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.
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- Drawing from plants and flowers
Course start date: Mon 23 Jun 2025 (and 5 other dates)Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ro Sylvester, Steve WrightExplore the delicacy and beauty of plants and flowers through the medium of drawing. Respond to their structural qualities and colours, using a range of media and taking inspiration from a rich and varied history of the subject. Suitable for all levels of experience.Full fee £279.00 Senior fee £223.00 Concession £181.00 - Textiles: illustrative embroidery Course start date: Wed 25 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rosie JamesDevelop your embroidery skills in both hand and machine stitching. Create a range of samples, learn how to transfer designs to cloth, explore design ideas, experiment with fabrics and threads. - Explore your creativity Course start date: Thu 26 Jun 2025 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ro SylvesterTap 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.Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00 - Drawing: colour pastel techniques Course start date: Tue 1 Jul 2025 (and 4 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ro SylvesterExplore the versatility and rich colours of this beautiful drawing and painting medium. Through practical exercises, discover its potential to create a variety of surface effects and its suitability for sketching and outdoor colour work.Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £129.00 - 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 - Try it out: mosaics Course start date: Wed 16 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Vanessa BensonThis course is an opportunity to try doing some mosaics and get a feel for this popular craft. - Introduction to jewellery making Course start date: Mon 21 Jul 2025 (and 4 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Louise Seijen Ten HoornDiscover metal jewellery making techniques to create a piece of jewellery. You will be introduced to the basic processes of forging, texturing, soldering and cutting out shapes in metal. You will learn how to create a ring to the correct finger size.Full fee £379.00 Senior fee £303.00 Concession £246.00 - 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 - Design your own garden intensive Course start date: Mon 4 Aug 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Alison WorsterTransform your garden and explore design and plant selection techniques tailored to your space. Discover how to improve your garden with professional, practical garden design solutions and tips to maximise the potential of your site. - Illustrated stitch: a masterclass with Rosie James Course start date: Mon 4 Aug 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rosie JamesDraw from your own photographs of people and buildings then learn how to stitch those drawings on to cloth using a sewing machine. Add fabric to create a completed contemporary textile artwork. - Try it out: bookbinding Course start date: Sat 9 Aug 2025 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Kate RochesterDip your fingers into bookbinding. Learn a little about the materials and craft of bookbinding while making an attractive book to take home. A chance to discuss further study in bookbinding at City Lit.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £129.00 - Draw, paint, print Course start date: Wed 17 Sep 2025 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Mary WintourOn 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.Full fee £389.00 Senior fee £311.00 Concession £253.00 - Introduction to painting portraits Course start date: Sun 21 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Luke JonesAn opportunity to paint and draw from the life model focusing on portraiture. Basic observational skills will be explored as well as advice on how we can convey mood, character and tell a story through a portrait, inspired examples of artists portrait drawings and paintings. - Textiles: experimental hand stitch Course start date: Tue 20 May 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Amarjeet NandhraA contemporary approach to hand stitching and embroidery exploring a variety of traditional stitches and techniques.
Create experimental and expressive samples using traditional and non-traditional materials.Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £183.00 Concession £149.00 - Art and creative thinking with Rod Judkins Course start date: Sun 12 Oct 2025 (and 5 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Rod JudkinsArt 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.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £129.00
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