Paint and Sip | Pinot’s Palette

May 18

Written By Nhi

I went to Pinot’s Palette in the Junction at 2866 Dundas St W, York, ON M6P 1Y8 for my first Paint & Sip experience!

This experience was more for painting than sipping for me (I have a bad alcohol intolerance), so I won’t be able to comment much on the sipping part.

I am not much of a painter who paints their own art from imagination but in the past I have painted albums and characters/themes of shows I liked. This ended up being a good experience for those of different skill levels to paint without the stress of deciding what to paint.

Canvases and glasses. Careful not to accidentally drink your paint water!

When you arrive you’ll see the studio set up with easels and canvases for the whole class. This Thursday evening class had about 40 people. On each canvas there is a plate with a name on it! You find your name and that will be your seat for the class. Each seat comes with a cup of water, paint brushes and a plate/palette of the different colours needed for the painting. They have cubbies in the front of the studio where you can keep your things away from the paint and you can grab an apron off the wall before you start. It can get messy and acrylic paint should be kept off your clothing.

You can grab some drinks from the bar before you get started. You can see their menu here. They have a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages for purchase. Water is also available free of charge. The bar is open for the duration of the class if you feel like you need some more drinks throughout the lesson.

Class instructor set up. This is where you really experience expectation vs. reality..

This visit I chose a painting with a large moon over a forest of trees. Alistair was our instructor. He explained to us what colours we would be using for each step and how to paint/blend each part. After each instruction it was our turn to follow along and do the painting. They played some music during this period and the instructor and other artists at Pinot’s walked around, so you can ask for some tips if needed. You have the freedom to change things up as you go along, no one is stopping you from creating something totally different. The timing between the steps seemed reasonable throughout the lesson and I could keep up until we got to the trees…

The trees involved a lot of layering which ended up becoming tiring for me to paint. Ngl, this experience is a long task. If you’re not much of a painter and cant see yourself painting for over 2 hours this may be hard for you to get through. But they give you the supplies so you can just start customizing your painting in your own way to finish it. I fell behind on the steps and by the end of it I was quite tired. I did finish but didn’t put much effort into the last lake part of the painting (See the gallery for end results!).

Tree layering process that I could not keep up with.

Throughout the process it is quite fun to realize expectation vs. reality based on your art skills. It just humbles you and makes you appreciate artists more. During clean up I got to see the variation between everyone’s paintings, including those who decided to switch some parts up entirely. Each painting was unique and you can appreciate parts that you really liked.

I would try this experience again, but maybe with a painting that involved less repetition. This was my friend Emily’s fifth visit at Pinot’s Palette so if you just enjoy painting this is the perfect activity for you. You finish off with a painting of your own to take home; a new house decor item, or just a momento to keep of the experience.

Pricing & Deals

Pinot’s Palette host many different guided painting classes throughout the week. You can look at all the upcoming classes and the paintings on their website and once you decided on your painting and class time you can book a seat. Most of their guided painting classes range from $40-$50. There are group discounts with groups of 4 or more and certain dates also have deals on drinks, so keep an eye out for those codes and dates.

Check out their site for other paint night experiences they host. They also have another location in Woodbridge, ON.