Tom Watson

Fine Arts Biog­raphy of Tom Watson

Tom Watson was born in St. Helena, CA and raised in Napa, CA. He studied illus­tra­tion and graphic design at the Academy of Art in San Fran­cisco, Chouinard Art Insti­tute and Art Center College in Los Angeles. In 1963 he got his start at Holt Graphic Arts Studio in Oakland, and then moved on to various free­lance illus­tra­tion and design work in San Fran­cisco. In the mid 1960s’, Tom worked full time as Art Director / Designer and Illus­trator for ‘San Fran­cisco Busi­ness Maga­zine’, published by the S.F. Chamber of Commerce. He then moved to Chicago and became a studio illus­trator and Graphic Designer for Oscar & Asso­ciates for two years. After returning to S.F., Tom accepted an offer from Scroggin, Reed Adver­tising, as an Art Director / Illus­trator. He was even­tu­ally promoted to Vice Pres­i­dent Creative Director, and after eight years and an agency buy out, he joined Artworks Studio in 1978, as Senior Illus­trator and Comp Artist. By the mid 1980s’, he began free­lancing for clients in the S.F. bay area as well as national accounts. He did comp indi­ca­tions and finished illus­tra­tions for many large and small agen­cies, and special effects concep­tual draw­ings for the movie industry. In 1999, Tom and his wife Joan moved to Sun City Lincoln Hills in south Placer County, CA, where they enjoy an active life style.

Tom has instructed private classes (part-time) in land­scape and portrait painting, as well as art classes at Cali­fornia College of Arts & Crafts in Oakland; Solano Commu­nity College (Commu­nity Services Dept.) and at the Academy of Art College in San Fran­cisco. He instructed a series of Saturday outdoor painting weekend work­shops for the Napa Commu­nity College (Up-Valley Commu­nity Educa­tion Division).

Tom is a Signa­ture Member of Oil Painters of America, orga­nized and chaired some of the first OPA Regional Shows in Northern Cali­fornia, and a past member of the National Board of Advi­sors of OPA; past member Art Center Alumni Board of Direc­tors for Northern Cali­fornia; past pres­i­dent of Valley of the Moon Art Asso­ci­a­tion, Sonoma; served on the Board of Advi­sors (commer­cial art program) for Solano Commu­nity College. He has exhib­ited and won awards throughout the bay area and has been selected to show in both regional and national fine arts exhi­bi­tions throughout the United States. His work is included in the United States Air Force perma­nent histor­ical archives collec­tion as well as private collections.