Pet Portrait Painting in Oil

Turn your favourite pet photo into a beautiful oil painting in a hands-on, beginner-friendly workshop! Whether it’s your own furry friend or a loved one’s companion, you’ll learn techniques for capturing your pet’s unique personality, from soulful eyes to playful expressions, using rich oil colours. Send us a cherished photo or several options for us to print as your reference, and we’ll guide you step-by-step in creating a heartfelt pet portrait to treasure for years to come. All skill levels welcome!

~Participants should bring a box with a lid that they can use to transport their wet painting home at the end of the workshop. Pizza boxes are ideal for this. Brushes, palettes, paint and palette knives will be provided, but participants are welcome to bring their own if they prefer.

What you will learn in this workshop:

1. Basic rules for handling oil paint (fat over lean, studio safety)
2. colour mixing
3. Using solvents and mediums with oil paint
4. Transferring an image to a painting surface using the grid method
5. Capturing the texture of fur
6. Strategies for painting loosely
7. Using light and shadow to model a three-dimensional form
8. Matching colour values to a reference image

Materials and supplies that will be provided for participants to use during the workshop:

• Pencils
• Canvas or panel
• Palette
• Palette knife
• Oil paint
• Brushes
• Gloves
• Solvent
• Solvent-free gel medium
• Tabletop easel

About the instructor:

Lee Iskander (they/them) is an educator and education researcher who recently completed their PhD in Curriculum Studies at the University of British Columbia. In addition to their scholarly work, Lee maintains an artistic practice as a painter. They particularly enjoy painting en plein air or from live models. Lee's paintings employ vibrant colours and emphasize the effects of light on an object or scene. https://www.leeiskander.com/

What to wear:

Please consider wearing comfortable clothes. Please wear clothing that you would not mind getting dirty. Oil painting is messy, and stains from the paint may not wash off!

Public Transport and Parking

Train- Chinatown Skytrain Station

Bus - Served by the numbers 5, 17, 19, 22, 257

Parking - Limited off-street parking

Our entrance is wheelchair accessible.

Please note that the workshop fee is non-refundable.

Looking forward to seeing you! :)

Host or Publisher Present Art Studio