Gabby W

I offer painting and drawing lessons for both children and adults, in person and online.

For adults working in oil paint, I start with the fundamentals — colour theory, mixing, temperature, value, composition — usually through observational painting before moving into your own projects. We’ll also look at reference paintings together, both contemporary and historical, because I think learning how to see is really half of learning to paint.

Rather than focusing on painting “realistically,” I care more about you feeling genuinely confident and comfortable with the materials in your hands. My aim is to help you understand why something is working, rather than simply telling you how to make it look a certain way.

For kids, lessons lean more towards prompts and exercises that build confidence, curiosity, and creativity, at a pace that feels playful rather than overly technical. We can explore drawing, painting, colour, observation, and different ways of making images depending on what they’re interested in.

I don’t teach from a fixed curriculum. Lessons are shaped around what you’re actually curious about and where you’re starting from, rather than following a one-size-fits-all structure. Online lessons are relaxed and personal, with plenty of space to ask questions, experiment, and work through things at your own pace. We can look closely at your paintings together on screen, talk through anything you’re finding difficult, and build exercises around what would be most useful to you.

This is a good fit whether you’ve never picked up a brush before, or you already paint and want structured feedback to push your work further. I especially enjoy working with adults returning to art after a long break — there’s often more unlearning of self-criticism than actual skill-building involved, so part of the process is simply making art feel enjoyable again.

You can see examples of my own painting practice at