Paint Monkey

Game of Thrones, pick your house!
I love this idea of byob and painting. The instructors were so helpful– they were great at pretty much fixing mistakes or ill-​choices people might have made. (But it’s art, so mistakes are still art ^-^). They provide helpful tips if you ask them how to go about creating your idea, so don’t hesitate to ask for help or advice!
You start out with a pre-​sketched canvas, and they begin the class by giving an overview of the steps/​layers of painting that’ll work best. They prepare a palette of colors based on what House you chose, and if you want a specific other color, they’ll give you tips on how to mix the colors you currently have, or give you a new color on a partial plate.
I picked House Targaryen, and unfortunately for me, the level of detail of the dragon in the sketch kept me painting until the last minute (all the spikes). I’m a meticulous painter/​artist, so I was set on staying within the lines. The finished samples on display are useful references to get ideas, and you could always do your own spin on the colors and style.
For the BYOB aspect, they have buckets of ice in the back to store your beers and other drinks, and you can trust the other patrons to not take your alcohol. The air conditioning is cool for the summer, so for a person who gets cold easily, it may be slightly chilly. They also invited a trivia host for the Game of Thrones theme, and she had wineglass prizes for three rounds of seven questions. It was a friendly competition between the ~25 guests.
I’d love to come back for another fun theme!

I went to Paint Monkey a couple years back for a friends Bachelorette party and we all had such a great time! The owners are awesome and make the guests at your event have an awesome time. Just this past February my boyfriend and myself went to a couples night and we had an amazing time. It was my boyfriends first time there and he has been asking me when we can go back. It’s a nice relaxing atmosphere and we always have a good time. Can’t wait to go back again!

Went to paint monkey for the black light sugar skull painting session and had a blast. It was very well organized and the staff was super helpful. You can’t beat BYOB especially with a wine and spirits a few shops down! I am not artistic at all but this class made it possible to have some fun making art! I highly recommend it!

Bob Ross would be proud of my crew! We had such a fun time at Paint Monkey. The ladies and gentleman running the show we’re super friendly and accommodating tonight. I’ve been to other places like this and I love Paint Monkey’s set up and operation. Other places I’ve been to have been very cramped and had strict rules. This place has a lot of space and you have a lot more freedom. I definitely recommend this location if you’re looking for something fun to do with your friends and family.

Paint Monkey is an absolute blast! If you’re looking for a fun and creative night out with friends, this is a perfect option for you.
The location of this Paint Monkey is right in the heart of Lawrenceville, which is a lot of fun. There’s a wine and spirits store just a couple doors down, so make sure you pick up a bottle of wine (or two!) to bring with you to your painting class since it’s BYOB. There have been a lot of different types of «wine and paint» places popping up around downtown Pittsburgh, but Paint Monkey is still my favorite. One of the things I really love about Paint Monkey is that they sketch the outline of your painting very lightly on your canvas before you arrive, which makes it much easier and more enjoyable for people who are not great artists. Paint Monkey makes it so that basically anyone, no matter what their talents are, can make a completely beautiful work of art!
My friends and I came here for one of the «Pittsburgh Skyline» classes. The class instructors were extremely helpful and explained the steps of the painting very well for beginners. They also showed us a few different options for our paintings (like changing the color of the sky or the leaves on the trees), which was neat because it allowed for everyone to really have a unique work of art rather than just a cookie-​cutter painting. The instructors showed us some different techniques before we started, and then were kind of hovering around in case we had questions as we went along. At different points throughout the night, they’d go up to the front of the room and explain how to do a new part of the painting. My friends and I had so much fun and all loved the way our paintings turned out. The fact that you can have a glass of wine while you paint is a lot of fun as well; you feel like a true artist sitting at your easel with a glass of wine and all of your paints out in front of you!
Even though Paint Monkey is a little pricey, it’s totally worth it for an awesome night out with friends. Try it ASAP!

Such a fun place! They draw the picture on the canvas so that everything comes out perfect! It was cool to be able to change the colors and make the painting my own instead of following every step the instructor showed, like at other places

I always love paint monkey! We went here again (but to the new location) for a Unilocal event. They are always super accommodating and friendly. We painted little Unilocal symbols and everyone was super helpful. They even remembered me from the last time I was there (like actually remembered the conversation we had)!
You can not fake passion like that. This is a great company run by great people!

