Wine & Design

I’ve gone twice and both times were super amazing! I have zero artistic skills but the way the instructions are given and how the set up is it’ll make you feel like a true artist. The instructors leading the session are extremely helpful and makes following along super easy. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a great time hanging with friends, throwback some wine, and have an amazing product to take home in the end.

I and a few girlfriends of mine had the pleasure of having a paint and sip at this location for my birthday. I would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a fun and unique activity to do with a loved one or just friends. The class was well constructed and we finished earlier than I expected (could be to allow the painting to dry). I can’t wait to bring my husband here for date night! I would suggest bringing money for parking and arriving at least 10 minutes early.

Painting: turtle
This was the first time I have ever gone to these things. It was worth it! Booked for 4, but unfortunately 3 showed up. Lesley was very accommodating for the one that couldn’t show up. She was very kind and gave me a credit to use towards another painting class. The class was led by Claire and Lesley. They both were very kind and had patience. As recommended by other Unilocalers, I parked at marin tower for $ 3 and this place was close to the marin tower parking structure.
Overall, 3 of us had a lot of fun. Thank you Claire and Lesley for the amazing fun. It was relaxing with the painting and wine mixture.

Went here for the first time for mother-​daughter bonding time at the Paint Your Pet Fundraiser for the Hawaiian Humane Society.
STEP BY STEP
Lesley and her two assistants were super helpful, supportive, and patient with our newb artistic efforts and endless questions.
We tackled our masterpiece one step at a time. Lesley did a great job of demonstrating various techniques and she gave us tips on how to achieve what we were going for.
She was great about not overwhelming us with a clusterfck of instructions at once. The speed of the whole «class» /​activity was perfs (perfect) — not too slow, not too fast, but juuuusssttt right.
I also really liked that the instructors walked around addressing any questions or concerns that came up along the way.
MIXING COLORS
If you think painting a portrait of your beloved pet is difficult, try mixing the colors. Brah.
I was so stuck on trying to get the right shades /​colors, that it was almost frustrating… So, the wine helped. And the suggested (and forced) breaks helped, too. Haha. Remember — this is supposed to be a fun activity!
Anyway, like I mentioned earlier, the tips they gave us were extremely helpful.
In terms of mixing colors, it’s best to add a bit of the darker color to the lighter color.
This way, you can easily and gradually darken the lighter color without overdoing it. Also, mixing the colors the other way around (mixing the light into the dark) will take forever and a day to see the changes you’re aiming for.
CREATE A WASH
One of the painting techniques we learned was how to do a «wash» to create definition and shading with layers of color (e.g., how we created the look of the pet fur).
A wash is kind of like a layering technique where the paint is diluted (with water) and results in a semi-​transparent layer of color. This wash creates a pseudo base of color that is built upon in combination with additional layers of color (s) and different painting strokes.
MY WOOKIEE
Each step of the way, I kept asking myself «WTF am I doing?!»
I kept telling my mom, «Ugh. When Sasha sees this portrait of her, she’s gonna be like, ‘Is that what you think I look like?’»
«Poor Sasha. She looks like a Wookiee!»
Haha. But what I’ve learned from this experience is not to doubt your abilities! These guys at Wine & Design know what they’re talking about. And with their guidance, you’ll create something unique and beautiful that you’re sure to be proud of. There are no mistakes because everything is fixable. Remember, it’s art. There aren’t really any rules when it comes to art. Plus, your painting doesn’t actually start looking like a portrait until it’s almost finished. So, don’t expect it to look like a pet version of the Mona Lisa at step 1 or 2.
PARKING
One of Oahu’s greatest mysteries…
Cross your fingers for some street parking, try a municipal lot, Mark’s Garage, taxi, or Über /​Lyft. Take your pick!
VERDICT
What a fun and out-​of-​the-​ordinary activity! I love doing different things (out of the norm), so this was a real treat. I could see myself coming back for more or even hosting one of my own Wine & Design events with friends.
Painting can be really therapeutic, so take advantage of that. Let your artistic juices flow and have fun.

