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.
Courses available both in-person and online
We offer a range of courses allowing you to choose between online and in-person learning. All our courses are live, interactive, and taught by expert tutors. No matter how you prefer to learn, you’ll receive the same great City Lit experience. See our guide to online learning for more information about accessing our live online courses.
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
- Life painting: experimental approachesCourse start date: Thu 2 May 2024 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ruth BrisonExplore 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 £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £155.00 - Painting 1
Course start date: Thu 6 Jun 2024 (and 9 other dates)Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Begona Morea RoyPainting 1 offers an introduction to the basic principles and skills associated with painting. Focus on differing approaches to observational and imaginative work, whilst learning how to organise a palette, mix colours and create different textures.Full fee £409.00 Senior fee £327.00 Concession £266.00 - Watercolour painting: mixed media techniques Course start date: Thu 26 Sep 2024 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ruth BrisonWatercolour has a rich tradition - this course will explore the more experimental ways of using this pleasurable medium and will present new possibilities for producing exciting new work with mixed media. Make inventive combinations of media to draw from your own found imagery, photographs and sketches.Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £129.00 - Painting: mixing tones for portraitureCourse start date: Thu 9 May 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Alex HannaThis course will teach you the skills you need to paint naturalistic skin tones when working from life which will make your figure and portrait paintings more convincing.Full fee £189.00 Senior fee £151.00 Concession £123.00 - Picture framing and mounting for beginnersCourse start date: Thu 13 Jun 2024 (and 11 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Esther HeyhoeLearn picture framing and mounting skills for the home or workplace. Using professional framing tools and equipment you'll be taught all the skills you need to work in a busy studio or alternatively how to set up your own small scale practice from home.Full fee £309.00 Senior fee £247.00 Concession £201.00 - Ways into abstract painting Course start date: Thu 8 May 2025 (and 9 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rebecca AllenEncounter 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 - Painting 2 Course start date: Thu 11 Apr 2024 (and 8 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 £409.00 Senior fee £327.00 Concession £266.00 - Painting from plants and flowers Course start date: Thu 1 May 2025 (and 4 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 £279.00 Senior fee £223.00 Concession £181.00 - Watercolour painting studio: urban landscapesCourse start date: Thu 13 Jun 2024 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Hilary RosenBuild your confidence and skills in outdoor watercolour painting in a variety of central London locations. You will be introduced to watercolour mixing and mark making in relation to painting the urban landscape. This course can be seen as a refresher or for students who have had a minimum amount of watercolour experience.Full fee £339.00 Senior fee £271.00 Concession £220.00 - Introduction to watercolour paintingCourse start date: Thu 12 Sep 2024 (and 11 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Anne-Marie FosterGain a grounding in the rich possibilities available when working with watercolour paint. Through a series of practical studies, you will investigate the potential of this versatile medium.Full fee £279.00 Senior fee £223.00 Concession £181.00 - Painting for beginnersCourse start date: Thu 9 Jan 2025 (and 5 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Amanda BrackenExperience 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 - Painting: oil techniques and mediumsCourse start date: Thu 12 Sep 2024 (and 5 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Oil 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 - Contemporary painting studio Course start date: Thu 18 Apr 2024 (and 7 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ruth Brison, Amanda KnightDevelop 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 £899.00 Senior fee £719.00 Concession £584.00 - Painting 3Course start date: Thu 19 Sep 2024 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Tony HullFollowing on from the course 'Painting 2', enhance your paint handling skills to further understanding of the dynamics of a painted surface, through a series of set projects and short critical discussions. Examine the role of painting tools, marks and scale in building a painting.Full fee £429.00 Senior fee £343.00 Concession £279.00 - Watercolour painting studio: still-life
Course start date: Thu 18 Apr 2024 (and 3 other dates)Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Hilary RosenA stimulating opportunity to explore the essential elements of still life painting using watercolour. Suitable for beginners as well as a refresher course for those with previous experience of the medium.Full fee £339.00 Senior fee £271.00 Concession £220.00
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