ROY M. MASON, N.A. (1886-1972)

MEMBER: National Academy of Design, American Watercolor Society, Philadelphia Water Color Club.

Roy Mason grew up on the East Coast and received basic art instruction from his father. While he was developing his watercolor painting style, his close friend Chauncey Ryder provided professional criticism, but for the most part, Mason was a self taught artist.

By 1916, Mason was settled in Batvia, New York and producing watercolors for exhibition and sale. Most of the time he would paint small watercolor sketches while out on location, making notes if there were people or animals included in the work. From those sketches he would work up larger watercolors in his studio. Although he is best known for his depiction of fishing and hunting scenes, Roy Mason has also done a number of works with landscape and coastal subjects.

At times during his career, Mason produced commercial illustrations for magazines including Collier's, True and Reader's Digest. His studio was in New York for most of his career, but he began spending time in California starting in the 1930s. Gradually, he stayed longer each year until most of the last twenty years of his life were spent on the West Coast.

Roy Mason biographical information: Watercolor Methods, Interview with Eileen Whitaker, 1995.