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Koalas	Jake Lee 1915 - 1991	Tugboat
Tug with figure	Shack	Cat

Born a Californian, Jake Lee began painting the fishing docks and boats of his native Monterey. He studied art at San Jose State College, and then worked as a commercial artist for a San Francisco newspaper. He was a good friend of Deng Kingman, a fellow artist, and together they painted on location throughout San Francisco. Jake credits Deng as being an influential instructor and an artistic inspiration for him.

By 1944 when he was 29 years old, he was living in Los Angeles and exhibiting with the CWS (California Watercolor Society.) He worked as an illustrator for children’s books, designed product advertisements, and as a commercial illustrator designing magazine covers. Even with the time demands of his commercial art, he managed to find time to teach art at the Brandes Art Institute and to paint and exhibit his watercolors.

Sources: “California Watercolors 1850-1970” By Gordon T. McClelland and Jay T. Last; Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940".