Charles William Wyllie was the younger brother of William Lionel Wyllie and, like his sibling his paintings often have a coastal setting. However, unlike his brother, Charles moved away from straightforward representations of the British coastline and developed an interest in painting allegorical and mythological subjects beside the sea. He favoured compositions with a crowd of young women or water-nymphs dancing or running through the foreground and the ocean in the background.

He trained at Leigh's School of Art and at the Royal Academy Schools.