Fridays | 9 October 2026 – 2 July 2027
Artist-Tutors: Guy Allott and Joana Galego
Day and Time: Fridays, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Location: In Studio — Essential School of Painting, Wood Green, London N22 6TZ
Fee: £795 per term | Annual fee £2,175
Please note: course fees will increase with effect from 5 July 2026.
About This Course
The Painting Year I is the foundational programme at the Essential School of Painting — a full year of practical, studio-based enquiry into the materials, methods and ideas that underpin the practice of painting. Its subtitle is its curriculum.
Over three terms of ten weeks, students work systematically through the physical and intellectual skills of painting: surfaces and supports, paint types and mediums, colour and tone, light and composition, drawing as a generative tool — and, in the final term, the development of a sustained personal project leading to an end-of-year exhibition. By the end of the year, students will possess not just a set of techniques, but a genuine understanding of why those techniques exist, and the confidence to make informed decisions in front of a canvas.
The course is taught in small groups of no more than 12 by two practising artists, ensuring that every student receives sustained personal attention throughout the year. Practical studio sessions are combined with group discussion, peer critique and individual tutor input. The pace is thorough and the environment is supportive: rigorous and encouraging.
Who This Course Is For
The Painting Year I is designed for painters at a range of starting points:
- Those with some painting experience who want a thorough grounding in materials and methods
- Intermediate painters who have reached a plateau and need a clearer technical and conceptual framework to move forward
- Fine Art graduates who want to revisit and strengthen their foundational knowledge
- Self-taught painters who feel they have developed habits rather than genuine understanding
- Anyone drawn seriously to painting who wants to approach it with rigour and intention from the outset
There is no requirement to have attended art school. There is a requirement to be genuinely curious about paint — what it is, what it can do, and what you want to do with it. If you are unsure whether this course is right for you, please use the contact form at the bottom of this page.
What You Will Cover
The following are guidelines
The three terms follow a clear developmental arc:
- Autumn Term — Surfaces and supports (canvas, linen, rigid panels and aluminium), oil and acrylic paint, mediums and additives, mark-making, and the first principles of colour mixing
- Spring Term — Colour, tone and temperature; composition and negative space; light and shadow; watercolour; drawing into painting; working at scale
- Summer Term — Mixed media and layering; painting from life and imagination; working in series; developing your conceptual intent; professional practice; and the end-of-year exhibition
Visiting Artist Programme.
| Two visiting contemporary painters join the course across the year. In the Spring Term, an invited painter discusses their practice with particular focus on their material choices; the surfaces they work on, the mediums they use, and the reasoning behind those decisions. This connects directly to the material enquiry at the heart of the Painting Year I. In the Summer Term, a second visiting artist speaks during the personal project phase of the year, offering students an insight into how a practising painter develops and sustains a body of work. Both visits are followed by group Q&A and discussion. |
Gallery Visits and Independent Research
Looking at painting — in galleries, museums, and artists’ studios — is as much a part of this course as making it. Throughout the year, tutors provide curated lists of recommended exhibitions and readings, issued at the start of each term and updated in response to what is currently showing in London.
Students are encouraged to visit galleries independently throughout the year and to bring what they see back into the studio conversation. At the end of each term, tutors set specific research tasks for the break — an observational drawing exercise, a gallery visit, a reading — which feed into the following term’s work.
Art Materials
All art materials are provided as part of the course fee, with the exception of canvases, which can be purchased directly from the school studio.Over the course of the year, students are also encouraged to begin building their own studio palette. We will provide a list of recommended materials to source and acquire — a practical introduction to understanding and purchasing your own paints, brushes and mediums. This is one of the ways the Painting Year I equips students not just for the course but for a practice that continues beyond it.
Academic Year Dates at a Glance
| Term | Start Date | Half Term | End Date | Wks |
| Autumn Term 2026 | Fri 9 October 2026 | 30 October | Fri 18 December | 10 |
| Spring Term 2027 | Fri 15 January 2027 | 19 February | Fri 26 March | 10 |
| Summer Term 2027 | Fri 23 April 2027 | 4 June | Fri 2 July | 10 |
| End-of-Year Exhibition | Private View: evening TBC | |||
Total course Fridays: 30 including Exhibition Friday 2 July 2027
About the Artist-Tutors
Guy Allott
Guy Allott
A graduate of Central Saint Martins (1999) and the Royal College of Art (2002), Guy Allott is a London-based painter whose wide-ranging practice encompasses painting, printmaking, sculpture and woodcuts. His work explores the intersections of landscape, science and cultural philosophy.
Joana Galego
Joana Galego
Joana Galego studied Painting at the University of Lisbon and brings to her teaching a practice rooted in the European painting tradition alongside a commitment to contemporary image-making. She lives and works in London.
The ESOP Pathway
The Painting Year I is the first step in ESOP’s structured teaching programme. Students who complete it are fully prepared to progress to The Painting Year II, where the foundational knowledge built here becomes the platform for developing a sustained personal practice.
