City Lit Art School — Art Classes in London
Explore new and exciting subjects within a range of art and design disciplines, develop your skill set, get the support required to change career or launch yourself as a freelance artist or designer. All this and more delivered through our practical and engaging art and design courses at City Lit.
Our range of part-time, weekend and evening art and design classes are taught by successful artists and practitioners to ensure you get the skills, knowledge and experience you want and deserve. From experimental painting and drawing to contemporary jewellery making, there is sure to be a course for you. Study from 1 day to 2 years, whether you are a complete beginner or a practising artist preparing for an MA. Our courses are designed with you in mind, so you get to spend more time doing what you love.
Set a new goal, start your next creative adventure with City Lit and let us support you to realise your ambitions.
We host exhibitions throughout the year at City Lit Gallery where our students showcase their amazing work.
Any questions? Contact our visual arts team on visual.arts@citylit.ac.uk
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- City Lit bookbinding: intermediate
Course start date: Mon 22 Sep 2025Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Gavin MoorheadAn intermediate-level course for students with some experience. Learn new skills and techniques. Develop and build on existing knowledge in traditional and contemporary bookbinding, including leather paring and fine binding.
Term 1 22/09/2025 – 20/10/2025 (half-term week 27/10) 03/11/2025 – 01/12/2025
Term 2 12/01/2026 – 09/02/2026 (half-term week 16/02) 23/02/2026 - 30/03/2026. - Calligraphy and illumination Course start date: Tue 29 Apr 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Emiko HashiguchiLearn how to write beautifully with a dip pen and design and produce a piece of work with illuminated letters using colour and gold leaf. All levels.Full fee £299.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £194.00 - Lithography print workshopCourse start date: Tue 23 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Simon BurderLearn how to produce work that mimics a painterly style using lithography printmaking processes. Lithography depends on the delicate balance between grease and water and can provide a broad range of outcomes. Learn how marks and brush strokes drawn and painted on the printing plate can be faithfully reproduced to create bold or subtle prints.Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £155.00 - Illustration into printmaking Course start date: Wed 24 Sep 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
This course is a playful, explorative and creative introduction into the collaborative world of illustration and printmaking.
Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £155.00 - Painting 3 Course start date: Thu 25 Sep 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Tony HullFollowing on from the course 'Painting 2', enhance your paint handling skills to further understanding of the dynamics of a painted surface, through a series of set projects and short critical discussions. Examine the role of painting tools, marks and scale in building a painting.Full fee £449.00 Senior fee £359.00 Concession £292.00 - Typology and collections in photography Course start date: Mon 29 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Sara EpsteinBuilding on existing knowledge, this course introduces you to the concept of Typology in photography, grouping images based on shared characteristics. Through hands-on exercises, you will explore project themes, refine your selection skills and develop a Typology series using photography, Adobe Photoshop and Bridge.Full fee £209.00 Senior fee £167.00 Concession £136.00 - Fine jewellery workshopCourse start date: Tue 30 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Elizabeth Bone, Rae Duncan, Rebecca Ilett, Katrin SprangerWork independently on your own jewellery projects in our well equipped jewellery workshop. This is an opportunity for self-directed and untutored bench time, sharing the studio with the year long VV414 Advanced jewellery course.Full fee £899.00 Senior fee £719.00 Concession £629.00 - City Lit fine jewellery Course start date: Tue 30 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Elizabeth Bone, Rae Duncan, Rebecca Ilett, Katrin SprangerThis advanced course will refine your existing jewellery making and design skills, through sessions in the workshop and guided independent study tasks. With an ethos of ‘idea to product', developing your personal research, design and making approach, there will be structured modules and projects encouraging you to build on your technical skills, presentation, and professional practice. We will explore material, finish and construction, alongside professional practice methodologies such as drawing, prototyping, outsourcing, pricing, and selling. The course culminates with working towards the production of a final body of work. - Writing and photography: text and image workshop Course start date: Wed 1 Oct 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Christina Dunhill, Shirley ReadWhether you are a photographer or a writer, this short course will give you ideas for combining words and images to discover new approaches and create new work.Full fee £299.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £194.00 - City Lit contemporary collage projects 1Course start date: Thu 2 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
City Lit contemporary collage projects 1 initiates a year-long set of collage and mixed media projects designed to experiment with and examine the interplay between the two and three dimensions. You will work with a wide range of materials, on and off the wall, extending our pictorial practice into the realm of collage, painting, drawing, assemblage, bricolage, decoupage, photomontage, small scale constructions, printing and text within the context of mixed media.
