City Lit Art School — Art Classes in London
Explore new and exciting subjects within a range of art and design disciplines, develop your skill set, get the support required to change career or launch yourself as a freelance artist or designer. All this and more delivered through our practical and engaging art and design courses at City Lit.
Our range of part-time, weekend and evening art and design classes are taught by successful artists and practitioners to ensure you get the skills, knowledge and experience you want and deserve. From experimental painting and drawing to contemporary jewellery making, there is sure to be a course for you. Study from 1 day to 2 years, whether you are a complete beginner or a practising artist preparing for an MA. Our courses are designed with you in mind, so you get to spend more time doing what you love.
Set a new goal, start your next creative adventure with City Lit and let us support you to realise your ambitions.
We host exhibitions throughout the year at City Lit Gallery where our students showcase their amazing work.
Any questions? Contact our visual arts team on visual.arts@citylit.ac.uk
- Introduction to watercolour paintingCourse start date: Sat 17 May 2025 (and 6 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rebecca AllenGain 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 £319.00 Senior fee £255.00 Concession £207.00 - Photography for beginnersCourse start date: Thu 1 May 2025 (and 17 other dates)
Location on this date: Kean Street Photography Studio
Tutors: Sara Leigh LewisAlways wondered what half the buttons on your camera actually do? Discover how to use them properly and produce impressive photographs, even as a complete beginner. Gain useful technical knowledge and get expert creative guidance in easy-to-understand language. An ideal first step before enrolling on our intermediate courses.Full fee £369.00 Senior fee £295.00 Concession £240.00 - Developing photography skillsCourse start date: Tue 29 Apr 2025 (and 13 other dates)
Location on this date: Kean Street Photography Studio
Tutors: Sara EpsteinAlready know the basics of photography but want to take things further? Refresh your knowledge, learn more advanced skills and develop your creative ideas, with an established professional photographer on hand for technical guidance and creative inspiration.Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00 - Life drawing into life paintingCourse start date: Sat 28 Jun 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Lindsay PickettLearn or develop life drawing skills and approaches to painting the nude figure. Including use of tone and colour selection, composition and paint handling to develop solidity, atmosphere and expression. Some experience of drawing is recommended.Full fee £389.00 Senior fee £311.00 Concession £253.00 - Developing art practiceCourse start date: Sat 4 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Eleanor Bedlow, Rolina Elsje Blok, Ute Kreyman, Joe Richardson, Heidi WigmoreThis advanced course for developing and practicing artists consists of work-based seminars facilitated by peers and artist-tutors, giving you the opportunity to develop and present your work for critical discourse. The course includes individual tutorials and mentoring, critical investigation via group crits, visits to galleries and artist-run organisations, collaborative work and discussion and debate. This course is one of the eligible programmes for application to Bloomberg New Contemporaries.
The course will be delivered onsite.
This course requires an application prior to enrolment. Please click 'start assessment' to begin your application.Full fee £1,249.00 Senior fee £999.00 Concession £874.00 - Textile design using Adobe IllustratorCourse start date: Sat 4 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Freya ProudlockPractise basic drawing using Adobe Illustrator tools to turn simple lines, shapes and colours into design elements for textile design. Learn vector-based skills using digital software to develop ideas. Suitable for beginners although basic computer skills are required.Full fee £209.00 Senior fee £167.00 Concession £136.00 - City Lit fine art: year 3Course start date: Sat 11 Oct 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Steven ScottYear 3 (VM553) is the culmination of the CLFA course and combines practical studio sessions with a professional and externally focussed remit designed to enable you to further refine your creative work and enhance your professional capabilities in the development of an independent artistic practice. The course encourages students to find and pursue external opportunities relevant to their practice such as organising an exhibition or collaborating with external organisations.
Building upon and consolidating the learnings gained in year 1 and 2 of CLFA, or on your experience of practicing and studying to an equivalent level, you will pursue an individual, self-motivated route through year 3. This will be based upon an existing portfolio, defined intentions, and ongoing creative projects. The Year 3 course is designed to support individual development of new artwork that extends an existing creative practice. It will also allow you to enhance this with an understanding of professional activities that might include the process of making funding applications, finding exhibition opportunities, or developing external relationships. You will be able to engage with practicing artist/tutors in group critiques, one-to-one tutorials, seminars, and self-motivated studio production sessions in which you can explore and refine your skills and creative ideas. There will be engagement with ideas and contexts, and professional practice-based sessions that support the development of your creative work so that it can be sustained beyond the duration of the course.
Note: this course runs on Saturday daytimes fortnightly, and occasional Sundays.Full fee £1,749.00 Senior fee £1,399.00 Concession £1,224.00 - Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £129.00
- Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £155.00
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