I’ll keep it short. I had a fabulous evening with a group of wonderful ladies! It was my first time ever, and I am NOT an artist AT ALL! When God gave out skills and talents, he had me skip the artistry line altogether… I got NONE! Even and still, I was able to complete the picture (with a little help from Jamie, out instructor… ok more than a little…). The facility is great, spacious and enough elbow room to breathe. BYOB is perfect situatio, our instructor Jamie was suuuuuuper patient and helpful because I messed up and fell behind MANY times but she stopped and guided me when I needed her. I ended up with a great portrait for my living room. Highly recommend

I had a wonderful time painting here! I have been twice, one was a night where they were testing out a new artist, and another night was an open paint night. I really had a great time both times, but I’ll focus on the open paint night.
I decided to book this night because then my friend and I could choose different paintings if we wanted. It ended up we chose the same one anyway, but it was so great having that freedom.
We got there really early, around 5:45 but the instructor, Michael said we could start. We ended up staying until about 9:30 because we were just having such a good time and working on little details to make our painting great. You don’t have to stay that long, but it was great to not feel rushed. The class was not full at all, which was great to have a little more instruction one-​on-​one. Apparently the open nights are less crowded because people tend to want more instructions to follow. I’m sort of artistic so I really wanted to do my own thing which is why I actually really liked the open night and having that freedom.
Michael was absolutely fantastic, when I go back, I’ll make sure he is the instructor again. He interacted with us and we had some fun conversations and he even showed us some of his own artwork which was absolutely amazing! He really knows what he’s doing and really loves the job. He was helpful in pointing out things that would make the painting better which I really appreciated, I’m so happy with my artwork. In fact I loved it so much, that I think after a few more classes I’ll buy some of my own supplies to make some more artwork at home for fun.
I like that you can BYOB so you can bring what you want whether that’s alcoholic or not. They provide some plates, cups, and utensils which is really convenient. My friend and I just picked up some snack foods, chips, cheese and crackers, veggies and dip, etc and it was really fun. Sometimes I forgot about the food as I got so involved with my painting.
I should also mention I love the designs they have and I love having a lot of tropical themed paintings. It is perfect if you’re here on vacation to bring back as a little souvenir. I personally just love decorating with tropical things so it was perfect and really hard choosing one painting.
Overall I highly recommend this place, it’s slightly cheaper than some other places (by $ 5), you get great instruction and a friendly staff, you can paint at your own pace, and it is definitely worth the cost. I can’t wait to go back!
Also as another Unilocal reviewer posted, you can park at Marin Tower for $ 3 after 5 pm and there were plenty parking spots open when we went.

My coworker wanted to do a paint night here with our other coworkers so we showed up on a Saturday to paint «Paris at Midnight». Lesley our instructor was super fun and helpful. I made a mistake and she easily told me how to fix it up. I liked how we had a lot of space at our station. The last paint class I went to crammed six people at one table and there was barely any elbow room. Wine & Design’s studio is spacious and we could move around easily. There is $ 3 parking all weekend at Marin Tower down the street.

I don’t even know where to begin…
I tried to book a party for my work two weeks ago. After the initial phone call with them and their email with the party contract, I couldn’t get in touch with them. I didn’t want to sign the contract until I had my questions answered but it turned out to be impossible to get them to respond back to me (after I said please call me back ASAP) and they only now return my phone call today. My other coworker left them multiple voicemails but no response either until today. Just in case you’re trying to get in touch with them, their hours according to their voicemail starts from 12PM but no one answers the phone so don’t waste your time. The girl who I spoke to both times told me that they open at noon but their studios don’t open until 5 which basically means don’t call until 5, unless you want to listen to the phone ring and then direct you to leave a message and then they won’t return your phone call.
Anyway, once I finally got to speak to W&D again today for only the 2^nd time, they answered all my questions and then ended the call with oh I’m sorry but I didn’t see this on the calendar but the day you wanted, is booked. What?! After all the effort of me trying to firm up details with them for two weeks, it ends up being booked. She said someone just submitted the form. I had told her I didn’t want to submit it because I wanted to make sure it was everything I wanted especially since it was for my whole office not just me. Just to be clear, I have no ill will towards the people who booked their party before me. I understand the first come first serve thing but if they just responded sooner when I tried talking to them, I would have already signed my contract.
This experience in customer service was horrible. Don’t even waste your time trying to book a private party. They’ll just never get back to you for a whole week or two and then tell you it’s booked. The only saving grace was that the girl I spoke to was very polite on the phone. I really was excited to try this out but after my experience, I’ll stick to doing my amateur painting at home with my own adult beverages.

