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
- Painting and drawing dialogues: shaping time
Course start date: Sat 25 Apr 2026Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Tony Hull, Monika KitaReflect on how time is embodied in the surface of paintings and drawings to focus on the speed and sequence of your working methods. Discover how animation and film can aid and capture your creative process.Full fee £389.00 Senior fee £311.00 Concession £253.00 - Introduction to oil painting Course start date: Sun 26 Apr 2026 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Desmond HaughtonOil paint is a luminous and lustrous medium, capable of delicate transparency and rich impasto effects. It holds many challenges for the beginner, but this course offers a structured way into the essentials; you will develop a feel for the possibilities in oil and build essential skills in paint handling.
Full fee £339.00 Senior fee £271.00 Concession £220.00 - Watercolour painting: mixed media processes Course start date: Tue 28 Apr 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Anne-Marie FosterWatercolour 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 £209.00 Senior fee £167.00 Concession £136.00 - Watercolour painting studio: nature and colour Course start date: Thu 30 Apr 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Hilary RosenCelebrate the glorious colours found in nature by working from observation of natural forms. You will be encouraged to respond to the subject expressively using paint and other colour media to create a number of studies and one or more finished pieces.Full fee £389.00 Senior fee £311.00 Concession £253.00 - Artists eye painting projects: architecture in abstraction Course start date: Tue 19 May 2026
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Kate HardyMake a series of atmospheric paintings inspired by architecture and colour. Learn from a diverse range of artists, their materials, methods and intentions. Eye-opening projects to inspire painters at all levels of experience. This is a live on-line practical course.
Full fee £209.00 Senior fee £167.00 Concession £136.00 - Oil painting: focus on light and shade Course start date: Fri 5 Jun 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
This oil painting course takes inspiration from the moody and luminous imagery of classic Film Noir such as ‘The Third Man’. Explore composition, tonal contrast and light transitions, using a range of different oil techniques to create visually dramatic paintings.
Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £155.00 - Watercolour painting: mixed media techniques Course start date: Tue 30 Jun 2026 (and 1 other date)
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 £209.00 Senior fee £167.00 Concession £136.00 - Painting: acrylic techniques and mediums Course start date: Tue 7 Jul 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Amanda BrackenThe fundamentals of painting are as important for the beginner as they are for the more experienced artist. This course will be an in depth focus on brushwork, brush techniques and how to improve your mark making to develop fluency in the mediums of acrylic paint.Full fee £209.00 Senior fee £167.00 Concession £136.00 - Watercolour painting studio: urban landscapes Course start date: Fri 10 Jul 2026
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 - Life painting weekend: expressionist approaches Course start date: Sat 18 Jul 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Desmond HaughtonOver the course of a weekend, explore and develop a personal expressive response to life drawing and painting using a variety of techniques working from the life model. Explore mark-making, rich colour and dramatic contrast to explore and experiment with expressive and dynamic drawing and painting techniques, in response to examples of Expressionist artists styles and approaches.
Full fee £219.00 Senior fee £175.00 Concession £142.00 - Painting studio: three-day painting project Course start date: Mon 20 Jul 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Lucinda OestreicherExplore a personal painting project over three full days in a well equipped studio, taking inspiration from contemporary artists with tutor advice and support. Please note that this course uses water-based oil paints as well as acrylic paints.Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £155.00 - Life painting for beginners: summer school intensiveCourse start date: Mon 27 Jul 2026
Location on this date: Keeley Street
This 4 day intensive course is a great introduction to painting directly from the life model, where you will make great progress in understanding how to paint from life. Using simple structured projects, you will explore different approaches to represent the human form in paint, with encouraging, helpful guidance from an experienced tutor and taking inspiration from the work of other painters. Suitable for beginners in painting who have done some life drawing previously.
Full fee £349.00 Senior fee £279.00 Concession £227.00
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