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
- Painting 1Course start date: Mon 12 May 2025 (and 4 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Begona Morea RoyPainting 1 offers an introduction to the basic principles and skills associated with painting. Focus on differing approaches to observational and imaginative work, whilst learning how to organise a palette, mix colours and create different textures.Full fee £429.00 Senior fee £343.00 Concession £279.00 - Introduction to jewellery makingCourse start date: Fri 9 May 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Linda ConnellyLearn and develop a range of essential jewellery making techniques and processes for creating metal jewellery. This course is designed for beginners who would like to gain fundamental skills like sawing, filing, sanding, drilling, texturing, forging and soldering. Explore these techniques in set projects and use them to design and make your own pieces.Full fee £279.00 Senior fee £223.00 Concession £181.00 - Metal sculpture: beginners to intermediateCourse start date: Mon 12 May 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Andrew RevellLearn the techniques required in making sculptural/functional objects in steel: cutting, bending, welding and joining small scale metal. Please bring ideas, inspiration and scrap metal. This course is for beginners and those at intermediate level.Full fee £449.00 Senior fee £359.00 Concession £292.00 - Creative image editing with Photoshop and LightroomCourse start date: Mon 12 May 2025 (and 7 other dates)
Location on this date: Kean Street Photography Studio
Tutors: Michael HardingLearn how to use and apply the key features of Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop to develop your image editing skills.Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00 - Modern copperplate calligraphy for improversCourse start date: Mon 22 Sep 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Veiko KespersaksLearn how to write elegant letterforms using a pointed pen with ink. Once you have learnt how to write a basic copperplate alphabet, we will begin breaking the rules of traditional calligraphy to find a style that is all your own. The course is suitable for beginners as well as improvers, and both left-handers and right-handers.Full fee £459.00 Senior fee £367.00 Concession £298.00 - Printmaking into bookbindingCourse start date: Mon 12 May 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Claire HyndsExplore the three dimensional possibilities of print. This course will encourage you to develop your initial ideas through experiments with printmaking techniques and bookbinding structures to create an artist’s book. Some printmaking and/or bookbinding experience may be beneficial but not essential.Full fee £279.00 Senior fee £223.00 Concession £181.00 - Typography, typefaces and font workshopCourse start date: Mon 12 May 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Andrew McCartenAll designers know, images are powerful. But have you ever considered the look of your text? In other words, the typeface? It’s amazing how many designers overlook this powerful aspect of communication. Words are powerful (of course), but it’s not just what they say, it’s how they say it. On this workshop, learn how to harness the power of type.
Take a deep dive into a specific process, media or tool, with our Visual Communication Workshops.
Workshops throw the spotlight onto niche areas of the visual communication field, enabling you to hone higher-level skills and gain deeper insights.
Workshops tend to have a practical focus, with little or no conceptual or contextual elements, although this varies by course.Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00 - Digital video editing: stage 2Course start date: Wed 14 May 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Lily MarkiewiczImprove, and speed up your process and learn to use vital techniques for improving your edits. Explore building a better narrative structure and find out about essentials like screen-directionality, POV constructions and rhythm building.Full fee £269.00 Senior fee £215.00 Concession £175.00 - Introduction to watercolour paintingCourse start date: Mon 16 Jun 2025 (and 6 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rebecca AllenGain a grounding in the rich possibilities available when working with watercolour paint. Through a series of practical studies, you will investigate the potential of this versatile medium.Full fee £279.00 Senior fee £223.00 Concession £181.00 - Design with Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesignCourse start date: Sun 18 May 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Gita HahnA fun and challenging introduction to these three programs, regularly used together for everything from infographics to packaging and magazine work. Learn how to integrate vector graphics, photographic images and page layout and design.Full fee £649.00 Senior fee £519.00 Concession £422.00 - Ways into abstract paintingCourse start date: Tue 20 May 2025 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rebecca AllenEncounter different approaches to making abstract paintings while developing your skills in using a range of painting materials. With reference to the work of a variety of abstract artists explore the visual language common to both representation and abstraction, eg. colour, composition, tone and paint application.Full fee £369.00 Senior fee £295.00 Concession £240.00 - Textiles: experimental hand stitchCourse 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 - Drawing 1Course start date: Thu 22 May 2025 (and 10 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Andrea VoiseyAn introduction to drawing from observation through a carefully structured approach in a studio environment. Suitable for beginners.Full fee £429.00 Senior fee £343.00 Concession £279.00 - Calligraphy for beginners and improversCourse start date: Fri 23 May 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Sharon ShawLearn and develop calligraphy skills on this beginners and improvers course. You will practice with a range of pens and papers, and create a finished example using a favourite quotation. Advice will be given on tools and materials. Suitable for left or right-handers. - Photography for beginnersCourse start date: Thu 1 May 2025 (and 17 other dates)
Location on this date: Kean Street Photography Studio
Tutors: Sara Leigh LewisAlways wondered what half the buttons on your camera actually do? Discover how to use them properly and produce impressive photographs, even as a complete beginner. Gain useful technical knowledge and get expert creative guidance in easy-to-understand language. An ideal first step before enrolling on our intermediate courses.Full fee £369.00 Senior fee £295.00 Concession £240.00
Can't see a course you want?
Add this category to your waiting list to set up alerts and we will update you when new courses are released online.
Add me to waiting list