Yes! We loved Lesley! We’ve done this before in other places but Lesley made it different and fun. My bestie and I brought our husbands and we weren’t sure how they were going to like it but they had a blast. They spent longer and their painting than we did! Highly recommend. I’m going to send all my brides and friends from off island her direction. This is a super fun activity for people on a random Friday (and you can bring our own food and drinks).

I’m a poor artist, to say the least, but I had a great time! The liquid artistic enhancement helped, instruction was easy to follow, and a good time was had by (at least) most (if not all)!
Pick a night where the painting looks fun to you, and give it a shot. Mine came out «meh» when you look at it next to my gf’s, BUT on it’s own? Not half bad! Just don’t let anyone see what the painting is SUPPOSED to look like :)

Where do I start with this one:). Okay lets start off with parking, lol. For everyone who knows Chinatown, knows that street parking is a hit or miss, or paying for parking is extremely HIGH… When going out to Chinatown everyone knows to plan out where you are going and most of all where you are going to PARK. Being that this was our first time going out there we didn’t know exactly where the studio was, what made it even more difficult was it was raining really hard. The good thing was my aunt had went several times to Wine & Design so she kinda gave me an idea as to where we should park for cheap and where NOT to park. To get to Wine & Design its better if you park in the Marin Tower which is on Smith St. the entrance to this parking garage is located directly across the paid parking LOT… The garage fee is $ 3 as to the parking lot charges way more. Once you get parked you would exit to the side of Smith St. head up towards N. King St. make a right and Wine & Design is located right there. Very easy to find.
Upon entering the class we had noticed that it was empty, the instructor greeted us with a friendly smile and informed us we were the only ladies that had signed up for the class (5 of us). We were happy and excited all at the same time. We all proceeded to get situated, introduced ourselves and got started. The instructors name was Jamie. Being that it was just the 5 of us plus Jamie, it was easy to pay attention to what Jamie was saying. She gave us detailed steps as to how to start our paintings, which was already drawn on with pencil for the outline. Everything else we had to do. So we got started we were all laughing and having a great time.
Lets fast forward to our 2 hours are almost up. Throughout the 1hr and 45mins Jamie knew that we were having a good time and knew where we all stood as far as our painting were and knew that some of us still has some things to touch up. Well 4 mins before our 2 hours were up Jamie says to the class «Well ladies it is 4 mins until 5, we need to step it up», I was shocked but asked when were we suppose to be out and she mentioned 5’o clock. So what that being said, we tried to hurry up and finish out paintings, especially being that someone had walked in and we didn’t know if there was another class that was going to start. At this point we noticed that Jamie then seemed that she was trying to get us out of there as fast as she could:(, so we just hurried it up and did our thing. We Thanked her for a wonderful class and acknowledged but didn’t really pay no mind to us once the class was over, which was fine, we knew she was busy,
Over all we had a BLAST, cant wait to do it again. The only thing I would change about this class is that we get told that we are entering the last 15 mins or 30 mins of the class that way we know where we stand. It would make it a little better and more efficient for us to finish then to hurry up and feel like our painting are incomplete. We cant wait till our next class. We will def. be back for more…

For all you stick people drawers, you can now paint a masterpiece! There is no way you can make a mistake! Well unless you literally throw paint…
A group of girlfriends and I went to check out this place after buying a groupon for $ 25 each and there were no regrets. Our group came early only to find out our names weren’t on the sign in sheet even though we had registered prior. The artist and the owner were accommodating to the multiple people who’s name weren’t on the list.
Each person is given a canvas, plate of paints of different colors, 3 brushes and a water jar. The teacher was amazing and very patient with our group. The teaching is at a very high pace but it’s okay, you are NOT alone! The teacher was more than happy to assist during the process.
After seeing our paintings, we were all shocked, especially me because I’m literally with paint or art. I can’t even draw a nice face! We definitely enjoyed our time and experience. My group is hooked!!! We’ll be looking out for groupons from now on.
Parking: park at the Marin tower parking on smith street. It’s $ 3 after 6 pm and there’s security!

