Cass Art Kensington Calligraphy Class: Sunday Brush Pens £29

For a calligraphy class in London that fits into a Sunday late morning, Cass Art Kensington runs one of the most approachable formats in the city. Mindful Calligraphy, led by lettering artist Laura Edralin, meets once a month in the workshop area of the art shop at 220 Kensington High St, London W8 7RG. Sessions last ninety minutes, focus on modern brush script rather than dip pens, and cost £37 with a starter pack or £29 if you already have your own pens and folder. It is a low-commitment way to find out whether lettering is your thing.

The big difference from most London calligraphy classes is the tool. Laura teaches students to create beautiful modern brush script using felt-tip brush pens, so there is no ink pot to knock over and no steel nib to snag on the paper. The flexible tip responds to pressure: press down for a thick stroke, lift for a hairline. That makes the class ideal for people who want lettering for journals, cards and signs at home, where a brush pen is far more practical than a pointed nib. The style is relaxed and contemporary, not historical.

According to the Cass Art event page, the starter pack contains brush pens, project materials, session worksheets and a personalised folder. That folder becomes your record of progress, because each monthly session builds on the worksheets from the last one. Returning students buy the £29 session-only ticket and are told to simply bring their brush pens and folder with them. Since the class takes place inside an art shop, it is easy to pick up extra pens or a better pad of smooth paper on the way out, though nobody is pushed to buy anything.

Dates are published for the whole year. The 2026 run started on 25 January and continues roughly once a month, with sessions listed for 20 September, 25 October and 22 November 2026. Each one runs on a Sunday from 11am to 12:30pm, which leaves the afternoon free for a museum or a walk in the park. Because the class meets monthly, it works well as a habit: book the full season if you enjoy the first one, and use the four weeks between sessions to practise the drills on your worksheets.

The minimum age is 16, so this suits teenagers who are keen on lettering as well as adults. Spaces are limited and the event page asks people to book early. Tickets are sold through Tickettailor and cannot be refunded, but the organiser asks students who are unable to attend to give 48 hours' notice. The page also notes there is no step-free access, which matters because the workshop area sits on the lower-ground floor of the shop, reached by the staircase that doubles as the store's exhibition space for local artists.

Cass Art Kensington describes itself as stocking a broad range of materials, from core student essentials through to professional supplies, and the store manager, Jurga, calls the area a place surrounded by work that is carefully made, from the Design Museum to Holland Park. In practice, the shop is a useful place to ask questions after class: staff can point you to pads, brush pens and inks if you want to move on from felt tips. The store opens Monday to Saturday from 10am to 7pm and Sunday from 11am to 6pm, so it is still trading when your session finishes.

The store's own page says its nearest Tube station is High Street Kensington, served by the Circle and District lines, and that Kensington Olympia is a ten-minute walk away. Buses run constantly along Kensington High Street in both directions. Arrive a few minutes early so you can find the stairs to the workshop space and settle in with your folder. If you are coming from central London on a Sunday, the District line from Earl's Court or the Circle line from Notting Hill Gate are the most direct options.

Cass Art notes that the store is only 50 metres from the Design Museum, and the museum's permanent Designer Maker User gallery is a good place to look at type and graphic design after an hour and a half of practising letters. Holland Park sits directly behind the museum, with the Kyoto Garden a short walk inside the park gates. Its maples, waterfall and koi pond make a quiet place to sit with your worksheets. Kensington High Street itself has plenty of cafés for lunch.

Brush lettering improves fastest with short, frequent drills rather than one long weekend effort. Keep the worksheets from each session in your folder and redo the warm-up page at the start of every practice, because the downstroke-upstroke rhythm is the foundation for every letter that follows. Write slowly; speed comes later. Store felt brush pens horizontally so the ink stays evenly spread, and replace a pen once its tip frays, since a split tip makes clean hairlines impossible. Bring your best and worst pages to the next class so Laura can see where the pressure control is slipping.

Choose Mindful Calligraphy if you want a gentle, repeatable practice rather than a technical deep dive. The ninety-minute length is short enough to fit around Sunday plans, the price is among the lowest for a guided calligraphy class in London, and brush pens are forgiving for beginners. People who want to master copperplate or broad-edge historical hands will eventually need a longer course elsewhere, but many students find that monthly brush lettering is enough to keep a creative habit going through the year.

Address: Cass Art Kensington, 220 Kensington High St, London W8 7RG. Class: Mindful Calligraphy with Laura Edralin, Sundays 11am to 12:30pm, monthly. Prices: £37 starter pack and session, £29 session only. Age: 16+. Access: no step-free access to the workshop. Refunds: none, but give 48 hours' notice if you cannot attend. Nearest Tube: High Street Kensington. Looking for a brunch spot nearby before class? Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP.