Art & design

Art & Design Courses - Online & 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

Courses available both in-person and online

We offer a range of long and short courses allowing you to choose between in-person and online learning.

Learn in the centre of London with our in-person courses. Our purpose-built facilities in Covent Garden mean we are ideally located and easy to get to. 

See our guide to online learning for more information about accessing our live online courses.

All our courses are live, interactive, and taught by expert tutors. No matter how you prefer to learn, we've got the class for you.

 

Join us for the City Lit Visual Arts open day on Saturday 18 May. Throughout the day, at our campus in Covent Garden, you will have the opportunity to immerse yourself in the full range and variety of our art and design subjects on offer.  Find out more >

 

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  1. Looking at photography: colour and composition
    Course start date:  Tue 11 Mar 2025 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Kean Street Photography Studio

    Tutors:  Michael Harding
    Want to learn the secrets of composing beautiful photographs? Join this inspiring workshop to explore composition and colour controls, making the most of shapes, lines, colours, framing, the rule of thirds and simple camera controls for professional-looking results.
    Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £79.00
  2. Looking at photography: commercial practice
    Course start date:  Fri 28 Mar 2025 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Kean Street Photography Studio

    Tutors:  Ed Gregory
    Looking to work professionally as a photographer? Pick up key skills you will need on this practical course from camera systems, lighting solutions, paperwork and software workflow.
    Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £79.00
  3. Developing communities of practice
    Weekend
    Course start date:  Sat 29 Mar 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Adam Piper
    What is a creative community? What does it mean to be part of a group of artists, designers or creative people? Communities maintain viability and relevance in ways that individuals can often struggle to achieve. Remaining a relevant part of the art world and engaging with issues with wider social significance is often easier as a collective, and arts organisations of all sizes increasingly emphasise the importance of groups, and their social relevance. This workshop, led by City Lit’s print area coordinator, examines experience gained working within the printmaking world, and establishing communities that have a life extending beyond the end of studies, exhibitions or projects. The workshop is relevant, however, to artists and designers of all kinds. In it, we examine what a community of practice is, how it might work, and what it means to be part of such a group. We consider and share insights of how artistic practice can have greater impact through group activity, how group activity can be relevant to your own personal practice, and, through it, how you engage with society. We also look at case studies, and consider the social and potential economic impact of each as an ‘artistic community’.
    Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £79.00
  4. Photography in a day: Flash with speedlight
    Course start date:  Fri 4 Apr 2025

    Location on this date:  Kean Street Photography Studio

    Tutors:  Ed Gregory
    Lighten things up: join this practical course to learn the basics of using portable flash (speedlights) to enhance your images. Experiment creatively indoors and outdoors with different flash techniques, with a professional photographer on hand to guide you throughout.
    Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £129.00
  5. Beauty photography: digital AI retouching
    Course start date:  Mon 7 Apr 2025

    Location on this date:  Kean Street Photography Studio

    Tutors:  Ed Gregory
    This course will be for people interested in introducing the new Artificial Intelligence (AI) image editing tools into their Photoshop and Lightroom workflow.
    Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £129.00
  6. Design thinking: creative problem solving
    Course start date:  Tue 8 Apr 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Andrew McCarten
    The term ‘design thinking’ describes an adaptive and reflective approach to problem-solving that is, in many ways, the same as the kinds of processes that underpin creative practice generally, and is fundamental to the development of many of the systems on which the world’s current production, logistics, communications and supply depend. Although generally considered largely in relation to system design, information and interaction design, and product design, it is a way of thinking through and deconstructing creative and/or technical challenges that is equally valuable as a lens through which to examine creative processes and problems in any discipline. In this professional practice workshop, we examine the 5 classic stages of Design Thinking, and look at how we can use them to refine our thinking processes, apply our insight and focus our imagination, to solve both creative and practical problems.



    For this workshop, you will need to have access to A3 or A4 plain paper, and a range of coloured marker pens, as well as a notebook. Basic materials will be provided, but you're welcome to bring your own as well.
    Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £79.00
  7. Looking at photography: Wedding photography
    Course start date:  Wed 16 Apr 2025

    Location on this date:  Kean Street Photography Studio

    Tutors:  Sara Epstein
    This course will prepare you to compete in the challenging world of client-facing photography in the areas of wedding photography. You’ll be taught by knowledgeable and highly experienced professional practitioners who bring all their skills and experience to help launch or evolve your professional practice.
    Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £79.00
  8. London photography: bridges in the city
    Weekend
    Course start date:  Sun 21 Apr 2024 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Off Site

    Tutors:  Michael Harding
    Explore london and capture the beauty of the capitals bridges that span the Thames. This off-site photographic course will have you down to the river with your camera, exploring the diverse architectural designs and structures of bridges on the Thames that connect London. Learn about their history whilst learning the secrets to successful architectural and location photography.
    Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £69.00 Concession £69.00
  9. Photography in a day: Scanning negatives and transparencies
    Course start date:  Fri 23 May 2025

    Location on this date:  Kean Street Photography Studio

    Tutors:  Dominic Harris
    Do you have boxes of old prints, negatives or transparencies gathering dust that you'd love to have digitised? Learn how to get your archive onto your computer using different methods from flatbed and film scanners to a digital camera.
    Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £129.00
  10. Drawing and the art of mindfulness: tone
    Weekend
    Course start date:  Sun 25 May 2025

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Tutors:  Clare Barton-Harvey
    Investigate a range of ways to make tonal drawings, whilst exploring the benefits of mindfulness practice in relation to drawing. The workshop will focus on supporting you to develop new skills in handling materials, as well as a variety of creative expression.
    Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £63.00 Concession £51.00
  11. Art and motherhood - Hettie Judah
    Evening
    Course start date:  Fri 7 Jun 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Join us as Hettie Judah introduces the topic of ‘motherhood’ addressing the construction of motherhood as an ideal in visual culture, and the strategies through which women artists have subverted it. While the Madonna and Child is one of the great subjects of European art, we rarely see art about motherhood as a lived experience, in all its complexity. In her new book and exhibition, Hettie Judah’s Acts of Creation: On Art and Motherhood addresses this blind spot in art history, asserting the artist mother as an important – if rarely visible – cultural figure. As well as delving into the mother as an art historical subject Acts of Creation explores lived experience of motherhood, offering a complex account that engages with contemporary concerns about gender, caregiving and reproductive rights.
    Full fee £0.00 Senior fee £0.00 Concession £0.00
  12. Wildlife photography: London location
    Weekend
    Course start date:  Sun 16 Jun 2024

    Location on this date:  Off Site

    Tutors:  Rachel Wegh
    Widllife in the city is an exciting opportunity to work off-site and enjoy various surroundings focusing on flora and fauna. Travel to some of some of London’s finest open spaces whilst learning the photography skills required in focusing on details, landscape and capturing natures beauty. Ideal for beginners, those who want to broaden their photography skills and those wishing to continue building their photography portfolio.
    Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £69.00 Concession £69.00
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