Painting Courses In London
At City Lit, we offer a variety of painting courses, from complete beginners with a focus on building essential painting skills, to more experimental approaches that include working at a larger scale or with a more abstract focus. Delivered in one of our bright, modern and relaxing painting studios, students will have access to all basic art materials and resources as part of their course.
Our wide range of studio-based courses and workshops offer students a practical, hands-on guide, from setting up your painting workstation, working with watercolour, acrylic or oil to more technical processes including experimental approaches and use of colour and working with painting mediums. We also offer a range of life painting courses and encourage students to work across and between the areas of drawing and painting to continually develop their ideas and work.
We host exhibitions throughout the year at City Lit Gallery where our students showcase their amazing work.
To arrange a conversation with our painting coordinator about your interests, options and courses available, please contact our Visual Arts team at visualarts@citylit.ac.uk
- Developing watercolour painting
Course start date: Mon 3 Nov 2025 (and 10 other dates)Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Anne-Marie FosterExplore the specific qualities of watercolour and the opportunities this adaptable medium offers to create dynamic painting compositions. Develop a fluency with brush work and layering of colour to develop compositional possibilities.Full fee £299.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £194.00 - Painting from plants and flowers Course start date: Tue 27 May 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Explore a variety of creative approaches for painting flowers from observation. Discover the rich history of this genre while taking inspiration from artists who use flowers as their subject matter.Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00 - Contemporary watercolour painting projects Course start date: Sat 1 Nov 2025 (and 6 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Anne-Marie FosterThrough a set of short projects inspired by contemporary practitioners and their contribution to the uniqueness of the medium, the course will help you expand your understanding of watercolour and enable you to make informed choices in making personal work. It will also feature some approaches to painting, beyond the immediate western tradition to provide broader technical and critical insights.Full fee £389.00 Senior fee £311.00 Concession £253.00 - Oil painting projects Course start date: Sun 2 Nov 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Desmond HaughtonOil paint is a uniquely sensitive medium, which can be used to create expressive and complex images. This course is for oil painters with some experience who want to develop their own individual painting projects, with expert tutor guidance.Full fee £449.00 Senior fee £359.00 Concession £292.00 - Painting and drawing dialogues: working with found imagesCourse start date: Mon 3 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Tony Hull, Monika KitaDiscover how the ‘once-removed’ quality of found images like film stills can change your response to the world around you, as well as expanding the interpretive potential of painting and drawing.Full fee £449.00 Senior fee £359.00 Concession £292.00 - Oil painting: focus on light and shade Course start date: Fri 7 Nov 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Lindsay PickettThis oil painting course takes inspiration from the moody and luminous imagery of classic Film Noir such as ‘The Third Man’. Students will explore composition, tonal transition and contrast to enhance their pleasure in oil painting and create strong and powerful paintings.Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £155.00 - Life painting: expressionist approachesCourse start date: Thu 13 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Amanda WalkerExplore 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.Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £207.00 Concession £168.00 - Painting: colour mixing for artists Course start date: Tue 18 Nov 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Amanda BrackenA concise study of colour usage. Investigate colour perception and how colour interacts. Explore a range of observational and expressive painting projects, relate colour theory to practice and develop confidence using colour. An emphasis on colour mixing using acrylics and oil paint.Full fee £209.00 Senior fee £167.00 Concession £136.00
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