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
- Try it out: garden design
Course start date: Tue 13 May 2025 (and 1 other date)Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Alison WorsterGet a taste of how you can improve your outside spaces. You will complete a short exercise and experience our design studio. This course links directs to ‘Roof terrace and balcony design and planting’, code VF345.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £59.00 Concession £59.00 - Art and creative thinking with Rod Judkins Course start date: Sun 18 May 2025 (and 4 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rod JudkinsArt is fundamentally about communicating ideas. If the idea is strong, the work of art is memorable.
This exciting, one day workshop, led by Rod Judkins (artist, tutor and author of ‘The art of Creative thinking’ and ‘Ideas are your only currency’) will explore methods to create ideas and concepts and combine them with the process of making. You will receive a signed copy of Art and Creative Thinking when you attend this course.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £129.00 - Textiles: experimental hand stitch Course start date: Tue 20 May 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Amarjeet NandhraA contemporary approach to hand stitching and embroidery exploring a variety of traditional stitches and techniques.
Create experimental and expressive samples using traditional and non-traditional materials.Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00 - Designing textiles online Course start date: Tue 27 May 2025
Location on this date: Online
This intermediate course will improve your Adobe Photoshop pattern tiling skills while learning new basic vector drawing skills in Adobe illustrator. We will improve on creating narratives for print design using multiple motifs and storytelling. Not suitable for beginners. You will need your own access the Adobe Creative Suite on your Mac or PC before class.Full fee £329.00 Senior fee £263.00 Concession £214.00 - Garden design: small spaces Course start date: Thu 29 May 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Alison WorsterMake the most of your small garden and learn design and plant selection techniques tailored to your space. Discover how to understand your site and explore practical design solutions and tips on choosing the right materials and plants for your garden.Full fee £249.00 Senior fee £199.00 Concession £162.00 - Drawing and mindfulness Course start date: Fri 30 May 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Clare Barton-HarveyExplore how mindfulness can enrich drawing and give you more creative freedom. This course offers a great introduction to mindful drawing or ways to explore it more deeply. A practical drawing course from observation, and the imagination. - Drawing and mindfulness: morning meditation Course start date: Mon 2 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Helen BurgessJoin us and set up your day in a tranquil, reflective way with our 5 day Drawing and mindfulness: morning meditation course. As daily life is full of uncertainty and with our attention getting pulled in many directions why not take some personal time to reset and focus combining meditation with some simple drawing exercises. You will be guiding your mind to settle and to look with care at the world around us and our inner experience. Whether you want to do something nourishing before you go to work or are setting up for a day of creative activity, the practices of drawing and mindfulness will bring a positive start to each morning, helping you begin the days with fresh eyes and mind. Suitable for all levels. - Garden design: container gardening Course start date: Wed 11 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Alison WorsterPlanting in containers is a valuable addition to any outside space, no matter how large or small. Discover how to enhance your garden and experiment with design and planting for successful containers.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - Textile book project Course start date: Thu 30 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Lara HaileyOn this course you will make a textile book following a theme of your choice. You will be shown book binding techniques, how to incorporate appliqué, text, photos using different types of stitching.Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £155.00 - Introduction to photography Course start date: Wed 12 Nov 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Dominic HarrisDiscover the basics of photography to improve your photographs and impress your friends. Learn about shutter speed, aperture, photo composition, light and taking pictures in different environments. This course is perfect for complete beginners or for learning new skills. Please take this course before enrolling on our intermediate courses.Full fee £209.00 Senior fee £167.00 Concession £136.00 - Drawing and mindfulness: releasing the judging mindCourse start date: Sat 6 Dec 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Clare Barton-HarveyExplore a range of perspectives and practical exercises for letting-go of the limiting effects of the judging mind, whilst connecting to drawing in refreshing and inspiring ways. The ideas and mindfulness skills are transferrable to all creative disciplines.
Full fee £89.00 Senior fee £89.00 Concession £89.00 - Drawing and mindfulness: the imaginationCourse start date: Thu 5 Mar 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Clare Barton-HarveyDiscover the enriching relationship of mindfulness and the imagination, whilst exploring a range of methods for stimulating and connecting to what inspires you. This course offers an introduction to mindful drawing, as well as a context to explore it more deeply through the imagination.
Full fee £209.00 Senior fee £167.00 Concession £136.00 - Drawing and mindfulness: modern and contemporary natureCourse start date: Fri 6 Mar 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Clare Barton-HarveyExplore how mindfulness can enrich the process of drawing, as we discover a range of modern and contemporary approached to drawing from nature. This course offers a great introduction to mindful drawing, or a way to explore it more deeply in the context of this theme.
Full fee £209.00 Senior fee £167.00 Concession £136.00 - Drawing and mindfulness: the art of seeingCourse start date: Sat 28 Mar 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Clare Barton-HarveyExplore drawing and mindfulness and how the two combined can support new ways of seeing and relating to drawing. ‘The true journey of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having fresh eyes’ Marcel Proust.
Full fee £89.00 Senior fee £89.00 Concession £89.00 - 3D animation with Blender Course start date: Wed 7 May 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Benjamin AustinIf you are new to 3d animation, you’ve had a go at teaching yourself but are not making progress, or perhaps you are transferring to Blender from a different 3D program, this course is for you.
It will take you through a professional approach to creating characters and environments in 3D from scratch, as well as introducing workflows and techniques to help produce polished 3D animations of your own.
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