Painted: Pink Lake
I came to Wine & Design last week Thursday with a bunch of my girlfriends! We had bought the GroupOn for $ 25 per person.
We arrive early because we weren’t sure about traffic and parking. We parked at Chinatown Munipical Parking which is less than a block away. It’s only $ 3 after 5pm which was great because we were there for 4 hours and only paid $ 3! The studio is located across the street from the Pig & The Lady.
Upon arrival, there were plates, cups, utensils, and a giant bucket of ice to put the wine bottles in, and a bunch of corks and wine openers! I really love that they let you bring your own food and drinks! Other places require you to buy their food and drinks. The walls are covered in all the paintings they have available and it was really fun to look at all the paintings and choose our favorite ones/​the ones we’d want to paint in the future! :P
For some reason, our names weren’t in the sign on sheet and so were 90% of the people attending tonight’s event. I’m so glad we came early because we were able to get seats right in front of the instructor. I was really nervous about having to start with a blank canvas but I was super excited that the basics were drawn in with pencil as a guide line! Thanks goodness because I really suck at art!
The instructor was a bit overwhelmed because she was only expecting 6 students and it turned into over 20! She was kind of moody and not helpful. My friends and I tried to ask each other how to do things we didn’t see her do and she would turn around and say «what do you need?!» or «ask me if you need anything!» I was quite intimidated by her. Maybe she was just stressed that she had such a big class and she wanted to respect the time limit of the paint night.
In the end, it might have been good that the instructor went ahead of us because my group of friends ended up doing their own things and everyone’s came out different!
Overall, I would only do this with the GroupOn. But my friends all agreed we’d definitely do this again if there’s another GroupOn whether here or at another paint night type of event.

Painted: Lovers Under the Umbrella (10÷22÷15).
The room wasn’t as crowded, same instructor who was very awesome and patient this time around, I guess for that reason, the room was much more manageable.
This is a great place to take a date for «date night painting», great place to bring the family for «family paint night» or great place to make new friends.
I had just as much fun the 2^nd time! and looking forward to a 3^rd, 4^th, so on… Looking forward to my next painting!

Lately, I’ve been obsessed with paint and sip activities. I’ve tried 2 other organizations prior to this place and the thing that’s intriguing about Wine & Design is that they’re BYOB/​BYO food and you can find them on Groupon for $ 21-​$ 25, depending on which deal you purchase. BUT that’s all I have to say that I enjoyed about them.
I had purchased their «Any day» deal on Groupon for $ 25 (their Mon-​Thurs deal is $ 21) and had originally registered for a Saturday class, but it got cancelled due to low attendance. I actually found out they were cancelled on my own when I was trying to get the link to that painting to share with my friends to sign up a couple days prior to the event, but couldn’t find it on their website. I then tried to reach them to confirm if the class was still on. Their response back to emails are not as prompt and quick. Not to mention, their website was going through new changes, so I couldn’t view all their paintings, which made it difficult to decide which class I wanted to transfer my credits to since they don’t do refunds. Even though I couldn’t see their entire calendar on their website, I just decided to try for the following Monday class with the Fall Love Birds since I already knew a couple of friends that had signed up for that class. But the class was close to being full, so since I couldn’t sign myself up due to already «using» my groupon code, I had to wait for my response back from them if I got in the class or not. Because they weren’t so quick on responding to my email, I also called them, but no one picked up so I left a message couple days prior to the event. I didn’t get a response back until late afternoon the day of the event that I was confirmed for the 6:30pm evening class. Talk about stressing me out to the very last second!
Wine & Design is located in Chinatown next to Pig & the Lady. I recommend parking at the Municipal Parking lot as it’s a $ 3 flat rate after 5pm, as long as you move your car out of the lot by midnight. When I first entered, it was a tiny place and because it was an almost full class, it felt a little crowded. The instructors asked us all to sign in first, and then get our apron and find a spot to sit. At the front of the room, they had a table for us to lay out our food and drinks. Located at our station, we were provided an easel, plate of paint, canvas with our drawn in trees and birds (blank canvas was optional), water cup and brushes. Our instructor was Jamie, and before she started class, she asked if anyone wanted a blank canvas. I found it weird that it was drawn out, but I didn’t wanna be the only one that switched to a blank canvas, so I just went with the flow. I felt the tables and stools were not proportionate (stool was almost as tall as the table) as I found it uncomfortable to sit and paint. So most of us ended up standing up and painting the entire time.
As class started, she explained the names for the 4 brushes: papa brush, mama brush, big brother/​sister brush and baby brush. Usually when you paint, you start with the background first. But because our lines were drawn in, we first started off by tracing our drawn lines with our black paint so we wouldn’t lose the drawn lines. And then we did the background colors. I felt our instructor kept rushing us to keep up as most of us were always couple steps behind her. The background was layered with 3 different colors and was supposed to «nest» around our 2 birds, leaving the middle white. We then had to use our white paint to color in the middle section. She asked us to avoid coloring in the birds, which made it more work if you ask me. After all of that, we had to re-​trace our black paint since it got slightly covered as we were doing the background. Lastly, we had to create our leaves. I was so far behind, I missed the color combos for the leaves. But because it’s art, you’re not restricted to following exactly what the instructor says as it’s our own interpretations, but because most of us are beginners, we aren’t too creative when it comes to our own interpretations.
We were then forced to take a group picture afterwards even though our paintings weren’t done… this was to allow those that were done to leave right after and those not done, could stay to finish their painting. Regardless, I still had fun painting a new masterpiece for my home. But as far as this organization, I probably won’t be back.
TIPS: if you’re joining them for an evening class, because it’s Chinatown, make sure you have a buddy walking back with you to your car. Ladies, if you bring a purse, I highly recommend bringing a purse clip as there’s no where to lay your bags; unless you don’t mind it on the floor.

