feminist principles in the labour market!”

On their account, they also have introductions for each of their members. For updates on any future events they may hold, following them specifically is probably your best bet.

This event was not done in association with the Paint Nite brand, but there are plenty of events from them in the near future, if you would rather attend those. Places to look for paint nights near you include eventbrite.ca or simply searching on your favourite search engine “paint night near me.”

If you would rather not attend an event, but still want to enjoy some time painting by yourself or with friends, all you really need is paint, paint brushes, a canvas, an internet connection, and something to watch a video on.

Now, what you’re going to do is head to YouTube (or a YouTube alternative if you don’t feel like dealing with all those ads) and search up “Bob Ross.” This may seem like a, “Well, duh,” sort of situation to some, but sometimes people don’t know what you know, so it is still a relevant recommendation.

As I have done this with my friends previously, I can attest to its entertainment value. My friends were really “by the book,” but I was having some trouble with mixing the right colours and accidentally painting over things on different layers, so mine ended up looking much different than theirs.

This only added to its sentimental value though, so I do recommend experimenting with colours during a paint night if you want to make your painting more one-of-a-kind!

One note I would like to make though is that if you’re trying to add something, say an animal, from memory, maybe look up a photo to be sure you aren’t forgetting an important piece of their body. Adding a bunny in the corner that is lacking ears makes for a very confusing situation for both the artist and any viewers.