Present Art Studio Vancouver

09/22/2025

New Workshop Alert!
This Thursday, October 6th, 6-9 PM! 🦋✨💚
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!
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~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.
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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
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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
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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/
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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!

08/04/2025

Present Art Studio August Workshops & Events! ʚїɞ
https://www.presentartstudio.ca/book-online
Aug 09 | Making Resin Pendants & Bookmarks
Aug 16 | Natural Watercolour Paint-Making
Aug 22 | Resin, Collage, & Painting on Wood
Aug 23 | Intro to Natural Ink and Dye Making
Aug 30 | Papermaking Workshop: Pulp Painting

07/03/2025

✨Mini-course Alert!✨
Tickets in our bio!
🌿
July 20 and 27 (2 consecutive), 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
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This two-session plein air workshop invites participants to explore the urban landscape around Vancouver’s historic Sun Tower through guided painting sessions. Working with gouache — a versatile, opaque water-based medium ideal for layering and quick drying — or the opaque paint medium of their choice (oils or acrylics), participants will develop their skills in composition, colour mixing, and working from observation on location. Designed for both beginners and experienced artists, this workshop offers supportive instruction, focused practice, and the opportunity to respond creatively to the unique textures and atmosphere of the downtown core. One week will be more focused on making composition decisions, and the other on matching colours.
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We will practice making and using view-finders to plan a compelling composition. Participants will learn how to go from small sketches to bigger paintings, mix accurate colours using a limited palette, and adapt to changing light outdoors.
🌿
Participants who already have a painting set-up appropriate for outdoors are invited to bring that. Any opaque paint (oils, acrylics or gouache) will work for this workshop. If bringing your own paint, please bring at least one of each primary colour (yellow, red and blue) plus white and black. If you are using oils or acrylics, please bring your own surface to paint on. This should be no larger than 9 by 12 inches, should be lightweight, and should be primed with two layers of gesso.
🌿
For participants who do not have their own materials, gouache paint and all materials necessary for working with gouache will be provided.
🌿
Exact painting locations are to be determined, but we will meet at Present Art Studio (550 Cambie, Vancouver) at the beginning of each workshop.

06/15/2025

✨Mini-course Alert✨
Sign up for the course through the link in our bio! 🧚‍♂️
🌿
This two-session plein air workshop invites participants to explore the urban landscape around Vancouver’s historic Sun Tower through guided painting sessions. Working with gouache — a versatile, opaque water-based medium ideal for layering and quick drying — or the opaque paint medium of their choice (oils or acrylics), participants will develop their skills in composition, colour mixing, and working from observation on location. Designed for both beginners and experienced artists, this workshop offers supportive instruction, focused practice, and the opportunity to respond creatively to the unique textures and atmosphere of the downtown core. One week will be more focused on making composition decisions, and the other on matching colours.
🌿
We will practice making and using view-finders to plan a compelling composition. Participants will learn how to go from small sketches to bigger paintings, mix accurate colours using a limited palette, and adapt to changing light outdoors.
🌿
Participants who already have a painting set-up appropriate for outdoors are invited to bring that. Any opaque paint (oils, acrylics or gouache) will work for this workshop. If bringing your own paint, please bring at least one of each primary colour (yellow, red and blue) plus white and black. If you are using oils or acrylics, please bring your own surface to paint on. This should be no larger than 9 by 12 inches, should be lightweight, and should be primed with two layers of gesso.
🌿
For participants who do not have their own materials, gouache paint and all materials necessary for working with gouache will be provided.
🌿
Exact painting locations are to be determined, but we will meet at Present Art Studio (550 Cambie, Vancouver) at the beginning of each workshop.
🌿

05/20/2025

✨A few spots are available! Reserve your spot through the link in our bio!✨
🌿
In this workshop, we will experiment with the possibility of applying oil paint to Yupo to create an expressive painting of a landscape. Yupo is a unique, non-porous, sturdy and smooth surface that allows the paint to be mixed, layered or scraped on the painting to create unique effects. Additionally, oil paint on Yupo shows off the texture of brushstrokes and retains its gloss and luminosity. Working from one of several reference photos provided, participants will learn to begin a painting in a loose style with an emphasis on expressive brushwork, colour and light. 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:
- basic rules for handling oil paint (fat over lean, studio safety)
- colour mixing
- matching colour values to a reference image
- strategies for painting loosely
- how to use different tools and mediums to create texture on Yupo
- how to protect a painting on Yupo once it dries
🌿
Materials and supplies that will be provided for participants to use during the workshop:
Oil paint
Palette paper
Yupo
Palette knives
Brushes
Solvent
🌿
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/
🌿

04/23/2025

🌸Book your spot through the link in our bio!🌸
Our new location: 550 Cambie St, Vancouver, BC.
✨
🌿New Workshop Alert🌿
✨Sign up through the link in our bio!
Throughout this workshop, participants will learn how to craft distinctive sheets of handmade paper using recycled paper scraps. They will experiment with laminating and incorporating fresh botanicals, such as flowers, leaves, and petals (dried and wet) into paper. This workshop will provide a low-tech foundation in papermaking that is infinitely expandable for participants with limited access to studio facilities. It is also non-toxic and can even be implemented into educational programs with young children.

