Beginners courses in art & design
City Lit is the perfect place to try your hand at art & design in a fun and welcoming environment with courses taught by practicing artists.
Whether you want to explore fine art, contemporary crafts or digital art, we have the course for you. Our range of introductory art courses are open to everyone.
Located in the heart of central London, our dedicated studios for jewellery, ceramics, drawing, painting, printmaking, digital arts and photography will provide all the facilities you need to start your next creative adventure.
- Photography for beginners
Course start date: Sun 25 May 2025 (and 16 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 - Introduction to watercolour painting Course start date: Sat 20 Sep 2025 (and 12 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Lindsay PickettGain 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 £299.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £194.00 - Japanese woodcut printmaking Course start date: Sun 1 Jun 2025 (and 6 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Carol Justin WilhideAn 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.Full fee £319.00 Senior fee £255.00 Concession £207.00 - Picture framing and mounting for beginners Course start date: Sun 21 Sep 2025 (and 8 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Esther HeyhoeLearn 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.Full fee £359.00 Senior fee £287.00 Concession £233.00 - Printmaking weekend: Collagraph techniques Course start date: Sat 7 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rosey PrinceMake and print a collagraph exploiting texture and colour using readily available and simple materials with a low environmental impact. The handmade matrix is deceptively simple to construct, the printed results often richer and more detailed than expected when run through the press. All welcome.Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £169.00 Concession £169.00 - Textiles: constructing pattern, colouring cloth Course start date: Sun 8 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Dawn DupreeExperiment with a range of heat transfer processes and hand painting methods. Develop initial ideas through mark-making and collage. Create fabrics or art works using a personal colour palette and embellish surface through foil print and simple stitch marks. - Introduction to collage and mixed media Course start date: Sun 8 Jun 2025 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Sam HannerCollage is an exciting, accessible and creative medium. Experiment with a rich variety of materials and found images to make vibrant work experimenting with surface, form, colour and pattern, inspired by artists who make effective use of this way of working.Full fee £279.00 Senior fee £223.00 Concession £181.00 - Jewellery: understanding rubies, sapphires and emeralds Course start date: Sun 5 Oct 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Judith Crowe, Derek JhinnooJoin this fascinating one day course for a valuable insight into the trade of rubies, sapphires and emeralds, different types of these precious stones on the market, and how to assess them. Learn about how the beautiful stones are mined, cut, graded and priced, as well as exploring common simulants. No previous experience necessary.
Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £129.00 - Cyanotype printmaking in a day Course start date: Sun 7 Dec 2025 (and 8 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Adam HogarthCyanotype is a photographic printing process which produces a beautiful deep blue print from a variety of artwork, including drawings, photographs, physical objects or combinations of all of these. All levels welcome.Full fee £139.00 Senior fee £139.00 Concession £139.00 - Try it out: calligraphy Course start date: Sat 12 Jul 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ivo GrantinsFancy having a go at this beautiful art form? This short weekend course will introduce you to the fundamental principles of lettering and calligraphy. Focussing on broad edged script, you will use different pens and nibs, and leave having completed your own sample.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £179.00 - Create a short film in a weekend Course start date: Sat 12 Jul 2025 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Lyndon IvesLearn how to script, storyboard, shoot, edit and export a short film in this fun and fast paced introduction to film making.Full fee £189.00 Senior fee £189.00 Concession £189.00 - Printmaking weekend: handmade prints Course start date: Sat 19 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rosey PrinceLearn some exciting, low tech printmaking techniques to equip you with skills so you can easily make prints at home without the use of specialist equipment. - Try it out: jewellery making weekend Course start date: Sat 19 Jul 2025 (and 2 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rae DuncanAimed at beginners or those wanting a refresher. Join this action packed weekend to make a pendant and silver ring. Implementing fundamental jewellery making techniques, you will gain the basic skills you need to make simple jewellery in metal.Full fee £169.00 Senior fee £169.00 Concession £169.00 - Explore printmaking Course start date: Wed 30 Jul 2025 (and 5 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Esther HeyhoeCome 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.Full fee £79.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £79.00 - Introduction to sculpture Course start date: Sun 28 Sep 2025 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Belinda Edwards, David Field, Andrew Revell, Ro SylvesterThe ultimate introduction to sculpture at City Lit. In each class of this five-day hands-on course you will be introduced to a different sculptural technique and material, by a tutor who is a specialist in that area. This will provide you with a showcase of our sculpture facilities and teaching talent at City Lit. This course is perfect for beginners who want to try out a range of sculptural processes, perhaps to find your area of interest for further study.Full fee £409.00 Senior fee £327.00 Concession £266.00
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