Free - Art Classes - Online - Weekly

Artroomonline.co.uk logo with smiling monitor, paint palette, brushes, and pencils

A free, open, judgement-free space to make art every week. Join online, use whatever materials you have, and respond creatively — no referral needed, no skill level required.

Illustrated art supply collage

RESPONSE NOT COPY

  • Make something.
  • Anything.
  • Every week.

Every Thursday

•

7:30pm – 9pm (UK)

•

Online · Free

•

No referral needed

what is artroom.online?

art made together, felt alone

Every week a small group gathers on Zoom. Together we look at art – a Van Gogh, an outsider work, something raw and alive – and together we choose one piece to sit with.

Then each person responds. Not copies. Responds. Using whatever is to hand – a biro, watercolours, torn paper, finger paint. The starting image is just a door. What you walk through it towards is entirely yours.

artroom.online is a space for people who identify with having mental health experiences, big or small. It is not therapy. It is not a class. There is no right way to make the work and no judgement of the work that is made.

A Zoom art session in progress with participants making artwork at their desks

How it works

  • safe space. no expectations.
  • You do not need to have made art before. You do not need to show what you've made. The group is a container — what happens inside it stays inside it.
  • Members are invited to share if they wish. More experienced members often describe how their practice has grown simply by showing up each week.
  • What is of primary importance is the journey, not the destination.
  • the whatsapp group
  • Between sessions, an open WhatsApp group keeps the creative conversation going — art links, images from sessions (shared with consent), comments, ideas. Anyone can join.


a response


Everyone can look, and look harder, and find something in a masterpiece that speaks to them — even if it is only one colour, one corner, one shape, or one feeling. A response begins there.

You are invited to follow what feels natural, use what you enjoy using, and let your own imagination take over. Many members discover strengths they never knew they had once they stop trying to get it “right”.


not a copy


We are not trying to prove technical skill or reproduce what we see. Fidelity to the original is not the point. This is not a school exercise, a competition, or a test of who is “good at art”.

Perfectionism can keep people stuck in old and unhelpful beliefs. Here, all responses are welcome — the wilder the better. The important thing is to enjoy the journey, not to sweat your way to an end point.


what we believe

Inspired by outsider art – work made without training, without permission, without apology. Authentic expression over polished product.

01  ∞

individuality above all

Your hand, your mark, your style. No two responses to the same image will ever be alike – and that's the whole point.

02 ⇒

use what you have

A pen, a smudge of lipstick, the back of an envelope. Materials don't make the artist. The impulse to respond does.

03 ⬡

no judgment. ever.

Work isn't graded, critiqued, or ranked. This is a space entirely free of comparison.

Hands drawing in a sketchbook during a Zoom art session

a thursday in seven steps

01 the group gathers on zoom – 6:30 pm every Thursday.
02 we look at famous artworks together – classical, contemporary, outsider, raw.
03 the group chooses one – collectively and democratically.
04 everyone responds – using whatever materials they have.
05 chris makes work too – participant first, facilitator second.
06 work can be shared – in session or via WhatsApp, always by consent.
07 we finish at 8:00 pm – ready to carry something of the session forward.

join us this thursday

every thursday · 6:30 – 8:00 pm · on zoom · free · no referral needed

for anyone who identifies with having mental health experiences