A school for people who have not drawn since school
Northlight Art School (sample) has taught drawing and painting in Foundry Yard since 2011: small classes, patient tutors and every material on the table.
Twelve easels and good north light
The school started as one Monday drawing class in a borrowed room. Today six tutors teach about a hundred and twenty students a week in a first-floor studio with tall north windows, so the light on a still life stays the same all evening (sample).
Everything we teach starts with drawing: looking, measuring and judging tone. Painting classes build on the same habits.
How a class evening runs
Every evening class follows the same order, so you always know what comes next.
18:30
The studio opens
Find an easel, pick up paper and materials from the shelf and make a tea.
19:00
The tutor's demonstration
Fifteen minutes at the front: the week’s idea, shown on a real drawing.
19:15
Your own work
You work from the still life, the model or your photo while the tutor goes round each easel.
20:30
Look together
Drawings go on the wall for ten minutes; the tutor points out what worked. Showing yours is up to you.
20:45
Tidy and take home
Brushes washed, work in your folder, next week’s topic on the board.
Tutors
Practising painters and illustrators who also like explaining things.
Ruth Okafor
Drawing and the Foundation term (sample)
Mondays, Fridays
Tom Ellery
Watercolour (sample)
Tuesdays
Maya Lindgren
Oil painting (sample)
Wednesdays
Daniel Price
Acrylics and Saturday teens (sample)
Thursdays, Saturdays
Ana Sousa
Kids classes (sample)
Saturdays
Leo Brandt
Workshops and the taster class (sample)
Thursdays
The studio
One long room on the first floor with twelve easels, a still-life stage, a sink for brushes and racks for wet paintings.
- Daylight lamps for winter evenings
- Odourless solvent and safe disposal for oil painters
- Storage for your folder between classes
Try a free taster class first
Every Thursday at 19:00 a tutor runs a one-hour drawing class for new students. Paper, pencils and tea are on us; you only need to turn up.