Aldren Auld Watson

Aldren A. Watson was born in 1917 and grew up in Brooklyn, New York, the son of two pioneer color block print makers. His mother, Eva Auld Watson, was also a mural painter and bookbinder. His father, Ernest W. Watson, taught design and composition at Pratt Institute for 19 years, and with Raymond P. Ensign, opened one of the first summer art schools—the Berkshire Summer School of Art in Monterey, Massachusetts. Ernest was founder and editor of American Artist magazine, and, with Arthur L. Guptill, co-founder of Watson-Guptill Publications. In addition to the extensive training provided by his parents, Aldren Watson studied at the Art Students League of New York under painters Robert Brackman and Charles S. Chapman, caricaturist William Auerbach-Levy, anatomist George Bridgman, and illustrator William McNulty. As a painter, some of his commissions included a mural for the liner S. S. President Hayes, five mural panels for the offices of publisher Thomas Y. Crowell, and a set of maps for Time Magazine’s Atlas of the War. Watson is best-known for his distinguished career as book illustrator, with a total output of over 175 books for children and adults (see Bibliography). He is the author-illustrator of Hand Bookbinding: A Manual of Instruction; The Blacksmith: Ironworker and Farrier; Hand Tools: Their Ways and Workings; Furniture Making Plain and Simple (with Theodora A. Poulos); Katie’s Chickens; and A Maple Tree Begins. His illustrations have appeared in many magazines including Country Journal, WoodenBoat, American Artist, Vermont Life, The Boatman, and Fine Woodworking.