Recently I brought my eldest to A Drawing Cafe in Eco Botanic for her birthday treat. This cafe is different from the rest as it is primarily a cafe which allows you to paint as well as enjoy a cup of drink. This concept may be new here (at least in Johor Bahru), but the owner Mr Sunny explained the concept of drawing or painting cafes was well established in his home country Korea. I found out about this cafe via a few of my Facebook friends who have visited this cafe earlier, and decided to bring my girl as I knew she enjoys drawing and painting.
There are two packages offered by A Drawing Cafe. One is just RM60 for 3 hours painting alone. The other is RM65 for drawing and a cup of coffee or tea. Please do take note that if you choose your drink that is marked with an asterisk, means you need to top up further for that drink. The server at the cafe informed us that we could choose any drink, but when we paid we found the the total was different. Mr Sunny apologized for his staff's oversight but we paid for the top-up anyhow (a few Ringgit difference).
The cafe consisted of a few partitioned areas, each with 2 easels, stools and a trolley filled with brushes, water container, colour markers and paint. There was also a 'private room' in which you can paint in a slightly more discreet environment (although people still could see you paint as there is no door). Mr Sunny explained that the private rooms are in demand and one needs to make a booking for the private rooms.
This was how the 'private room' looks like. It could accomodate up to three people in that room but you need to make reservations first.
So how does this work? After selecting the package, we proceeded to choose which drawing we would like to paint. There were scenery (Santorini and Paris), Van Gogh (Starry Night and Sunflowers), portraits, and even cartoons such as My Little Pony for the little ones. The drawings were printed on good quality art paper. My girl decided she did not want to paint any of those, but she chose to paint on a small blank canvas instead. The small canvas is RM15 add on, while a large canvas is an additional RM60. I selected Van Gogh's Starry Night.
How about paint medium? We were supplied two boxes of acrylic paint in 12 colours. The tray also have marker pens and crayons catered for younger children who do not know how to paint yet. The grey container is where we can rinse off our brushes after painting. We were also supplied with two paper plates as the paint palette.
This was probably the biggest painting that I had done in my entire life. It was also my first time using acrylic paint, plus the fact I have not held a paintbrush to do painting ever since I left secondary school! Was I able to finish this in 3 hours??? Thankfully the staff gave me a sample of the actual painting so I at least refer to it while I paint. One can also choose to paint one own style, there is no right or wrong.
My eldest, on the other hand, seemed very certain and confident on what she wanted to draw on that piece of canvas. She had learnt how to paint using acrylic paint on canvas before, and had also watched Youtube videos on the technique, so it seemed to be familiar ground for her. There were some times she also gave me advice how to paint 😅😂
For those who are totally lost on what colour to mix or how to get a particular colour, the cafe provides a colour chart as guidance. However, please do not ask the staff what colour is it based on the actual painting, they will give you a blank stare. Even Mr Sunny sheepishly replied me "I am so sorry, I am not an artist", but he will give more paint should you run out of the particular colour 😅😆
So here are some snapshots I took of my painting in different stages. It didn't help when my eldest also decided to use blue colour as her base, we were fighting over the blue paint LOL! Thankfully Mr Sunny provided us extra blue paint (those that were half used by the other customers) so we could complete our painting.
Did we manage to finish the painting in 3 hours? Yes! Such a relief for me 😅😅
Here is our final product :
Not too bad for my first try! Though I may give Mr Van Gogh a pass the next time and try to paint something different instead (Santorini here I come)
We were encouraged to leave the painting overnight so it could dry thoroughly, and collect it the next day. The cafe would keep the customers' paintings up to two weeks before disposing them. The cafe also provides framing services for additional charge for customers who would like to have their paintings framed.
From my observation that day, most of the painting are done in pairs, mostly among friends. There was a couple who did the painting too, the boy looked quite bored but at least he finished his painting. The cafe was full at 3pm. Mr Sunny said their weekends are usually fully booked, especially the afternoon sessions.
We certainly enjoyed our mother-daughter bonding session, and looking forward to the next ones with her friends.
No 71, Jalan Eko Botani 3/7,
Taman EkoBotani,
79100 Iskandar Puteri, Johor
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