Beginners Art & Design Courses
Every great artist started here. Embark on your creative journey with art and design courses for beginners at the City Lit Art School. Whether you’re a complete beginner or looking to refresh your skills, our expert-led courses provide a supportive environment to help you unlock your creative potential.
Our courses cover a range of artistic techniques including drawing, painting, printmaking, and graphic design. Learn the fundamentals of creating art, from sketching to using colour, and discover how to bring your ideas to life through different mediums. Whether you’re interested in traditional methods or digital design, we offer a variety of options to suit your artistic preferences.
With hands-on learning, live sessions, and individual feedback from experienced tutors, you’ll gain the skills and confidence to express your creativity. You’ll also be part of a vibrant artistic community where you can share your work, get feedback, and be inspired by others.
Explore our range of beginners art and design courses today, available both online and in London, and take the first step towards developing your artistic skills.
- Six day taster course in ceramics
Course start date: Sun 11 Jan 2026Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Alex SimpsonIdeal if you are a beginner and would like to experience and explore the major ways of making pottery – throwing and hand building. Pots will be decorated, glazed and fired during the course.Full fee £599.00 Senior fee £479.00 Concession £389.00 - Jewellery: soldering workshop Course start date: Sun 11 Jan 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Elizabeth BoneWork through a series of guided exercises designed to improve your understanding and technique of soldering and build up your confidence to apply a range of soldering methods based on your design. For beginners with some basic experience and intermediate levels.Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £207.00 Concession £168.00 - Picture framing and mounting for beginners Course start date: Sun 11 Jan 2026 (and 4 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Esther HeyhoeLearn picture framing and mounting skills for the home or workplace. Using professional framing tools and equipment you'll be taught all the skills you need to work in a busy studio or alternatively how to set up your own small scale practice from home.Full fee £359.00 Senior fee £287.00 Concession £233.00 - Painting 2 Course start date: Mon 12 Jan 2026 (and 4 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Amanda BrackenBuilding on techniques and approaches covered in the Painting 1, this course enables you to work with more depth and a stronger emphasis on experimentation. This is suitable if you already have some experience in painting.Full fee £449.00 Senior fee £359.00 Concession £292.00 - Drawing and mindfulness: morning meditation Course start date: Mon 12 Jan 2026 (and 1 other date)
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.Full fee £89.00 Senior fee £89.00 Concession £89.00 - Modern and historical calligraphy for improvers Course start date: Mon 12 Jan 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Veiko KespersaksStep into the world of calligraphy and discover the beauty of both historical and modern letterforms. This course is designed for improvers who wish to refine their technical skills while exploring creativity. You’ll study elegant scripts from the past, develop a personal modern alphabet, and bring your ideas to life through expressive projects.
Full fee £459.00 Senior fee £367.00 Concession £298.00 - Art and design portfolio projects Course start date: Mon 12 Jan 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rod JudkinsDevelop and realise your creative language in art and design through the development of a personal project. Through workshops and small projects you will be able to build a portfolio of work in 2D and 3D related to your own personal theme or interest.
Full fee £449.00 Senior fee £359.00 Concession £292.00 - Printmaking for beginnersCourse start date: Tue 13 Jan 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Simon BurderThis fast-paced course reveals some of the processes used to make fine art prints. You will try both relief and intaglio printmaking methods. This course is for beginners and those with limited experience who want to discover how printmaking techniques actually work. An ideal way to start printmaking.Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £155.00 - Vectorworks for beginners Course start date: Tue 13 Jan 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Nicholas WilliamsonLearn how to draw 2D and 3D design ideas using a computer. Vectorworks is very user-friendly, industry standard software that is ideal for architectural planning, interior design projects, 3D modeling and landscaping.Full fee £359.00 Senior fee £287.00 Concession £233.00 - Calligraphy and illumination Course start date: Tue 13 Jan 2026 (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 £369.00 Senior fee £295.00 Concession £240.00 - Life drawing after work Course start date: Mon 17 Nov 2025 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Sisetta ZapponeA fun, relaxed and shorter life drawing class better suited for people coming straight from work. You will be able to work from a variety of life models, in a range of materials and with a variety of poses. You will be working from the unclothed model, both male and female.Full fee £159.00 Senior fee £127.00 Concession £103.00 - Drawing 1 Course start date: Wed 5 Nov 2025 (and 6 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Eleanor BedlowAn introduction to drawing from observation through a carefully structured approach in a studio environment. Suitable for beginners.Full fee £449.00 Senior fee £359.00 Concession £292.00 - Clothes making I Course start date: Wed 14 Jan 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Silvia SacrestanoLearn how to make a skirt from a simple pattern. You will be guided step-by-step to produce a garment in a fabric of your choice using easy techniques and, incorporating a zip and waistband.Full fee £369.00 Senior fee £295.00 Concession £240.00 - Calligraphy: modern copperplate variations Course start date: Wed 14 Jan 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Veiko KespersaksLearn how to write elegant stylish letterforms using a flexible pointed nib with ink. Once you’ve learnt how to write a basic alphabet, we’ll 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.
Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00 - Explore printmaking Course start date: Wed 14 Jan 2026 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Esther HeyhoeCome and get inky with this fun one day workshop exploring printmaking. This course will give you a basic understanding of monoprinting, relief printing and screen printing and is aimed at those who would like to explore different printmaking techniques before going on to other courses.Full fee £89.00 Senior fee £89.00 Concession £89.00
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