Painting and drawing dialogues: looking back at self
We 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.
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Visual perception is largely unconscious and individual. Regardless of the overt content of your images, to an extent the subject is always yourself. Revealing the unconscious traits in your looking can help to determine the kind of paint handling and drawing processes you instinctively favour and how this may come to help you to both refine and communicate your vision.
What will we cover?
• Explore different working methods between drawing and painting to highlight the unique way in which you organise and make sense from vision. • How unconscious distortions in your looking are revealed in the way you compose and approach a drawing or painting. • How your unique way of looking at the world impacts your choice of colour palette and paint handling. • How to use these discoveries and insights to create more personal work.
What will I achieve? By the end of this course you should be able to...
• Handle drawing and paint media in a dialogue to communicate the unique way in which you see the world. • Recognise and make use of the unconscious distortions that are registered in images to explore a fuller sense of what is communicated in your work. • Recognise and make use of the significance of the colour choices you make in relation to what you are trying to express. • Analyse how the way you draw, use paint and choose your palette reflect memory and the imagination. • Discuss and evaluate the progress of your work.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
This is an intermediate level course, intended for those with some painting or drawing experience (e.g. Painting 2, Drawing 2) or those who wish to explore the relationship between the two disciplines.
You should be able to follow simple written and verbal instructions, demonstrations, hand-outs and health and safety information, and will be invited to take part in group discussion. You should be able to use numbers and be able to do simple measurements and calculations.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
Each session workshops a distinct aspect of the dialogue between painting and drawing, creating an atmosphere to support shared experimentation and discussion. The individual strands of thought arising, will be increasingly drawn together, but you will also be encouraged to make your own links between workshops. The course offers: • Practical structured projects • Group discussion and evaluations • One to one guidance • Presentations on the work of selected artists
This course is supported by Google Classroom as a Virtual Learning Environment, where you will be able to access course material, presentations, and handouts etc.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
All materials required are provided.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
This is one of a suite of Painting and Drawing Dialogues courses. Taking further modules will expand your experience and confidence with cross-disciplinary working and prepare you for higher level study in the City Lit’s Advanced Practice area.
I am an artist living and working in London, trained at Chelsea School of Art and the Slade School of Fine Art (University College London). I have shown in solo and group exhibitions around the UK and in Europe (including the Whitechapel Open and Threadneedle Painting Prize) with work in numerous private collections and featured in Drawing and Painting by Kate Wilson (Thames and Hudson, 2015) For over 30 years I have taught in a wide variety of contexts, lecturing in many British art schools, including Manchester (MA), Cheltenham (BA), Central St Martins, UAL. I have run drawing workshops for Microsoft Seattle, Microsoft Research Asia in Beijing, Electronic Arts UK, Vanguard Animation, Tell Me in Mountain View, CA and Kaos Studios (THQ) in New York amongst others. I have also taught renowned opera, television and film directors how to draw (NDAs duly signed) From 2021-22 I was the recipient of an Arts Council England Project Award to conduct research into drawing and the processing of trauma. I have tenure at City Lit where I deliver drawing and painting courses exploring how these activities alter visual perception, with a strong emphasis on thinking through doing.
Monika KitaSee moreSee less
Monika Kita is an artist and filmmaker with over 25 years of experience in the art world. Her works have been presented at festivals and exhibitions across the UK, Europe, and South America, including the Museum of Contemporary Art of Oaxaca, BBC Shorts, East End Film Festival, and the Venice Biennale. Teaching is an integral part of her practice. She fosters a flexible and open approach that encourages connections between concept, process, and material – recognising spontaneity and liberation as the beating heart of artistic practice. Monika designed and leads the City Lit expanded experimental film course at City Lit. She also teaches a range of short courses in experimental filmmaking, DSLR for video, and shooting for short films, alongside contributing to the City Lit dialogues course, City Lit fine art, and other related courses that situate moving image and animation practice within a broader fine art context.
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.
