About this Workshop

This is a 4 day painting workshop, for artists with at least a little experience – maybe you’ve painting half a dozen pictures or many more, but no matter how ‘amateurish’ or ‘bad’ you feel they worked out – that’s not important. 

John will share his Ten Steps to Great Paintings – taking the guesswork and confusion out of the complex task of creating a painting.  You will discover that you need to Think Differently and Do Different Things at each stage of the painting.  

Each step is clear and distinct, as you go from ‘What Excites You’ (to paint this particular scene) – through ‘Composition & Design Essentials’ – to applying thin, then thicker paint on your canvas – to ‘Finishing your Painting with IMPACT’.

In each step you have a clear objective, different from the previous steps, and build on those well thought out previous steps.  John has developed and applied these steps in 25 years as a full-time professional artist, and his ‘success rate’ has improved dramatically over these years in creating quality paintings.

You will follow and understand everything John teaches – it’s not complicated, but the step by step clarity will be of great help to you in all your future paintings, whether they be landscape, still life or portraiture.

Johns workshops will be relaxed and informal, full of learning - with demonstrations, examples and lots of one-to-one advice during your painting practice over the 4 days.

If you want to make a step-change in the quality of your paintings, then this short workshop is for you. 

Full details of what to bring to this workshop will be given on booking.  Places are limited so please book early.

Meet John

John Dinan is a professional artist who has been teaching art for over 20 years, in Ireland, France and Italy. He is an exhibiting artist in many of Ireland’s leading galleries in both the Republic and the north of Ireland. He has exhibited in RHA, Oireachtas and many solo and group exhibitions. He is a member of the Dublin Painting & Sketching Club, and of the Back Lane Painters, and is a founder member of the Portmarnock Art Group.

His landscapes, portraits and still lifes are held internationally in corporate and private collections.

He especially loves painting en plein air, and has run outdoor workshops and been a prize-winner at the international Art in the Open festival in Wexford. He paints in a varied range of styles, but his work is usually recognised through good drawing, strong compositions and bright colours. His workshops always receive great feedback for the extensive tuition, complete sharing of experience and insights, helpful one-to-one advice and the encouraging atmosphere he maintains in his classes. He lives in Cross, in south Mayo, near the village of Cong where he and his wife have had an art gallery for over 12 years.