Me? Paint? That’s what ran through my mind with the anticipation of my first painting class. I’ve got elementary school handprints & finger painting experience under my belt, so painting something that looked like a masterpiece seemed like no easy feat. I snagged a Groupon deal last month for a $ 25 class, so I figured why not try it out.
Wine & Design is a franchise with a studio in Downtown Honolulu. There’s no dedicated parking lot for this location, so I parked at Marin Tower which offers a $ 3 flat rate fee after 5:00 pm. To sign up for a class, select a day on their website calendar (which shows what painting they’ll do for each day), then register and pay online to reserve your spot.
On your painting day, you’ll be equipped with a blank canvas with a vague sketch as your starting point. Our instructor, Jamie, very patient as she went step by step in getting our paintings started. Her assistant, Roy, was on hand to answer questions, provide more paint & send constant encouragements our way. As a non-​painter, I had so much fun I wanted to walk to Walmart to buy acrylic paint & start painting at home!
If you have your doubts about painting a junk picture – don’t. You’ll be surprised how simple instruction, patience, and a little wine (it’s BYOB!) can bring out the creativity in you!

My friend was coming home for summer break and wanted to do this as an activity; coincidentally, I recently read an article about all the different «painting parties» that have popped up around town recently.
We chose Paint and Design because there was a $ 25 Groupon (I believe regular price is about $ 35-​$ 40) for weekdays and I’d say it was a good deal! We went on a Wednesday night — parked at Marin Tower, which came out to $ 3 when we left. You can bring your own pupu and drinks, so I picked up two different types of sushi rolls and my friend got the wine. Wine and Design supplies cups for drinks, plates, napkins, even a bottle opener; but I brought my own wine «glasses» (they’re shatter proof stemless wine glasses) because I didn’t want to drink out of solo cups!
Jamie was our instructor and was very nice. Our artwork was titled «Boat on Water», which I wasn’t really into … I wanted something «cuter», but in the end, I liked the whole experience and ended up liking the painting! All of the canvases had a simple pencil drawing of the boat, which was good and bad… good because my boat would have probably come out like a shipwreck, but bad because everyone’s looked pretty much the same in the end!
The night we went, there were only four other people, so it was perfect — we each got our own table (two per table) — I saw pictures where there are about 24 people in one session and it’s pretty packed — looked like six people per table.
I really want to do another one of these types of activities — it’s fun for couples, friends, family, etc. And a fun diversion to the usual dinner and a movie or girls night out at a club. Plus, you can cruise on over to other Downtown/​Chinatown bars if you really want to continue the party afterwards!

