View Walter's website For more than twenty years, Walter Porter worked as a successful commercial illustrator, painting for a list of clients that included America West Airlines, Arizona Highways Magazine, AT&T, IBM, Park Hyatt Hotels, U.S. West Communications and the U.S. State Department. Then, after two decades of painting exclusively in watercolor, Walter decided to learn the art of oil painting. Working on still lifes in the controlled environment of his studio, he began to adapt to this "new" medium. In September of 2004, he picked up a paint box and brushes,and hiked into the mountains surrounding Tucson to paint landscapes. Since then, Walter has been painting primarily en plein air.  To escape the intense heat of southern Arizona, Walter spends part of the summer working on larger pieces in the studio as well as doing portraits, figurative and western  pieces. Walter Porter was born in 1952 in Chicago, Illinois. He attended Ripon College, The Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Arizona and currently lives with his wife and three children in the Tucson Mountains just outside of Tucson, Arizona.