Drawing Courses in London
At City Lit, we have a variety of drawing courses, delivered in our bright, modern studios for students to create and develop a body of drawing work. Supported by our team of experienced and expert tutors, we offer students both a practical guide and an informative insight, providing an opportunity for all levels to explore traditional and contemporary styles of drawing.
We have classes for everyone, whether you’re a complete beginner and you want an introduction to drawing; or you’re at an intermediate or higher level and you want classes that focus on developing advanced drawing skills such as mark making techniques, experimental approaches and use of colour, tone and shade within these disciplines.
Our courses are specially designed to offer you support in overcoming any frustrations, learning new skills and helping you achieve your personal creative goals.
We host exhibitions throughout the year at City Lit Gallery where our students showcase their amazing work.
To arrange a conversation with our drawing coordinator about your interests, options and courses available, please contact our Visual Arts team at visualarts@citylit.ac.uk
- Masters of Cinema: Claire DenisCourse start date: Sat 4 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
This course will consider Claire Denis’ importance as a filmmaker by exploring in some detail a number of her key films from Chocolat (1988), I can’t sleep (1994), Beau Travail (1999), White material (2009), and High Life (2018). Claire Denis’ transnational postcolonial work, from Djibouti, South Africa to multi-ethnic France, deals with themes of migration, human desires and fears. Her films are renowned for being filmed mainly on location, for playing with many cinematic genres and languages and they are internationally acclaimed.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Craft focus: character in fictionCourse start date: Sat 4 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Tasha KavanaghIn fiction, character and plot are inseparable elements of craft. Without characters there can be no action or plot. In this short course you will learn how to create characters that can drive a narrative forward and deepen its themes. - Developing art practiceCourse 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 - Study day: Millet, Manet & Courbet - revolutionaries of realismCourse start date: Sat 4 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rachel SandersExplore Realism in the nineteenth century, focusing on Manet as its key example, considering such issues as social and political change, formal and subject developments, theoretic interests and artistic influences.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - German intermediate intensiveCourse start date: Sat 4 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Friederike SchroederThis an intermediate in person German course in the heart of London. The emphasis is on developing your speaking skills. Suitable if you have studied German for an equivalent of about 2 years.
Full fee £249.00 Senior fee £249.00 Concession £162.00 - German advancedCourse start date: Sat 4 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Tim MatschakVertiefen Sie Ihre Deutschkenntnisse durch eine vielseitige Auswahl an aktuellen Materialien, Texten, Videos und Hörverständnissen. In diesem Kurs können Sie auch Ihre Diskussionfähigkeit, Ihre Grammatik und Ihren Wortschatz erweitern. This is an advanced German course.Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00 - Mobile Hot and Cold Stone Therapy: a CPD workshopCourse start date: Sat 4 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Kean Street Wellbeing Centre
Tutors: Mark WoollardThis course is specifically aimed at the mobile therapist wishing to offer clients a hot and cold stone massage, without the need to carry a massive traditional hot stone heater around with you!Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £129.00 - City Lit fine art: year 3Course start date: Sat 11 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Steven ScottYear 3 (VM553) is the culmination of the CLFA course and combines practical studio sessions with a professional and externally focussed remit designed to enable you to further refine your creative work and enhance your professional capabilities in the development of an independent artistic practice. The course encourages students to find and pursue external opportunities relevant to their practice such as organising an exhibition or collaborating with external organisations.
Building upon and consolidating the learnings gained in year 1 and 2 of CLFA, or on your experience of practicing and studying to an equivalent level, you will pursue an individual, self-motivated route through year 3. This will be based upon an existing portfolio, defined intentions, and ongoing creative projects. The Year 3 course is designed to support individual development of new artwork that extends an existing creative practice. It will also allow you to enhance this with an understanding of professional activities that might include the process of making funding applications, finding exhibition opportunities, or developing external relationships. You will be able to engage with practicing artist/tutors in group critiques, one-to-one tutorials, seminars, and self-motivated studio production sessions in which you can explore and refine your skills and creative ideas. There will be engagement with ideas and contexts, and professional practice-based sessions that support the development of your creative work so that it can be sustained beyond the duration of the course.
Note: this course runs on Saturday daytimes fortnightly, and occasional Sundays.Full fee £1,749.00 Senior fee £1,399.00 Concession £1,224.00 - Physics unravelled: navigating the maze of string theoryCourse start date: Sat 18 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Gary RetallickWith its promise of answering questions about black holes, gravity and dark matter/energy, string theory has captivated many physicists for the past 50 years. In this course, we will look at string theory in a non-technical way and consider what the prospects are for this remarkable theory.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Reasoning and God: an introduction to theologyCourse start date: Sat 18 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Edgar Ter-DanielyanThis course is an introduction to theology – reasoned discourse on the Christian understanding of God, his nature, and his relationship with human beings and the created order.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £155.00
- What is a Short Story?Course start date: Sat 18 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Alexander Fairbairn-DixonWhat is a short story? Come and discuss its characteristics, its length, design, mood and style. What distinguishes it from other kinds of short narrative? We’ll compare short stories to other forms, such as myths, legends, anecdotes, fabliaux, parables, fables, and ‘tales’. We’ll look at some of the greatest practitioners including Edgar Allan Poe, Katherine Mansfield, and O’ Henry.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Nordic Noir: Novel, Film, TelevisionCourse start date: Sat 18 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Paul SuttonThe early 2000s saw the emergence of a number of Swedish and Norwegian crime series onto UK TV screens, including Wallander (dir. various, 2005-10), Forbrydelsen/The Killing (dir. Various, 2007), Borgen (dir. various 2010) and The Bridge (dir. various 2011), all broadcast on BBC4. The popularity of these dramas led to one critic to refer to them as ‘Nordic noir, the gift that keeps on giving’. Similarly successful were the film adaptations of Stieg Larsson’s hugely popular Millenium trilogy, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009 and 2011), The Girl who Played with Fire (2009) and The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (2009). This one-day course will explore the history, context, development and reception of these TV dramas and films while also considering the various processes of adaptation and remaking involved in their production.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £55.00 Concession £45.00 - Dynamic Stretching for massage therapists: a CPD workshopCourse start date: Sat 18 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Kean Street Wellbeing Centre
Tutors: Alex BrennanLearn effective stretching techniques which can be done with client fully clothed, to improve mobility and release deep seated muscle tension.Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £239.00 - Explore: creative collageCourse start date: Sun 19 Oct 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Pam WilliamsExplore the practical and creative skills involved in collaging for graphic design projects. Discover the ways in which the juxtaposition of found materials along with the practical elements of cutting, sticking and pasting them together can create exciting designs.
Full fee £89.00 Senior fee £89.00 Concession £89.00
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