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
- Calligraphy after workCourse start date: Thu 26 Feb 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ivo GrantinsLearn the principles and explore the essential steps of calligraphy using a range of tools and techniques to create an individual piece. Suitable for beginners as well as improvers, left or right handers welcome.Full fee £279.00 Senior fee £223.00 Concession £181.00 - Visible stitches, spectacular spines: experiments in exposed sewingCourse start date: Fri 27 Feb 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Alessia TumbioloExplore the creative possibilities of visible sewing in bookbinding through structure and materials. Experiment with wrapping, folding and piercing to produce a set of books where the spine is the star!Full fee £309.00 Senior fee £247.00 Concession £201.00 - 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 2026Location 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 - SketchUp Pro: intermediate Course start date: Thu 5 Mar 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Nicholas WilliamsonThis intensive course is designed for people who have either completed the SketchUp Pro for beginners course or have previous experience of the software. A great opportunity to review your skills and take them to a more advanced level. There will be the opportunity for you to consider your own projects during the course.Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £207.00 Concession £168.00 - Illustrating narrativesCourse start date: Thu 5 Mar 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ciara FloodOn this course you will explore practical methods of storyboarding and the ability to take a narrative and translate it into a sequence of images. This skill is essential for children’s book illustrators, graphic novelists, animators and film makers.
Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £155.00 - City Lit Pro: Adobe After Effects fast trackCourse start date: Fri 6 Mar 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Litza JanszCity Lit Pro courses are tailored for accelerated learning for busy people who need to learn key skills for the workplace. On this Adobe After Effects course, you will learn the essential tools and skills for using After Effects to transform your video projects. These include planning the project, organising and preparing the material, masking skills, key framing skills and working with layers.Full fee £459.00 Senior fee £367.00 Concession £298.00 - Bookbinding: leather paring and knife sharpeningCourse start date: Sat 7 Mar 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Royston HawardParing and sharpening are skills essential for advanced bookbinding. Learn the first principles of these specialised skills in a simple to understand way that builds confidence.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £143.00 Concession £116.00 - Panoramic photographyCourse start date: Mon 9 Mar 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Matthew WardWhat is panoramic photography? Have you ever marvelled at a seamless panoramic photograph, image or online virtual tour? Learn how to do it yourself on this short practical introduction to photographing professional-level 360° by 180° panoramic images. Get to grips with the whole process of shooting and stitching, from single row to multi-row panoramas for print - and web-viewable virtual tours using Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom and PTGui.Full fee £209.00 Senior fee £167.00 Concession £136.00 - Anatomical life drawing weekendCourse start date: Sat 28 Mar 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Andrea Voisey.Full fee £219.00 Senior fee £175.00 Concession £142.00 - Photography in a day: drawing with lightCourse start date: Wed 1 Apr 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Scott PerryBoost your creativity and explore different approaches to digital photography. Put new ideas to practice by responding to creative briefs. Participate in group discussion, share your images and get feedback in an encouraging group environment.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £129.00 - London photography walk: River ThamesCourse start date: Wed 1 Apr 2026
Location on this date: Off Site
Tutors: Michael HardingExplore and discover London through photography walks around locations rich in photographic potential.
The walks revolve around photographing views along the River Thames, from the Aldwych area eastwards to the City, from London Bridge to the Southbank and from Westminster to the newly developed Nine Elms area. Bring your own camera and comfortable walking shoes as you capture places, spaces, objects and people.Full fee £159.00 Senior fee £127.00 Concession £103.00 - Create a short film in a dayCourse start date: Wed 1 Apr 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: David KlineShoot, edit and export a short film in this fun and fast paced practical introduction to film making.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £129.00 - Bookbinding: gold tooling on paperCourse start date: Sat 11 Apr 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Tracey RowledgeLearn how to develop a language with gold tooling on paper using hand finishing tools, BS Glaire and loose gold leaf. For all levels, from beginners to those with experience in gold tooling using hand finishing tools and gold leaf.Full fee £369.00 Senior fee £295.00 Concession £240.00 - Costume jewellery 1800 to nowCourse start date: Sun 12 Apr 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Judith Crowe, Derek JhinnooCostume jewellery tends to be viewed as the poor cousin of fine jewellery but the reality is far from that. This is a one day course that looks at the history of costume jewellery from 1600 and how the advances in materials and technology made it so popular.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £129.00
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