David Watson is an artist and former shipyard worker born in 1944 at Albion Street, South Bank near Middlesbrough, UK. He attended Middlesbrough College where he studied art along with fellow South Bank artists and David Mulholland. At the age of nineteen earning a living became a priority and Watson went to work at Smiths Dock shipyard on the River Tees as a "red leader" painting the hulls of ships. Watson continued with his art for decades although remained largely unknown until the Kirkleatham Museum in Redcar submitted images of his work to the BBC's "Your Painting" website (became Art UK). In 2012 they were noticed by Mark Parham who now acts as Watson's curator. In 2014 the National Football Museum in Manchester acquired Watson's "Matchday at Ayresome Park" (Middlesbrough FC).