Will Kemp Art School: Painting Fundamentals Without the Overwhelm
Learning to paint is intimidating. Oil smells, acrylic dries too fast, watercolour does whatever it wants, and every tutorial either assumes you already know the basics or dumbs everything down so much that you learn nothing. Will Kemp, a UK-based professional painter who launched his YouTube channel in 2012, has spent over a decade solving this problem. His channel has grown to 300,000-plus subscribers and 27 million views by doing one thing consistently well: explaining painting clearly, step by step, without padding or condescension.
Will is a professional painter who has exhibited in galleries in the UK and internationally. He teaches from his own practice, not from theory. When he explains how to mix a specific green for a landscape, he is showing you the exact decisions he makes in his own work. This grounding in professional practice is what separates his instruction from the generic painting tutorials that fill most of YouTube.
Colour Mixing: The Core Curriculum
If there is a single subject that defines Will Kemp's teaching, it is colour mixing. Most self-taught painters struggle with colour for years, unable to bridge the gap between the colours they see and the colours they can mix. Will addresses this directly with a systematic approach based on the limited palette: a small number of carefully chosen pigments that can mix a wide range of colours.
His colour mixing videos explain the logic behind palette selection, specific mixing strategies for achieving different colour temperatures and values, and the common mistakes that lead to muddy or unconvincing colour. He covers practical applications: mixing skin tones for portraits, mixing the subtle greens and earth tones of landscape, and achieving the clean, luminous colours of still life painting.
For many viewers, the colour mixing content alone justifies subscribing. It addresses a genuine skill gap that holds self-taught painters back, and Will's approach is clearer and more systematic than most paid courses on the subject.
Three Mediums, One Teacher
Will teaches oil, acrylic, and watercolour, which is unusual among painting instruction channels. Most focus on a single medium. For students who are exploring which medium suits them best, or who work in multiple mediums, having a consistent teaching voice across all three is genuinely valuable.
His website offers structured courses for each medium, including a Beginner's Water-Mixable Oil Painting Course and a Beginner's Traditional Oil Painting Course. The YouTube content covers the same techniques at a less structured level, giving you a free preview of his teaching style before deciding whether to invest in a paid course.
Still Life: The Teaching Backbone
Still life painting is the backbone of Will's curriculum because it provides a controlled environment where students can focus on fundamentals: value, colour, edge quality, and composition. Without the complexity of a moving subject or changing outdoor light, still life lets you isolate and practice specific skills.
The still life tutorials range from simple single-object studies for complete beginners to complex multi-object arrangements for intermediate and advanced students. Each tutorial explains not just the technical execution but the compositional thinking behind the setup, the lighting decisions, and the colour relationships that give the painting visual coherence.
Landscape and Plein Air
Beyond the studio, Will covers landscape painting from both reference photographs and plein air observation. The landscape content addresses the specific challenges of painting outdoors: working quickly in changing light, simplifying complex natural subjects, and capturing atmospheric effects.
His approach to landscape is as structured as his still life instruction. He explains how to identify key value relationships in a landscape, how to simplify complex foliage and sky passages, and how to use colour temperature to create depth and atmosphere. Recent content on his website also covers water-mixable oils, traditional oils, and solvent-free approaches, reflecting growing interest in healthier painting practices.
How Will Kemp Compares to Other Painting Channels
Will occupies a specific niche in the art education landscape. Proko teaches drawing fundamentals, particularly figure drawing and anatomy. Sarah Renae Clark teaches colour theory and Procreate illustration for beginners. Will teaches traditional painting with physical media: oil, acrylic, and watercolour.
For digital painting, Ctrl Paint is the standard resource. Will's content is for artists who want to work with actual paint on actual canvas. The two channels complement each other rather than competing.
The closest comparison might be James Gurney, who also shares traditional painting content. Gurney is a more accomplished painter with a higher profile, but his content is less structured and more process-focused than instructional. Will is the better choice for beginners who need step-by-step guidance. Gurney is the better choice for experienced painters looking for inspiration and advanced technique.
Who Should Watch
Beginners who want to learn painting will find Will's channel the most accessible and structured free resource available. His videos assume no prior knowledge, explain every decision, and build skills progressively.
Self-taught painters who struggle with colour mixing should watch the colour mixing series specifically. It addresses the most common frustration in painting with a clarity that most resources do not match.
Artists who work in multiple mediums benefit from having a single teacher covering oil, acrylic, and watercolour with a consistent approach and terminology.
Intermediate painters who want to strengthen specific skills, value control, edge quality, or still life composition, will find targeted content that addresses these areas directly.
Who Should Skip It
Digital artists will find nothing directly applicable here. Will teaches traditional painting with physical media. If you work exclusively in Procreate or Photoshop, look elsewhere.
Advanced painters who already have solid fundamentals may find the content too basic. Will's instruction is aimed at beginners and intermediate artists. If you are already mixing colour confidently and composing your own paintings, you will get more from watching process videos by painters like James Gurney.
Artists looking for abstract or contemporary painting instruction will not find it here. Will's teaching is rooted in classical painting techniques and observation-based practice.
Insider Tips
- Start with the colour mixing playlist on his website. The written tutorials complement the videos and include colour charts you can reference while painting.
- Will's free YouTube content covers roughly 60 percent of what his paid courses offer. Try the free videos first. If you want structured assignments and feedback, the paid courses at willkempartschool.com are worth the investment.
- His acrylic painting tutorials are the best free acrylic instruction on YouTube. If you are starting with acrylics, begin there rather than with oil or watercolour.
- The still life tutorials are designed to be followed along in real time. Set up a similar still life at home and paint along with the video for the most effective learning experience.
Final Verdict: Who Is This Actually For?
Will Kemp Art School is the most reliable and practically useful painting instruction channel for beginners available on YouTube. For anyone who wants to learn oil, acrylic, or watercolour painting and needs clear, structured guidance from a professional painter, Will's channel and his online school at willkempartschool.com provide exactly that. The colour mixing content alone is worth more than most paid painting courses. For advanced painters or digital artists, there are better channels for your specific needs. For beginners picking up a brush for the first time, this is where you start.
Start with his acrylic painting tutorials and his colour mixing guide to see why 300,000 painters trust his instruction.
