Youngman is remembered primarily as a painter, but from before the war to the mid-1960s she was an influential figure in art education, as a teacher, an author and an impressively efficient organiser of exhibitions.

From 1929 until 1944 she divided her time between painting and teaching; she lectured for the London County Council, gave practical art classes for schoolteachers and taught part-time.

Through the SEA she initiated a remarkable series of exhibitions of contemporary art for sale to education authorities called Pictures for Schools.

In the 1950s Youngman travelled as lecturer in art education for the British Council to the West Indies, Malta and Ghana, but now devoted more time to painting.

While setting up a series of Pictures for Schools exhibitions in Wales, Youngman discovered the landscapes of the Rhondda Valley on which much of her subsequent work was based.