product
https://www.citylit.ac.uk/painting-and-drawing-dialogues-looking-back-at-self2490070Painting and drawing dialogues: looking back at selfhttps://www.citylit.ac.uk/media/catalog/product/v/m/vm008_p_d_dialgoues_-_looking_back_at_the_self-1024.jpg449449GBPInStock/Courses/Courses/Art & design/Courses/Art & design/Painting/Courses/Art & design/Painting/Painting techniques & processes22851132191619191228511321916We 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.002545678Painting and drawing dialogues: looking back at self449449https://www.citylit.ac.uk/media/catalog/product/v/m/vm008_p_d_dialgoues_-_looking_back_at_the_self-1024_1.jpgInStockDaytimeMonKeeley StreetAvailable courses5-10 weeksWeekday2026-02-23T00:00:00+00:00Some experienceFeb 2026Art & designVM008449449Painting and drawing dialogues: looking back at self359292449Tony Hull, Monika Kitapainting-and-drawing-dialogues-looking-back-at-self/vm008-2526We 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.0000-Available|2026-02-23 00:00:00Visual perception is largely unconscious and individual. Regardless of the overt content of your images, to an extent the subject is always yourself. Revealing the unconscious traits in your looking can help to determine the kind of paint handling and drawing processes you instinctively favour and how this may come to help you to both refine and communicate your vision.We 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.• Explore different working methods between drawing and painting to highlight the unique way in which you organise and make sense from vision. <br/>• How unconscious distortions in your looking are revealed in the way you compose and approach a drawing or painting.<br/>• How your unique way of looking at the world impacts your choice of colour palette and paint handling. <br/>• How to use these discoveries and insights to create more personal work.• Handle drawing and paint media in a dialogue to communicate the unique way in which you see the world.<br/>• Recognise and make use of the unconscious distortions that are registered in images to explore a fuller sense of what is communicated in your work.<br/>• Recognise and make use of the significance of the colour choices you make in relation to what you are trying to express.<br/>• Analyse how the way you draw, use paint and choose your palette reflect memory and the imagination.<br/>• Discuss and evaluate the progress of your work.This is an intermediate level course, intended for those with some painting or drawing experience (e.g. Painting 2, Drawing 2) or those who wish to explore the relationship between the two disciplines.<br/><br/>You should be able to follow simple written and verbal instructions, demonstrations, hand-outs and health and safety information, and will be invited to take part in group discussion. You should be able to use numbers and be able to do simple measurements and calculations.Each session workshops a distinct aspect of the dialogue between painting and drawing, creating an atmosphere to support shared experimentation and discussion. The individual strands of thought arising, will be increasingly drawn together, but you will also be encouraged to make your own links between workshops. <br/>The course offers:<br/>• Practical structured projects<br/>• Group discussion and evaluations<br/>• One to one guidance<br/>• Presentations on the work of selected artists<br/><br/>This course is supported by Google Classroom as a Virtual Learning Environment, where you will be able to access course material, presentations, and handouts etc.All materials required are provided.This is one of a suite of Painting and Drawing Dialogues courses. Taking further modules will expand your experience and confidence with cross-disciplinary working and prepare you for higher level study in the City Lit’s Advanced Practice area.PaintingPainting techniques & processesvirtual359449292VM008NONEMon23/02/26 - 23/03/2610:00 - 17:0010:0017:005 sessions (over 5 weeks)55-10 weeksDaytimeWeekdayKSKeeley StreetTony Hull, Monika KitaSome experienceAvailable courses2026-02-23T00:00:00+00:00Feb 2026Art & design449449Painting and drawing dialogues: looking back at selfpainting-and-drawing-dialogues-looking-back-at-self/vm008-2526We 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.0000-Available|2026-02-23 00:00:00Visual perception is largely unconscious and individual. Regardless of the overt content of your images, to an extent the subject is always yourself. Revealing the unconscious traits in your looking can help to determine the kind of paint handling and drawing processes you instinctively favour and how this may come to help you to both refine and communicate your vision.We 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.• Explore different working methods between drawing and painting to highlight the unique way in which you organise and make sense from vision. <br/>• How unconscious distortions in your looking are revealed in the way you compose and approach a drawing or painting.<br/>• How your unique way of looking at the world impacts your choice of colour palette and paint handling. <br/>• How to use these discoveries and insights to create more personal work.• Handle drawing and paint media in a dialogue to communicate the unique way in which you see the world.<br/>• Recognise and make use of the unconscious distortions that are registered in images to explore a fuller sense of what is communicated in your work.<br/>• Recognise and make use of the significance of the colour choices you make in relation to what you are trying to express.<br/>• Analyse how the way you draw, use paint and choose your palette reflect memory and the imagination.<br/>• Discuss and evaluate the progress of your work.This is an intermediate level course, intended for those with some painting or drawing experience (e.g. Painting 2, Drawing 2) or those who wish to explore the relationship between the two disciplines.<br/><br/>You should be able to follow simple written and verbal instructions, demonstrations, hand-outs and health and safety information, and will be invited to take part in group discussion. You should be able to use numbers and be able to do simple measurements and calculations.Each session workshops a distinct aspect of the dialogue between painting and drawing, creating an atmosphere to support shared experimentation and discussion. The individual strands of thought arising, will be increasingly drawn together, but you will also be encouraged to make your own links between workshops. <br/>The course offers:<br/>• Practical structured projects<br/>• Group discussion and evaluations<br/>• One to one guidance<br/>• Presentations on the work of selected artists<br/><br/>This course is supported by Google Classroom as a Virtual Learning Environment, where you will be able to access course material, presentations, and handouts etc.All materials required are provided.This is one of a suite of Painting and Drawing Dialogues courses. Taking further modules will expand your experience and confidence with cross-disciplinary working and prepare you for higher level study in the City Lit’s Advanced Practice area.PaintingPainting techniques & processesconfigurable
