His father sold Turner's teenage drawings from his barber shop

At 10 years old, William was transferred to live in Brentford with his maternal uncle in 1785 because of his mother's mental instability. Turner began his artistic journey there in Brentford by painting several etched plates. He was moved to live with a different cousin in the Kent town of Margate the following year. There he went to school and started to paint the hamlet and its surroundings. William went to the schools run by John White in Brentford and Thomas Coleman in Margate.

Turner showed early artistic skill despite having no formal education, and by the time he was thirteen, his father sold Turner's teenage drawings from his barber shop for a few shillings apiece. The young Turner loved to sketch. Early in his career, Turner worked with a topographical draftsman to produce architectural drawings for various architects. As a result, many of his early paintings and drawings have architectural motifs. Turner had drawing lessons from English topographical and architectural view painter Thomas Malton in 1789. Later, Turner referred to Malton as his "true master."