Erik M. Gist received his B.A. from SDSU in 1998. He began studying with Jeff Watts in 1996, three years later he began to teach and has done so ever since.. Erik has worked in the video game industry as a concept designer and 3-D artist and is now working as a freelance illustrator. Erik's clients include Marvel Comics, D.C. Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Disney, Audible, Wizards of the Coast, Upperdeck, Boom! Studios, Palladium Books, Blizzard Entertainment, Viking Childrens Books, Monkey Brain Books, Quart Publishing, and Chiat-Day. His work can be seen in Spectrum: the best in fantastic art including a nomination in 2018, and Aphrodesia: art of the female form 1 . Along with a Spectrum nomination, he has been nominated for an Illie Award, a Pulp Ark Award, a Chesley Award, and multiple Horror Comic Awards including one win. For more information about Erik's art please visit his website at www.erikgist.com.

Tom Babbey has studied at the Watts Atelier for over a decade, and has taught at the atelier for nearly as long. As an avid naturalist, Tom's love for wildlife led him to discover his passion for animal art and creature design at an early age. Tom currently works as a freelance illustrator and concept artist for clients such as Wizards of the Coast, Paizo Publishing, Wizkids, Cubicle 7, Fantasy Flight Games, Sony Online, and Griffin Road Games, and is the lead Art Director for Draco Studios “Dragonbond’ setting.

Meadow Gist has studied at Watts Atelier for the past six years, and has taught there for the last three. She began her art career in the corporate field painting displays and murals for a major retail chain. Her work has been exhibited as a finalist in the International Artist Magazine's Still Lifes and Florals Competition 2006 and as a "Top 50" selection at Salon International 2007. Meadow is represented by Willow Gallery in Scottsdale, AZ. You can find more information on Meadow's work at www.meadowpaint.com

Lucas has been attending the Watts Atelier since 2001. He has worked in the video game industry working in Visual Development. Some of his game credits include: SOCOM 2 and 3, God of War, Alien Hominid, and Twisted Metal: HO. Lucas now freelances as an illustrator, some of his clients include: Sony Computer Entertainment, SOE, Wizards of the Coast, Reef, Upper Deck, Blizzard, White Wolf, and Quarto Publishing. His work can be seen in “Spectrum 15: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art”, “The Art of World of Warcraft TCG” as well as “Drawing and Painting the Undead”. Lucas was also a finalist in the 2008 Cover Competition for "American Artist Drawing" magazine. For more information on Lucas’ art, visit his website: www.lucasgraciano.com His work can be seen in “Spectrum 15: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art”, “The Art of World of Warcraft TCG” as well as “Drawing and Painting the Undead”. Lucas was also a finalist in the 2008 Cover Competition for "American Artist Drawing" magazine. For more information on Lucas’ art, visit his website: www.lucasgraciano.com

Brian Knox has studied at Watts Atelier since 2012 and is currently working toward a career in illustration. After spending his first 2 years at the atelier focused on drawing fundamentals, he developed an intuitive understanding of basic shapes and the underlying forms of the human body. This makes him well suited for teaching the fundamentals of figure drawing. As a student he is currently focused on composition and painting while participating in the Watts Atelier student teacher program.

Matt Smith, not to be confused with the Plein Air painter, or the actor, began studying at at Watts Atelier in summer of 2005. Prior to Watts, he received his BFA from RIT in 2003 and briefly attended LCAD afterwards. Matt began his career creating horror and fantasy illustrations. He later moved onto creating detailed art work for high end apparel companies. Matt wrote and created the anatomy section for 3DTotal's book "Art Fundamentals: Color, Light, Composition, Anatomy, Perspective, and Depth". He has started his own pet portrait business, where he creates drawings of peoples beloved pets. His work can be seen in Spectrum 17. For more information about Matt's art, please visit his blog, http://www.mattksmith.blogspot.com/.

Jeff Watts studied at The California Art Institute where he was soon invited to teach as he began his illustration career in the movie industry. However, Jeff’s desire to become an easel painter would draw him back to San Diego where he started a small life drawing and painting studio which has evolved into Watts Atelier of the Arts now managed by Jeff and his wife, Krista. Jeff's oil paintings have won numerous awards including First Place Portrait category and Second Place Landscape category from the Artist's Magazine, two consecutive Second Place Awards at the Salon International Exhibition, three Honor Awards from the Portrait Society of America, 3 Awards of Excellence from Oil Painters of America and 3 Top 100 Awards from Arts for the Parks. Watts's work has been featured in Southwest Art , American Artist, Art of the West, Western Art Collector, American Art Collector, Drawing and Workshop magazines. He holds Master Signature member status from the Oil Painters of America and is a Signature member of the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association and an artist member of the California Art Club. Jeff participates in the prestigious Prix de West Invitational at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City and was recently honored with a Solo Exhibition at the Taos Art Museum and Fechin House. He is represented by Trailside Galleries in Scottsdale, AZ and Jacksonhole, WY and Greenhouse Gallery in San Antonio, Texas. For more information regarding Jeff’s fine art visit www.JeffreyRWatts.com.

Ben Young has studied at Watts Atelier for the past seven years. He has worked as a freelance illustrator and conceptual designer. Clients include Sony Entertainment, Reflexive Entertainment, Upper Deck and Blizzard. Ben is currently working towards a career in fine art. View more of Ben's work at www.benmyoung.com