Beginners courses in art & design

Always 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.

Explore a variety of creative approaches for painting flowers from observation. Discover the rich history of this genre while taking inspiration from artists who use flowers as their subject matter.

Gain 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.

An introduction to the beautiful and delicate printmaking world of Japanese Woodcut. Explore this water based, non-toxic process and build an appreciation for the handmade. You will learn how to design, carve and make a multi-coloured print. Beginners welcome.

Learn picture framing and mounting skills for the home or workplace. Using professional framing tools and equipment you'll be taught all the skills you need to work in a busy studio or alternatively how to set up your own small scale practice from home.

Our Introductory courses provide a perfect way-in to a creative field.







The Children’s Book industry is thriving, largely due to rising literacy levels, and a growing awareness of the importance of early childhood education. As a result, Children’s Book creators are in demand.



Our tutors will teach you the many and various skills you’ll need to illustrate books for children - from drawing and painting (analogue and digital), to sequencing and pacing visual narratives.



You'll learn about the children’s publishing sector; gaining a sense of the different genres and markets for children's books, and where your illustration style might fit.

Tap into your artistic talents through a series of fun practical exercises that will help you start drawing, painting, looking at art, responding to the world around you and working with your imagination and ideas.

Learn how to script, storyboard, shoot, edit and export a short film in this fun and fast paced introduction to film making.

Introduction to metal jewellery making techniques such as forging, texturing and soldering, cutting out shapes in sheet metal and twisting wire. You will explore how to create a ring to the correct finger size and how to add decoration like a stone or a kinetic element. You will create at least one wearable piece of jewellery on this course.

Come and get inky with this fun one day workshop exploring printmaking. This course will give you a basic understanding of monoprinting, relief printing and screen printing and is aimed at those who would like to explore different printmaking techniques before going on to other courses.

On this experimental course, you will draw, paint and print in often unfamiliar ways in order to catch the unexpected. Through experimentation and reflection, you will collate a personal collection of work.

Art is fundamentally about communicating ideas. If the idea is strong, the work of art is memorable.
This exciting, one day workshop, led by Rod Judkins (artist, tutor and author of ‘The art of Creative thinking’ and ‘Ideas are your only currency’) will explore methods to create ideas and concepts and combine them with the process of making. You will receive a signed copy of Art and Creative Thinking when you attend this course.