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
46 courses available
Painting and drawing dialogues: performance and the bodyDrawings and paintings can capture the body’s movement in their surface, alongside registering an image. By focusing on the ‘performance of making’ new perspectives will inform a more individual approach to your work.Keeley Street
Mon 11 Jan 2027Tony Hull, Monika KitaFull fee £479.00 Senior fee £383.00 Concession £311.00- Painting 1
Painting 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.
The RFSA Foundation helps widen access to art and design education by supporting learners facing financial, personal or practical barriers. If you meet the eligibility criteria, you may be able to apply for funding towards this course if you are looking to do it as part of the longer suite of courses eg 1, 2 and/or 3. You will need to do a minimum of two of the staged courses to be eligible for financial support. Read our step-by-step bursary guidance here to find out more and apply.
If you are eligible and have already enrolled, you can apply for the funding support retrospectively.
Full fee £479.00 Senior fee £383.00 Concession £311.00 - Introduction to watercolour paintingGain 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 £329.00 Senior fee £263.00 Concession £214.00
- Painting and drawing dialogues: properties of the mediumGain an understanding of the interdependent nature of drawing and painting. Focus on the qualities of each medium working with and against their inherent properties to enhance your performance with both.
Keeley Street
Tue 12 Jan 2027Tony Hull, Monika KitaFull fee £479.00 Senior fee £383.00 Concession £311.00 - Colour mixing for painters
A 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 in painting.
Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00 - Drawing into watercolour paintingExplore the relationship between the two disciplines of drawing and watercolour painting and the opportunities when their distinct qualities are combined.Full fee £259.00 Senior fee £207.00 Concession £168.00
- Drawing and painting portraits: traditional techniquesThis structured course introduces traditional approaches to drawing then painting portraits from observation of the life model. Suitable for all levels but some previous drawing experience an advantage.
Keeley Street
Thu 14 Jan 2027Amanda Bracken, Kim ScoullerFull fee £349.00 Senior fee £279.00 Concession £227.00 - Watercolour painting: focus on still lifeA 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 £409.00 Senior fee £327.00 Concession £266.00
- Life painting from the clothed model
Life painting from the clothed life model offers fantastic opportunities to create character and narrative through different clothing and props. Explore how texture, pattern, colour and the folds of cloth can enhance your painting from life and how dramatic poses can inspire personal expression.
Keeley Street
Fri 29 Jan 2027Lindsay PickettFull fee £349.00 Senior fee £279.00 Concession £227.00 - Abstract painting weekend
An abstract intensive for students with some painting experience. Explore two different pathways into abstraction, including ways of working with composition, colour and texture to further your ideas in painting and build confidence working abstractly.
Full fee £249.00 Senior fee £199.00 Concession £162.00 - Ways into abstract painting 2
A follow-on course from Ways into abstract painting, for students with some prior experience. Build skills in paint-handling, personal methods of developing abstract imagery, and increased confidence in discussing your work and themes.
Full fee £359.00 Senior fee £287.00 Concession £233.00 - Oil painting projectsOil 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 £409.00 Senior fee £327.00 Concession £266.00
- Painting and drawing dialogues: looking back at selfWe 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.
Keeley Street
Mon 22 Feb 2027Tony Hull, Monika KitaFull fee £479.00 Senior fee £383.00 Concession £311.00 - Artists eye painting projects: the green world
Make paintings inspired by artists whose subject is nature, be guided by their choices of subject matter, and learn from their methods. Eye-opening projects to inspire painters at all levels of experience. This is a live on-line practical course.
Online
Tue 23 Feb 2027Kate HardyFull fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00 - Oil painting: techniques and mediums
Oil paint is a medium with a long historical tradition, capable of heavy impasto effects, transparent colour films, and delicate veils. Working practically in the studio, expand your approaches in oil painting: learn to build a variety of surfaces, working with mediums, texture and glazing. This course is for all levels – both beginners and more experienced painters.
Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00
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