My women’s group recently hosted a private event here and I had the most wonderful time! Perhaps it was the spirits or the sugar that helped inspire me to artistic greatness… nah, second thoughts tell me it was the combination of being around art and mindfully lead by an art teacher that helped me create my daisy… wanna be a sunflower… piece of work.
There are many places on island now where you can sip to your poison to contentment and paint to your delight but this is perhaps one of the few places that exclusively does just THAT. All other paint and sip places are held at a boutique, bar, bookstore but this place has enough space to hold 30 plus people. I personally like a smaller group but that’s just me.
You don’t need to bring anything except an openness to create! No previous art experience is needed. Wine & Design supplies smocks, work space and all the tools of the trade to bring together the novice and/​or expert to a level of confidence to paint. It really doesn’t get any easier than this — it’s like coloring with crayons except this is paint. When my children were young I would encourage them to paint outside of the lines because in life — not everything has to be perfect all the time.
We were encouraged to bring drinks (spirited or not) as well as food if we wanted to. It was overall a very laid back and fun class lead by (omg…i completely forgot her name — not Leslie or Roy)(ok, I can’t remember her name). Great class! My only qualm was that the canvas was already drawn on and all we had to do was paint on it. I would have preferred that I be given free range to create my own piece but that’s just me. I guess for the novice it would most be like color by numbers.
If you’ve never taken a painting class before it can be most intimidating, however there really isn’t a right or wrong way to paint. I have yet to take my husband with me to a class since he claims he has absolutely zero artistic talent. I beg to differ… everyone is artistic and being in a place like this cannot help but inspire the least artistic of us all. Wine and Design is a very kick back and cool place to start and might I add, THERAPEUTIC in so many ways! They have a monthly schedule that affords many times and dates to book your session (s) and all classes can be purchased online or in person (check Groupon for special promotions as well as they do Groupon coupons).
Parking was also a breeze! I’m super directionally challenged and if I could find parking — so can you. I parked at the Marin Tower Municipal lot and walked mauka (away from the water) and hung a right on King Street — Wine and Design is on the right.

It’s a $ 40 event, pay by card only and online. You can also pay the same day (for walk-​ins). Came here with friends and had an awesome time. You think you’re going to go crazy because you and your friends are drinking wine, but it’s a lot more relaxing than you think. Everyone gets so into their painting they forget to take breaks and drink in between. Of all the times that I’ve gone, the paint teachers were friendly and welcoming. I chose Wine and Design over other businesses because of its price (vs $ 45 elsewhere) and location near all the popular restaurants and bars. Everything is in walking distance.

My friend is the ultimate low maintenance bride! She is really the clubbing type, but does enjoy her wine so we opted to host her her bachelorette get together at Wine & Design. It was perfect for our intimate group of four.
Leslie was our primary instructor and Roy was the assistant for our class. Both were awesome hosts!
After signing in and setting in, setting up our snacks (we brought chips, dips, a cheese platter, and some desserts), and busting open our bottles of wines-​we were ready to go. Each of us had a canvas with a generic pencil sketch of our painting and various brushes, paints, jar of water (to wash out the brushes), and a towel. The paintbrushes were varied in sizes and I thought it was cute how Leslie referred to them as the papa brush, mama brush, baby brother brush, and baby sister brush :)
For our selected painting the colors were pretty basic: white, pink, purple, navy blue, and a brighter blue.
Leslie was a great instructor. Unfortunately, I wasn’t such a good listener and it wasn’t long before I had messed up my painting. But she and Roy remained positive and helped guide me on what to do to fix my errors. It was funny to see each person’s personality shine. While I went rogue on the painting and decided to carve my own path-​my girlfriends meticulously followed Leslie’s instructions and our bride was calm as a cucumber.
It took us about two hours to finish our painting. We had a short intermission during the two hours to allow our paint to dry. It was a relaxing environment and we all left with a desire to go back and try other paintings.
The studio is decked out with lots of fun paintings which will inspire your inner Picasso. You can check out their website for the painting schedule. Reservations are also completed online prior to class so on the day of, you just gather some wine, pupus, and friends and then leave with a fun experience and painting to take home. Great activity to do alone, as a date night, with friends, for a private party.
Some painting tips?
(1) Don’t stress out about being perfect.
(2) Pay attention to what colors are being used (lol, my error).
(3) If you mess up-​allow the paint to dry before you try to fix (paint over it).
(4) No matter what you think of your painting, people will be impressed that you did it yourself ;)