About this Event
UNORTHODOX WASHES — Session I: Coffee Washes is the opening night of a five-part series where we trade traditional paint for beautifully unpredictable natural media. In this session, your “palette” is coffee—brewed, instant, and concentrated—turned into a rich range of sepia tones that bloom, stain, and drift across the page in ways watercolor can only imitate.
This is a weeknight-friendly, paint-n-sip style workshop with an experimental edge. You’ll learn how to control the chaos: how to build values, steer tide-lines, lift highlights back out of a stain, and layer washes to create depth and atmosphere. Expect warm, earthy textures, smoky gradients, and those iconic coffee-ring effects—on purpose.
What you’ll do
- Create one finished piece (or a strong start + studies you can keep developing)
- Explore coffee as a pigment: light-to-dark value control, glazing, and layering
- Learn bloom effects, stain edges, lifting, and ring/tide-line techniques
- Leave with repeatable methods you can use in sketchbooks, illustration, and mixed media
What’s included
- All materials and supplies (paper, brushes, palettes, masking/resist options, etc.)
- Guided instruction + walk-around coaching
- Wine, light hors d’oeuvres, and Romolo’s chocolates
- A relaxed atmosphere that still respects the craft
Who it’s for
Beginners are welcome. Artists, illustrators, and experimenters will also get a lot out of it—especially if you love process, texture, and non-traditional tools.
Dates & times: Jun 4 at 6:30 PM (2 hours +)
Location: Erie Labor Temple
Hosted by No Such Animal Studios in partnership with PH’KAKi Creative Studios + Erie Labor Temple
UNORTHODOX WASHES is a five-session arc built for people who love making art—and love breaking rules carefully. Each session explores a different natural medium with its own personality and behavior, and then the finale brings everything together in a mixed-media open studio night where you combine them freely.
The arc
- Session I: Coffee Washes
- Session II: Squid Ink Noir
- Session III: Wine Stains & Oxidation
- Session IV: Walnut Ink Studies
- Session V: The Unorthodox Lab — Finale Mixed Media Open Studio (mix and match everything)
Want the full 5-part arc and save?
Grab the Series Pass here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/unorthodox-washes-season-1-series-pass-all-5-sessions-tickets-1984724174433
Each night stands on its own, but the full series is designed to build confidence and skills step-by-step—so by the finale, you’re not guessing, you’re experimenting with intention.
Tickets
- Individual tickets per session
- Couples tickets (2 people)
- Series Pass options available (best value + best experience)
If you’ve been craving a creative night out that’s half studio, half social, and fully about making something you couldn’t have made any other way—this is it.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Erie Labor Temple, 1701 State Street, Erie, United States
USD 60.54 to USD 103.22