Note* the course is designed in a way to enable students to either complete all three courses over the year or to come in at any stage in no particular order.Full fee £839.00 Senior fee £671.00 Concession £545.00 - Developing art practice Course start date: Sat 4 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Eleanor Bedlow, Rolina Elsje Blok, Ute Kreyman, Joe Richardson, Heidi WigmoreThis advanced course for developing and practicing artists consists of work-based seminars facilitated by peers and artist-tutors, giving you the opportunity to develop and present your work for critical discourse. The course includes individual tutorials and mentoring, critical investigation via group crits, visits to galleries and artist-run organisations, collaborative work and discussion and debate. This course is one of the eligible programmes for application to Bloomberg New Contemporaries.
The course will be delivered onsite.
This course requires an application prior to enrolment. Please click 'start assessment' to begin your application.Full fee £1,249.00 Senior fee £999.00 Concession £874.00 - Guided Photo Walk Focussing on Composition - City Lit Silver SundayCourse start date: Sun 5 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Michael HardingA Guided Photo Walk in the area, emphasizing how to improve your photographic composition. (Suitable for camera phone or DSLR). This walk takes place on firm, level ground covering a modest distance.
Age UK’s Silver Sunday is a day dedicated to older people which takes place every year in October. Fun and free activities are held across the UK where older people can make new friends, visit new places, try new activities, and connect with other generations in their local communities. This year’s Silver Sunday will be taking place on Sunday 6th October, and City Lit will join in the activities by offering a diverse selection of workshops.
This tater session is aimed specifically to older people but that everyone is welcome to join in, as connecting generations forms an important part of this day.Full fee £0.00 - Five Easy Steps to Taking Better Photographs on your mobile or DSLR - City Lit Silver SundayCourse start date: Sun 5 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Michael HardingAn illustrated guide to improving your photograph in easy steps.
Age UK’s Silver Sunday is a day dedicated to older people which takes place every year in October. Fun and free activities are held across the UK where older people can make new friends, visit new places, try new activities, and connect with other generations in their local communities. This year’s Silver Sunday will be taking place on Sunday 6th October, and City Lit will join in the activities by offering a diverse selection of workshops.
This taster session is aimed specifically to older people but everyone is welcome to join in, as connecting generations forms an important part of this day.Full fee £0.00 - Advanced painting: practice and discourse Course start date: Mon 6 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Blended (learn both online and in-person)
Tutors: Clare Barton-Harvey, Michael Harding, Stuart Jones, Mario Lautier Vella, Joe Richardson, Benjamin Senior, Ian TucknottDevelop your painting in greater depth on this advanced course, working with a team of artist-tutors and a committed network of peer-practitioners, across a set of projects focusing on a range of contemporary themes, processes, and debates. The course is intended for experienced painters with a positive and enquiring attitude to the practices and discourses of painting in its various forms, and a commitment to peer-dialogue and critical discussion. Focused and intensive studio-based weekend projects (once per month), are interspersed with weekly online tutorials, feedback, discussion and seminars.Full fee £2,649.00 Senior fee £2,119.00 Concession £1,854.00 - Advanced graphic design Course start date: Mon 6 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Andrew McCartenThis course will help you improve your skills in graphic design and visual communications in their broadest sense, for delivery or publication in print and online, working with text, image, layout, medium and message across a range of physical and digital media and formats.
It is ideal for anyone who has already completed our City Lit graphics course, and for anyone wishing to build a more extensive and professional portfolio of graphics work, whilst developing a deeper understanding of the connection between text, image, message and media.
Confirmed industry specialist guests: Lydia Thornley, Designer, Creative Director and Reportage Illustrator and award winning film producer/director Mark Craig, maker of the film “The Last Man On The Moon”.Full fee £2,549.00 Senior fee £2,039.00 Concession £1,784.00
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