2026 CLASSES & Workshops
Workshops, Classes & Online learning
SUMMER 2026
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Plein Air Essentials July 20/21 -2026
SUNSHINE COAST - Gibsons BC
Date: JULY Monday 20 & Tuesday 21
Time: 9.00 AM - 4.00 PM (PDT)
Location: Chaster House - waterfront/Bonniebrook
1549 Ocean Beach Esplanade
workshop with JAN POYNTER
COST : $300 some materials provided. List to participants
On location and in the studio - composition, photo refs, gear
Tips & techniques for travel sketching & painting
or experienced artists seeking fresh inspiration beyond the studio
max 10 students | 2 days | 9 am - 4 pm
demos in acrylic & watercolor
contact Marlene : marlenelowden@gmail.com
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Plein Air Sketch & Paint AUG 4&5 2026
RADIUM HOT SPRINGS, BC
Date: Tuesday Aug 4, Wed Aug 5th
Time: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM in person workshop
painting on site & in studio
Location: Radium Hot Springs Centre
4863 Stanley Street Radium Hot Springs
SKETCH & PAINT PLEIN AIR RADIUM BC | Aug 4 & 5
workshop with JAN POYNTER
COST : TBD
On location and in the studio - composition, photo refs, gear
Tips & techniques for travel sketching & painting
or experienced artists seeking fresh inspiration beyond the studio
max 10 students | 2 days | 9 am - 4 pm
demos in acrylic & watercolor
contact Yvonne : ynchristensen@gmail.com
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Joy of Plein Air: Sketching and Painting
August 10-12 Vernon BC
Date: AUGUST 10-11-12 2026
Time: 8.00 AM - 3.00 PM
Location: VERNON Summer School of Arts
at the Vernon Community Arts Centre
2704A BC-6, Vernon, BC
COST & Registration
Course Description
August 10 to 12, 8:00-3:00 Mon to Wed
Members $405 | Non-Members $450
Step outside the studio and into the lively, unpredictable world of plein air painting. This three-day workshop introduces plein air sketching and painting for artists ranging from beginners interested in travel sketching to experienced painters seeking fresh inspiration beyond the studio.
Working on location encourages mindful observation and a direct response to light, colour, weather, and place, reconnecting artists with both natural and urban environments.
Mornings are spent on site, starting early to take advantage of cooler temperatures and strong shadows, with demonstrations and guided practice focused on composition, value, colour, and efficient working methods.
Afternoons return to the studio for discussion, technical demonstrations, and developing studies using sketches and reference photographs.
Across the three days, the focus moves from quick compositional sketches and practical kit set-up, through monochrome studies to understand value, and into colour, light, and atmosphere using a limited acrylic palette. Participants learn how to work confidently in changing conditions and translate on-site studies into finished paintings or larger studio works.
This workshop offers a practical and adaptable approach to plein air painting, balancing structure with creative freedom while building confidence for working on location.
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I offer CUSTOM workshops in the following:
Drawing | Composition & Design | Acrylic | Watercolor | Gouache
from beginners to advanced
I do offer personal lessons & mentoring
at my home studio in Gibsons BC
in person and online.
$60 hr - 2 hr minimum
This is a great way to get intense personal direction for the
level of skill you are currently working and to achieve YOUR goals.
We'll review your past and recent work, discuss your style
and subject preferences and plan a customized lesson schedule.
Book weekly or monthly or again in 3 months...
it is up to you and your creative schedule.
SUSCRIBE below for updates on new offerings
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GROUP WORKSHOPS & RETREATS
gather your art group or painting pals
and plan a private workshop.
I love to stay & explore in new places
and this is usually where it starts.
Subject material for demos and painting workshops include:
Drawing, Composition & Design
Basic-Int Watercolor. Basic-Int Acrylic. Gouache on Black.
Color Mixing. Advanced Watercolor & Advanced Acrylic.
COST depends on number of participants,
Demo VS hands-on, location, travel/stay expenses, materials etc.
CONTACT me to plan your custom Workshop.
phone: 604 886 8918 email: info@janpoynter.com
Watch my INSTAGRAM feed and Highlights
for free TIPS and short videos
SIGN UP for Course info updates below
JAN POYNTER - Artist Statement 2026
The world is a never-ending source of inspiration & wonder to me. Whether in my own garden, on a mountain top or sitting on a rustic wall in ancient places – I strive to find the beauty in the commonplace and capture the awesome bits to celebrate. As a painter I am always chasing the light – and feel there must be darkness to make the light shine.
My current acrylic painting “style” and techniques have developed over the past 20 years – a unique combination of underpaint, drawing, layers of luminous glaze and random marks. Summer finds me painting plein air – on location early to late - catching the transient skies, light, shadows and sparkling shimmer and reflections on water. I love the patterns in Nature of dynamic growth and movement, from trees & waterfalls to snowslides & gullies. A single leaf, the center of a flower, the geology of water, ice and stone hold a lifelong fascination for me.
Working in Acrylic, Watercolor & Gouache. These small studies and my sketchbook along with a thousand reference photos inform my large studio paintings throughout the winter months. I also use digital devices as studio tools to develop compositions and color for my canvas & palette.
Over 50 years career as professional illustrator, designer & fine arts painter, I have developed a skill set with a vast knowledge of materials and techniques. My job as a teacher & mentor is to help others to SEE as a painter and pass on that knowledge – so that they can build a “tool kit” to back up their own creative interpretation and style.
A tool kit that lasts a lifetime.
I do not want students to paint like me – or join in to follow along and then go home to face an empty canvas without direction. I want my students to ask, try, fail, experiment and feel confident in their own choices – as those choices will accumulate with practice & intention to become their own style.
I am privileged to live & work overlooking the majestic Howe Sound fjord, on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, Canada. The traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the Shíshálh (Sechelt) and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Nations.