Roi Clarkson Colman (1884-1945), California Plein Air Painter.

Roi was born in Elgin, Illinois on January 27, 1884. Artistically inclined at an early age, Colman moved to Chicago when he was sixteen and began his art studies with L. H. Yarwood. The years 1903-11 were spent in Dallas, Texas where he painted scenes along the Gulf of Mexico and a series of the old Indian forts.

In 1911 he left for a two-year stay in Paris to further study with Jean Paul Laurens and at Académies Julian and Grand Chaumière. Returning to the United States, Roi Clarkson Colman settled in southern California in 1913 where he was active in Pasadena, La Jolla, and served as director of the Santa Ana Art Academy. About 1920 he bought beachfront property at Laguna Beach on which he built a home and studio. During 1928 Roi lived on the Monterey Peninsula and was active with the Carmel Art Ass'n. Colman died in San Diego, California on November 29, 1945.

Although he painted landscapes, Roi Clarkson Colman is best known for his coastals and marines. Roi Clarkson Colman biography courtesy Edan Hughes.