Painting the Grandkids from Photographs

Join us for this 3-part workshop series at our wonderful Goldfinch Arts Centre by the sea to kick off the new year!

“I’m doing this workshop because I want to paint my grandkids.”

I’ve heard this in almost every portrait workshop I’ve taught over the past 30 years. This course is for all of those people - and, of course, for you if you want to paint your own children, nephews or nieces.

Painting children has its own unique challenges - the proportions of the face alter considerably from babyhood to teens and their delicate beauty can be tough to capture.

Students will bring a selection of 8x10 photographs of a child they’d like to paint and I will show them how to approach turning these into a painting to be proud of.

Students using oil paints will get the most from the workshop, but acrylic painters are welcome, and I will try to address the differences in technique required to paint successfully with acrylics.

The fee of $​360 per person includes your admission to ALL THREE CLASSES in this workshop series​ over consecutive weeks​ on the following dates:

• Wednesday, January 7, 2026, from 9am to 4pm
• Wednesday, January 14, 2026, from 9am to 4pm
• Wednesday, January 21, 2026, from 9am to 4pm

Please note: We ask everyone to arrive 20 minutes or so before we are scheduled to begin on the first day – allowing everyone to setup their equipment and find a spot where they will be able to see my demonstrations. Instruction will be from 9am-12pm, followed by an hour's break for lunch, before we reconvene from 1pm-4pm.

SUPPLY LIST

• A palette (the largest paper tear-off palettes are good)
• Plenty of paper towels
• Pots for medium
• Odourless mineral spirits - or water if you are going the water soluble oil or acrylic route
• Small sized Liquin (regular oils) or Quick Dry Medium (water soluble oil) unless using acrylics
• The following oil or acrylic paints (I will be using oil): Titanium White Cadmium, Yellow Pale Naples, Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Red Light, Burnt Sienna, Permanent Rose or Alizarin Crimson, Cerulean Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Viridian Green, Raw Umber, Ivory Black, Light Red or Terra Rosa
  *** I do not recommend Holbein water soluble oils ***
• Suitable brushes - use hogs hair or synthetics – from a good small (size 2) brush up to a large brush about an inch or so across. I use a mix of brights and flats sizes 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12. A small round brush can be useful for fine detail.
• A stick or two of willow charcoal
• Supports (canvases, boards, etc.): two at 16”x20” or similar, one at 20”x24” or larger - up to 22” x 28”

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

David Goatley, PSS, SFCA, OPA

David was born in London, England. Discovering Rembrandt at the National Gallery, aged 15, made him determined to be a portrait painter. He studied at Camberwell School of Art – London’s pre-eminent undergraduate painting school at the time - at the height of abstract expressionism (tutors included Trevor Jones, Gary Wrag, Ewan Uglow & Patrick Herron) before beginning a 16-year career in advertising. He began as an illustrator, became a designer, then a copywriter – ending as a partner in a small London agency. Determined to pursue to his first passion, he returned to portraiture in his 30s, painting for two years with his mentor, noted UK portraitist, John Jonas, before emigrating to Canada in 1992 and beginning a life as a full-time artist. He has been a professional portrait painter for almost 35 years.

David is a Signature Member of the Portrait Society of America and of Oil Painters of America as well as a Senior Signature Member of the Federation of Canadian Artists. He has completed over 440 portrait commissions to date across the USA and Canada as well as Central America, the UK, Africa, Israel and India. His subjects have included their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales, their Highnesses the Maharaja of Jaipur and the Emir of Bauchi, Lord Lang the Baron of Moncton, a Prime Minister and a Speaker, three Premiers and six Lt Governors, many Supreme and Appellate Court Justices and lawyers, a Bishop, plus the Presidents and Principals of many academic institutions, leaders from the business world, the Law and the Arts.

When he can fit in the time, David also paints the people he knows & places he’s visited.

www.davidgoatley.com

CLASS LOCATION

This workshop series is hosted by the Arts & Culture Colwood Society at the Goldfinch Arts Centre, a bright & modern gallery space that looks out to the Esquimalt Lagoon and the Colwood Waterfront beyond, where you will be surrounded by original artwork by local artists in an exhibition called Out of the Ordinary, which runs from January 8th through February 1st.

Please visit our website for more details on this and other upcoming events: www.artsandculturecolwood.ca.

Class size limit 14 people

Ticket sales end on Tuesday, December 30th, at 2pm PST