GORDON Wyllie's talent for painting went hand in hand with his never-ending urge to commit to canvas every day.

Born in Greenock in 1930, the youngest of three children to James, a railway clerk, and Sarah, a milliner, Gordon Hope Wyllie rooted and f lourished there. He was educated at the Highlanders' Academy where he became dux, then Greenock High School. The high school was a rival of the academy in Greenock and Gordon, in the jocular banter for which he was famous, said that the former school was "for an education", the latter "for an accent". In future years, any offence which might have emanated was assuredly disregarded, as he was appointed principal teacher of guidance and also of art and design at Greenock Academy.

His teenage years were uncomfortable in the dangerous days of the Clydeside blitzkriegs, when the family home was damaged by bombs twice.

Schooling was also unsafe. As a youngster, Gordon's artistic abilities had been recognised and, as part of the war effort, he designed bookmarks. On April 30, 1940, while working on one of these projects and seated on a school window ledge, he was blown to the f loor by a huge explosion caused by a torpedo maintenance accident aboard the French destroyer Maille Breze, anchored off Princes Pier. Gordon was only slightly injured but many fatalities occurred.

He was declared medically unfit for national service on account of his eyesight and became a mental health officer with the newly formed Welfare Department in Greenock, involved in looking after the homeless, mentally ill and underprivileged. These experiences lived with him and underpinned his view that life was short and precious.

He was accepted in 1949 to study at the Glasgow School of Art. Under the tutelage of such luminaries as Edward Odling and Mary and Willie Armour, Gordon distinguished himself, graduating in 1953 after an eminent final year. He was awarded the post-diploma, or Masters course, won the Scottish Academy Award and also the Newbery Medal, the school's most prestigious prize.

This was all the more remarkable considering that Gordon had, in his diploma year, returned home to care for his father, whose seriously deteriorating health ended in death two months before the degree show, and Gordon himself had suffered a bout of pneumonia.

With a scholarship award, he studied that summer at Hospitalfield College of Art in Arbroath, as a post-graduate under Ian Fleming. Fleming inspired Gordon and encouraged him in abstraction, with which he occupied himself for the next few years. Meanwhile, he trained at Jordanhill College of Education in Glasgow to become a teacher, in the vanguard of the resurgence of art teaching in Scottish schools by the new art masters, undoubtedly because they painted actively while teaching full-time. His initial appointment was to Finnart Junior Secondary for Girls, then moving to Paisley Grammar School, then St Columba's and Kilmacolm in 1969, as principal teacher in art and design, and finally to Greenock Academy in 1974. In 1980, he was appointed principal examiner in art and design for the Scottish Examination Board and held the post until 1994.

Passionate about art education, he was instrumental in inf luencing many students to pursue a career in the creative industry. A former pupil aptly described his classroom as a "guided exploration rather than a formal lesson".

In 1967, he was elected a member of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour, although he worked in many paint media.

His love of the Scottish countryside is mirrored in his work and undoubtedly stemmed from the bank of images he built when, as a youngster, he travelled with his parents around the country. When health allowed, and to escape bed and find fresh air, he explored the nation's natural beauties, as a keen cyclist, hillwalker and climber. Argyll and the Western Isles were his favourite destinations, where he was fascinated by the crofts and farms sprouting from the land. Small houses typified his landscapes and still-lifes included abstracted landscapes; flowers, particularly poppies, fruit and fish feature in his later output. In 1996, he was awarded the Alexander Graham Munro prize at the RSW exhibition in Edinburgh.

His work featured regularly in one-man and combined shows and at his last one-man show in London in 2003, demand for his paintings remained high. Indeed, a renowned British film director and collector of "Wyllie art" was noticed attempting to gain access to the private viewing to ensure a purchase.

In his last year, because of his worsening health, Gordon moved his easels from the cramped, untidy and cold "dunny" in the house basement to the front living room, to continue work.

A bit of a practical joker, with an artist's eye for female beauty, he introduced himself to Helen Anderson, a primary teacher at Paisley Grammar, as the "art inspector". After the initial shock, Helen recovered when she discovered the visit was not an official assessment.

Courtship followed and they married in 1970, having two sons, Kenneth, a physicist at CERN in Geneva, and Roderick, a graduate of the Glasgow School of Art, with a graphic design business in Glasgow.

Gordon Wyllie, DA, RSW, artist and teacher; born February 12, 1930, died May 25, 2005.