Gibson studied at the Edinburgh School of Art, Glasgow College of Art, and the Chouinard School of Art, Los Angeles. During World War II, while serving in the United States Marine Corps from 1942 to 1945, he taught relief mapping and photogrammetry. Although an active watercolor painter--the classification in which elected to Academy, Gibson may also be considered a muralist in that he is a master in the creation of the scenic paintings used by the moving picture industry in substitution for on site filming. He retired in 1969 as supervisor of the Metro Goldwin Mayer Scenic Art Department, in which position he was responsible for the backgrounds in An American in Paris, the 1952 version of The Prisoner of Zenda, and Julius Ceasar among many distinguished movies.
One-man exhibitions of Gibson's watercolor paintings have been mounted by the Chabot Galleries, Los Angeles, 1950; Laguna Beach (California) Art Association, 1951; and the Santa Barbara (California) Museum of Art, 1952. Among the honors he has received are awards from the Royal Scottish Society, 1929; City of Los Angeles, 1946, 1947, 1949; the California Watercolor Society, 1953; the San Diego (California) Fine Art Center; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and from the Academy, the National Academy of Design Gold Medal in the annual exhibition of 1959.
Gibson is a member of the Los Angeles Art Association, the American Watercolor Society, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the California Watercolor Society of which he was president, 1950-51. He resides at Los Osos, California, and is represented by the A. Huney Gallery, Santa Ana, Cal.