This workshop is designed for beginners.
🌿
What you will learn in this 2 hours and a half workshop:

1. Participants will learn how to make simple sheets of paper
2. Participants will explore how to make paper embedding and laminating natural materials and text to their papers
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Materials and supplies that will be provided for participants to use during the workshop:

Moulds and deckles
Felts
Two colour pulp
Dried natural materials such as leaves and flowers (feel free to bring yours as well)
Sponges
Colour paper, tissue paper.
Buckets
Container
Kitchen blender
Towel
🌿
About the instructor:

Yasaman Moussavi is an artist and educator. She holds an MFA and a BFA and is currently pursuing a PhD in Art Education at the University of British Columbia. Yasaman is fascinated by how the immersive and embodied experiences of public spaces and site-specific art can inspire the imagination to overcome the alienation caused by precarity. Yasaman is passionate about community art and its potential to raise social awareness. Through her papermaking art practices, she uses recycled paper as a medium for collaborative and creative expression of identities, stories, and values. Her artwork has been exhibited in various venues across the world. www.yasamanmoussavi.com

04/23/2025

✨Sign up through the link in our bio!✨
Our new location: 550 Cambie St, Vancouver, BC.
This workshop series will support students in completing at least a portrait in oil paint using (a) photo reference(s), emphasizing the bold use of colour and expressive brushwork. In the first session, students will practice modelling the planes of the face through a small study of a particular feature, such as a nose or ear. They will also be supported in producing a value study of their chosen reference. In the following sessions, students will be coached through the process of creating their final portrait in colour. Throughout, students will learn basic skills such as colour mixing, using mediums, and maintaining an organized palette. This mini-course is appropriate for participants of any background, from beginners to experienced artists. While materials are provided, students are welcome to bring their own paint.
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Dates and times of the sessions:
May 21 - 6:30 - 9:00 pm
May 28 - 6:30 - 9:00 pm
June 4 - 6:30 - 9:00 pm
✨
What you will learn in this workshop:
basic rules for handling oil paint
colour mixing
matching colour values to a reference image
strategies for painting loosely
identifying values from a reference image
✨
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/

04/21/2025

Eco Paper-making Workshop - April 26th, 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM

Guest Artist Series: Yasaman Moussavi

04/21/2025

🌿New Workshop Alert🌿
✨Sign up through the link in our bio!
Throughout this workshop, participants will learn how to craft distinctive sheets of handmade paper using recycled paper scraps. They will experiment with laminating and incorporating fresh botanicals, such as flowers, leaves, and petals (dried and wet) into paper. This workshop will provide a low-tech foundation in papermaking that is infinitely expandable for participants with limited access to studio facilities. It is also non-toxic and can even be implemented into educational programs with young children.

This workshop is designed for beginners.
🌿
What you will learn in this 2 hours and a half workshop:

1. Participants will learn how to make simple sheets of paper
2. Participants will explore how to make paper embedding and laminating natural materials and text to their papers
🌿
Materials and supplies that will be provided for participants to use during the workshop:

Moulds and deckles
Felts
Two colour pulp
Dried natural materials such as leaves and flowers (feel free to bring yours as well)
Sponges
Colour paper, tissue paper.
Buckets
Container
Kitchen blender
Towel
🌿
About the instructor:

Yasaman Moussavi is an artist and educator. She holds an MFA and a BFA and is currently pursuing a PhD in Art Education at the University of British Columbia. Yasaman is fascinated by how the immersive and embodied experiences of public spaces and site-specific art can inspire the imagination to overcome the alienation caused by precarity. Yasaman is passionate about community art and its potential to raise social awareness. Through her papermaking art practices, she uses recycled paper as a medium for collaborative and creative expression of identities, stories, and values. Her artwork has been exhibited in various venues across the world. www.yasamanmoussavi.com

04/05/2025

✨New Workshop Alert✨Tickets are available in our bio.
🌿
In this workshop, we will experiment with the possibility of applying oil paint to Yupo to create an expressive painting of a landscape. Yupo is a unique, non-porous, sturdy and smooth surface that allows the paint to be mixed, layered or scraped on the painting to create unique effects. Additionally, oil paint on Yupo shows off the texture of brushstrokes and retains its gloss and luminosity. Working from one of several reference photos provided, participants will learn to begin a painting in a loose style with an emphasis on expressive brushwork, colour and light. 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:
- basic rules for handling oil paint (fat over lean, studio safety)
- colour mixing
- matching colour values to a reference image
- strategies for painting loosely
- how to use different tools and mediums to create texture on Yupo
- how to protect a painting on Yupo once it dries
🌿
Materials and supplies that will be provided for participants to use during the workshop:
Oil paint
Palette paper
Yupo
Palette knives
Brushes
Solvent
🌿
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/
🌿