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
- Printmaking for beginnersCourse start date: Tue 13 Jan 2026 (and 1 other date)
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 - Collage and mixed media: book artsCourse start date: Thu 15 Jan 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ruth FranklinAn exciting short experimental course working with found books and individual book constructions to explore and combine a variety of creative techniques. Including collage, drawing, painting, mono-printing and paper as interventions into the pages of a book to create unexpectedly beautiful or powerful new work.Full fee £339.00 Senior fee £271.00 Concession £220.00 - City Lit contemporary collage projects 2Course start date: Thu 15 Jan 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
City Lit contemporary collage projects 1 initiates a year-long set of collage and mixed media projects designed to experiment with and examine the interplay between the two and three dimensions. You will work with a wide range of materials, on and off the wall, extending our pictorial practice into the realm of collage, painting, drawing, assemblage, bricolage, decoupage, photomontage, small scale constructions, printing and text within the context of mixed media.
Note* the course is designed in a way to enable students to either complete all three courses over the year or to come in at any stage in no particular order.Full fee £839.00 Senior fee £671.00 Concession £545.00 - Fine art photography: focus on dramatic lightingCourse start date: Fri 16 Jan 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ed GregoryThis is a creative workshop course that pays homage to the grandmasters of fine art portraiture and still life both in photography and art. With the use of props, lighting and visual analysis you will reconstruct the atmosphere of fine art paintings and photography. Taking images from the Dutch master painters from the 17th and 18th centuries, and master photographers from the 1930s and 40s, such as Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and Berenice Abbott, we will create contemporary versions using light and props.Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £155.00 - Appraising jewellery and gemstones
Course start date: Sat 26 Jul 2025 (and 2 other dates)Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Judith Crowe, Derek JhinnooWish you knew more about the jewellery you were buying, or could value the heirlooms in your drawer? Join this fascinating two-day course to learn how to appraise gem set jewellery and stones. Explore precious metals, hallmarking, common gemstones found in jewellery and how to identify antique pieces, and bring your own jewellery for assessment by the tutor.Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £169.00 Concession £169.00 - Documentary photography and photojournalism Course start date: Mon 19 Jan 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Holly Falconer, Catriona GrayA picture paints a thousand words. Develop your creative ability to communicate through photography and get a fascinating insight into the world of documentary photography and photojournalism. Work on assignments and location shoots, develop your technique and style, and explore the practical, theoretical and ethical dimensions of photojournalism.Full fee £389.00 Senior fee £311.00 Concession £253.00 - City Lit photography: developing practice and portfolioCourse start date: Sat 24 Jan 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
This course is a natural follow on from City Lit photography projects VY844 & VY878.
You will work on a self-set project for the length of the course.Full fee £399.00 Senior fee £319.00 Concession £259.00 - Life painting: experimental approaches Course start date: Thu 29 Jan 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Amanda BrackenExplore imaginative, dynamic approaches to painting the figure using a variety of approaches: be inspired by new ways of seeing and access innovative ways of approaching your life painting. Suitable for those with some previous life drawing experience.
Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £207.00 Concession £168.00 - Life drawing: experimental approachesCourse start date: Thu 29 Jan 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Steve WrightThis course introduces contemporary contexts for life painting using acrylic paints to explore different creative approaches using the imagination alongside observation of the model. Suitable for all levels but some previous life drawing experience an advantage.Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £207.00 Concession £168.00 - Life painting: focus on light and shadeCourse start date: Fri 30 Jan 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Lindsay PickettA great introduction to life painting working directly from the unclothed life model model. Using simple projects, you will explore different ways to represent the human form through light and shade in paint to create volume, form and mood with encouraging helpful guidance from an experienced tutor.
Full fee £299.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £194.00 - Life drawing: sculptural approaches from 2D to 3DCourse start date: Sun 8 Feb 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Annie AttridgeExplore imaginative, dynamic approaches to drawing the figure with a variety of media: be inspired by new ways of seeing and access innovative ways of approaching your drawing.Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £207.00 Concession £168.00 - Ways into abstract painting 2Course start date: Tue 10 Feb 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rebecca AllenA follow-on course from Ways Into Abstract Painting. Explore colour, scale and mark-making in more depth to get the best out of your compositional ideas. Build skills in paint-handling, personal methods of developing abstract imagery, and confidence in discussing your work and themes.
Full fee £389.00 Senior fee £311.00 Concession £253.00 - Art and Ideas: What is visual language? Course start date: Thu 19 Feb 2026
Location on this date: Online
This course is for students and creative practitioners interested in visual language as a creative and conceptual theme. Explore and discuss ideas, theories and work by significant artists and writers to enhance and inspire the development of creative work and build an understanding of your own visual language.Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £139.00 - Oil painting: focus on portraitureCourse start date: Sun 1 Mar 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Brian SayersLearn to draw and paint portraits using traditional methods of observation, composition and mark making. Working from a variety of professional portrait models you will start with pencil and charcoal and progress on to oil painting.Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £207.00 Concession £168.00 - Improve your film workshop Course start date: Mon 2 Mar 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Lily MarkiewiczWant some feed-back and a helping hand to improve your film project? Join this workshop to get professional and peer support and elevate your film to another level.Full fee £359.00 Senior fee £287.00 Concession £233.00
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