Author Archives: The Essential School Of Painting

About The Essential School Of Painting

The Essential School of Painting (ESOP) is an independent art school in London, built on our belief that painting is a living discipline, progressed through sustained practice. We are a place where painters teach painters, carrying a painter from first steps, through year-long courses, to our postgraduate two-year Advanced Painting Course. For over twenty years, painters of the first rank, Academicians and artists of international standing, have taught, exhibited and spoken in our studios. We openly welcome all to join our community. That welcome is encapsulated in our motto, Animus ad Creandum, the courage to create.

The Narrative Painting Year | Thursdays  8 October 2026 – 1 July 2027

Posted on by

This course invites you to work from the people, places and everyday journeys that make up your daily life. Fee: £795 per term | Annual fee £2,175 Continue Reading →

Painting the Contemporary Figure (studio) — Mondays Oct to Dec 2026

Posted on by

Six evenings in the studio with the figure, working from the living model for four of them and from everything Continue Reading →

Painting Techniques in Oil or Acrylic (studio) — Thursdays Oct to Dec 2026

Posted on by

Six evenings on paint itself, how it is mixed, laid down, layered and left alone, worked across still life, portrait Continue Reading →