Beginners Life Drawing & Portraiture Courses
Begin your artistic journey into life drawing and portraiture with City Lit’s Beginners Life Drawing & Portraiture courses, available both online and in London. Whether you're new to drawing or want to improve your skills in capturing the human form, our expert-led courses will provide you with the essential techniques and creative guidance needed to develop your practice.
Our courses cover the fundamentals of life drawing, including proportions, anatomy, and composition, while helping you refine your technique in sketching the human body. You’ll also explore the art of portraiture, learning how to capture facial features, expression, and personality through a variety of drawing materials such as charcoal, pencil, and pastels.
With hands-on workshops, live sessions, and individual feedback from experienced tutors, you’ll gain the skills and confidence to draw the human form from life. Whether you're drawing from a live model or working on your own projects, our courses will help you build a solid foundation in life drawing and portraiture.
Explore our Beginners Life Drawing & Portraiture courses today, available in London, and take the first step toward mastering this timeless and expressive art form.
- Portraits 1
Course start date: Mon 7 Sep 2026 (and 2 other dates)Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Luke Jones, Andrea VoiseyThis course aims to introduce you to this fascinating genre in both drawing and painting portraits through practical experience of the basic skills and concepts involved, including structure and proportion of the head and features, tone, colour, pose and expression. Working from direct observation of the live model.Full fee £499.00 Senior fee £399.00 Concession £324.00 - Life drawing: mixed media approaches Course start date: Thu 11 Jun 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Annie AttridgeThis course introduces exciting contemporary approaches to life drawing using a variety of processes including using wire to draw with, clayslip for mark-making and plaster. You will be encouraged to explore creative and imaginative approaches in your response to the life model. Suitable for all levels but some previous drawing experience an advantage.Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £207.00 Concession £168.00 - Anatomical portrait drawing Course start date: Fri 26 Jun 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Andrea VoiseyEnhance your portraits by uncovering what lies beneath the surface. Through demonstration and direct observation of the model you will examine proportion, rotation and the key anatomical structures of the head and neck that denote likeness.Full fee £249.00 Senior fee £199.00 Concession £162.00 - Life drawing for beginners Course start date: Tue 30 Jun 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Luke JonesThis short course is a great introduction to drawing directly from the nude model, both male and female. Using simple excercises, you will explore different ways to represent the human form in drawing, with encouraging, helpful guidance from an experienced tutor. Suitable for absolute beginners.Full fee £219.00 Senior fee £175.00 Concession £142.00 - Life drawing after work Course start date: Fri 10 Jul 2026 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Joe RichardsonA 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 - Life drawing: focus on hands and feet Course start date: Wed 15 Jul 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Mario Lautier VellaThis short course is aimed at those with some previous life drawing experience who would like to meet the unique challenge of drawing hands and feet. Explore how to make sense of their complex structure and form and to draw these parts of the anatomy convincingly. You'll never leave hands and feet out of your life drawings again!Full fee £159.00 Senior fee £127.00 Concession £103.00 - Anatomical life drawing Course start date: Thu 10 Sep 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Andrea VoiseyDiscover the extraordinary construction of the human body. Through direct observation of the model you will examine the fundamental anatomical structures that underlie life drawing. For those with some drawing experience.
Full fee £299.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £194.00 - Portrait drawing: expression in the face Course start date: Thu 19 Nov 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Steve WrightThis short course will develop your existing knowledge and skills in drawing portraits to meet the challenge of creating expression. Bring your portrait drawing to life by exploring character, personality and emotion in the face of your subject, working from the life model.
Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00
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