About this Workshop

This is a 4 day intensive workshop, painting landscapes and townscapes - outdoors weather permitting - otherwise you'll work from photos  that you or John will bring. 

Each day will start with a short input from John on different stages of his unique Ten Steps process, and for the rest of each day - with one-to-one advice from John - you will paint and practice key composition & design aspects, how to develop harmonious colour schemes, how and where to create visual movement, areas of interest and a distinctive focal point in your paintings, how to vary edges and texture, and how to add a touch of pzazz to really set you painting off! 

We will try to capture a different subject each of the first three days, and on the last day John will focus on helping the class to Finish their paintings in the studio.

If you've not yet tried it, en plein air painting is a great experience, and is gaining in popularity every year in Ireland, with many great festivals of outdoor painting happening all around the country during the Summer months. It's different to painting indoors in some respects and John will share these differences with you so that you will be ready to join a local plein air group or try out a festival!!

John has been painting for over 40 years and has been a fulltime professional artist and art teacher for 25 years and loves to share his experience with his students in a relaxed and informal atmosphere.

His workshops are packed with insights, tips and advice, demonstrations and Q&A sessions, and are most suited to both improvers and experienced painters alike.  John's style is to be very supportive and encouraging, and will advise everyone based on their level of experience, and the feedback from all his workshops is exceptional.

If you want to make a real step-change in the quality of your paintings, then this 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.