The new paint monkey space is amazing. It’s so big and bright and the walls are lined with paintings, making for some killer inspiration! I’m a regular at Paint Monkey and I really enjoy the experience. Unlike Painting with a Twist, Paint Monkey is LOCALLY FOUNDED AND LOCALLY OWNED. They also pre-​draw your canvas so you have some guides to help you in your painting. With this little extra touch and Joe’s expert teaching, anyone can feel like Picasso!
I arranged for my work to come here for a holiday party and everyone had a blast and many of them were hoping to come back again with their friends or children. The studio is BYOB so I brought some wine, had Market District Shadyside deliver some catering and we had a real party painting the «Happy Little Trees» inspired by Bob Ross.

What a fun way to spend an evening! This place has a great new space in the heart of Lawrenceville (you can’t miss the giant neon monkey in the window).
Here’s the scoop…
— BYOB and paint a picture. That’s pretty much the concept. Your picture looks better as you drink more (at least mine did). I also recommend bringing some munchies. We had some yummy pretzels from Twirly Girl that really hit the spot.
— The cost includes all of the materials — canvas, paint, etc. I highly recommend wearing the apron they provide. The instruction is provided by a husband and wife team — they did a really good job.
— I have done the paint and wine thing before and it appears that these businesses fall into two categories — the kind that walk you through every step and stroke, and the kind that get you started and let you go. This one is the latter. Your canvas comes pre-​drawn with a faint outline of what you are supposed to be working on. You then pick your colors and go from there. They will come around and give you tips, but they don’t narrate each step of the painting process. I personally am not creative or artistically talented enough for this method, so my end result was a big hot mess. It was still really fun though.
All in all, a great way to send an evening or afternoon (mimosas anyone?).

I am a new recruit to the Paint Monkey family but after just a couple weeks I could seriously be an addict in the making. Literally the only things keeping me from signing up for all of the classes here right now are my need to save more money and a lack of space for more paintings at my residence.
I was introduced to Paint Monkey via a Unilocal event, and I had such a blast that I immediately signed up for another painting session. The next session I went to was considerably smaller than my introductory class had been, but really the only difference between the two experiences was the number of instructors (more instructors come in to work with bigger groups). The basics, however, remained the same: attendees could bring their own beverages (alcoholic drinks are welcome!), the instructors got our paint for us and gave us general directions on which brushes they recommended for different tasks during the class, and then we were set lose to create a masterpiece all our own. Simple, but fantastic.
The best part about Paint Monkey is the fact that they sketch out a basic paint design for you to color in. You can alter and add to the design all you want, but having a starting point is a huge help for people like me since I really haven’t touched a paint brush or drawn anything since middle school. Having something to work with definitely eliminates some of the stress associated with painting. And that’s exactly the point at Paint Monkey — they want their classes to be accessible to all.
The instructors who work here are also a big reason why I love Paint Monkey — they’ve all been so kind and helpful and encouraging, which keeps perfectionists like me from stressing out and ensures that even we have a great time. Chatting with them and meeting the other people in your class is always just as much fun and playing with the paint and coloring in my latest masterpiece.
If I had to mention any issues at all, it would be that Paint Monkey doesn’t have hair dryers or anything like that to help dry paintings before you take them home. This is something I’ve seen in other painting studios and it would be hugely beneficial if they could set something like that up. It’s so easy for something to mess up a semi-​wet painting when you carry it from the studio to your car; case in point, today I ordered some basic acrylic paints specifically to touch up my latest work since the rain from last night created a kind of speckle pattern on the base of my painting. Not the vision I had for that painting at all.
That said, this minor drawback can totally be worked around, and there is absolutely no reason not to sign up for a class at Paint Monkey this second. I guarantee that you’ll have a great time here. Grab some friends, set up a date night, come by yourself — just find an excuse to stop in and have fun!

First review at the new location! Sweet! I’m sure there will be plenty more to come because PM is simply awesome!
I bought my sister (Jami S.) and I tickets as Christmas for their Sunday mimosa paint session. It was a great time. I was informed by the male owner (he was the instructor for us) that we were lucky because usually there are sometimes 50 people in a class! Luckily, ours only had seven.
We painted the Warhol flowers. I’m such a huge Warhol fan so I was excited that this was an option. The drawing is already sketched out for you so really you’re only doing the painting. This could be a deal breaker for some, I suppose. However, what’s interesting is while everyone has the same painting, each person’s turns out so different from the next. The instructor will tell you how to do things and come around and give you advice, but it’s truly up to you where you want to go with it.
Another positive about this place is it’s BYOB — the ultimate win! Some other paint places require you to buy drinks from them but PM allows you to bring your own. Because it was a «Sunday mimosa session» they provided orange juice and each party provided their own champagne. We also had a bottle of wine we didn’t get to open because we were so busy with our painting! They also provide cups, ice and cork openers.
I can’t wait to return very soon! They had some awesome sample paintings around the space and I have an idea of what I’d like to do next.
Thanks for making my sister’s Christmas present awesome, PM!