Painting Techniques & Processes — Courses in London & Online
Our range of creative, hands-on painting courses suit all levels of student experience and are there to encourage creativity and the development of painting skills for all. Taught by professional artists who bring their wealth of experience and specialist knowledge to enrich the student experience and to put the subject into historical and contemporary context.
Courses on offer include Start Painting - for absolute beginners, through Painting 1 and Painting 2 for the development of skills and knowledge. We also offer more intermediate courses with our contemporary painting studio and abstract painting courses, where students can further explore themes and their own painting projects.
Our fully equipped painting studios provide students with everything they need to get started, build confidence and create exciting work.
Courses available both in-person and online
At City Lit, you can choose to study in-person or online. Our fantastic in-person courses are taught in our attractive campus, located in the heart of Covent Garden, central London. Here, our students can benefit from a variety of services and resources, including our café and state-of-the art equipment.
Our online courses are tailored to give you a social and interactive online learning experience, allowing you freedom to study from anywhere and with like-minded fellow classmates from all over the country without the need to travel. Use the Location filters on this page to choose your preferred learning method. See our guide to online learning for more information about accessing our live online courses.
For more information about courses available, please contact our Visual Arts team at visualarts@citylit.ac.uk
- Painting: oil techniques and mediumsCourse start date: Fri 20 Sep 2024 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Lindsay PickettOil paint is a medium with a long historical tradition, capable of heavy impasto effects and delicate transparent colour films. Working practically, in the studio, this course will expand your understanding of approaches to building a variety of surfaces in your paint working with mediums and expanding your use of texture and glazing This course is for all levels – both beginners and more experienced painters.Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £129.00 - Ways into landscape paintingCourse start date: Sat 5 Oct 2024 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
This practical course introduces a variety of approaches to expand your understanding of landscape painting.Full fee £369.00 Senior fee £295.00 Concession £240.00 - Ways into abstract painting
Course start date: Tue 22 Oct 2024 (and 7 other dates)Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Eleanor BedlowEncounter different approaches to making abstract paintings while developing your skills in using a range of painting materials. With reference to the work of a variety of abstract artists explore the visual language common to both representation and abstraction, eg. colour, composition, tone and paint application.Full fee £369.00 Senior fee £295.00 Concession £240.00 - Oil painting: focus on light and shadeCourse start date: Fri 1 Nov 2024
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 £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00 - Oil painting projects Course start date: Sun 3 Nov 2024 (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 £429.00 Senior fee £343.00 Concession £279.00 - Introduction to painting still-lifeCourse start date: Tue 5 Nov 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Amanda BrackenLearn the essentials of Still Life painting from paint handling and colour theory to composition.
Dedicate some time to developing your painting in a series of controlled steps. Learn to select and prepare surfaces and materials, build a composition around still life objects and make supplementary studies to guide your colour application. For absolute beginners.Full fee £279.00 Senior fee £223.00 Concession £181.00 - Painting and drawing dialogues: looking back at self Course start date: Sat 9 Nov 2024 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Chris Hough, Tony Hull, Monika KitaWe all have a unique way of looking at the world, shaping what we see to fit our reality. Explore how painting and drawing can magnify unconscious distortions and how memory and the imagination come to embody ‘the Self’ in image-making.Full fee £429.00 Senior fee £343.00 Concession £279.00 - Painting and drawing dialogues: working with found images Course start date: Mon 11 Nov 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Chris Hough, 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 £429.00 Senior fee £343.00 Concession £279.00 - Artists eye: still-life and objectCourse start date: Mon 11 Nov 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Kate HardyDevelop your painting skills with reference to contemporary and historical artists in this four week course. We will make paintings inspired by artists who are passionate about still life and object painting. You’ll be guided by their choices of subject matter, and learn their methods of paint application, colour mixing and composition. Acrylic paint can be used for all projects, or you can be taught using your choice of oil or watercolour paint. This short course can be taken alone or in conjunction with the other modules.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £169.00 Concession £169.00 - Painting from plants and flowers Course start date: Mon 11 Nov 2024 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ro SylvesterExplore 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 - Painting for beginners: intensiveCourse start date: Tue 10 Dec 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Mario Lautier VellaLearn and develop essential painting skills over consecutive days. Each session will focus on an aspect of painting, covering key concepts including colour, tone, composition and brushwork. Ideal if you have little or no painting experience.Full fee £279.00 Senior fee £223.00 Concession £181.00 - Painting for beginnersCourse start date: Thu 9 Jan 2025 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Begona Morea RoyExperience the joy of painting. Through simple exercises you'll explore colour, painting techniques and the expressive qualities of painting using acrylic paints. The perfect way to start painting.Full fee £139.00 Senior fee £139.00 Concession £139.00 - Contemporary painting studio Course start date: Thu 9 Jan 2025 (and 5 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Lucinda OestreicherDevelop your own ideas in painting with reference to the work of contemporary artists and experimental processes on this higher level course. Ideal for students who have completed ‘Painting 1’, ‘Painting 2’ or equivalent painting courses. Please note that this course uses water-based oil paint as well as acrylic paint.Full fee £959.00 Senior fee £767.00 Concession £623.00 - Painting 2
Course start date: Fri 10 Jan 2025 (and 5 other dates)Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Tony HullBuilding on techniques and approaches covered in the Painting 1, this course enables you to work with more depth and a stronger emphasis on experimentation. This is suitable if you already have some experience in painting.Full fee £429.00 Senior fee £343.00 Concession £279.00 - Introduction to oil paintingCourse start date: Sun 12 Jan 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Alex HannaOil paint is a medium, capable of delicate transparency and rich impasto effects. It holds many challenges for the beginner, but this course will offer a clear, structured way into the essentials and beauty of oil painting. will develop a feel for paint handling which will build skills and feed progress in oil painting.Full fee £319.00 Senior fee £255.00 Concession £207.00
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