Whether hammocking in Brazil, exploring in Hong Kong, dodging taxis in Russia, painting in Greenland, studying art in Europe, playing soccer in Haiti, reasoning with elders in Jamaica, or raising kids in the Pacific Northwest, Jesse connects with people.

He loves both the differences and the similarities that are so colorfully displayed across our diverse world. Jesse's passion and appreciation of people is voiced through his brush and on his canvas. His illustrations have been featured in magazines, art publications, CD covers, children's books, and even on Oprah. (ha! No, really.)

Jesse is the illustrator of many books, including Soccer Fence, written by Phil Bildner, the NY Times Bestselling Hank Zipzer series by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver, I And I - Bob Marley, written by Tony Medina, the award winning, ALA Notable Chess Rumble as well as Ghetto Cowboy, both by G. Neri, the Ziggy and the Black Dinosaurs series by Sharon Draper and These Things I Wish by Lee Pitts. Ghetto Cowboy has been made into one of Netflix' top ten movies of 2021, titled Concrete Cowboy. The sequel, Polo Cowboy, is now on the shelves.

Jesse was fortunate enough to have gone to Haiti after the earthquake in conjunction with the book he wrote and illustrated in efforts to bring awareness and support to the Haitian people, called HOPE FOR HAITI, published by G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Jesse's artwork has been displayed in galleries, cafes, nightclubs, libraries, a museum, and on his parents' refrigerator. He was awarded Grand Prize in 2005 and finalist in 2006 at the international Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators New York Showcase, juried by art directors from major publishing houses. He has also shown at the Society of Illustrators Gallery in New York, in which two pieces won Honorable Mention during juried contests.


Jesse lives with his wife and sons in Washington. In addition to writing and illustrating books, exhibiting fine art and teaching art to kids, Jesse plays music occasionally, soccer religiously, and surfs the chilly NW waters as often as he can, which, as you probably guessed...is not nearly enough.

To view more of his art and buy prints, cards and original artwork, visit Jesse's website: www.jessewatson.com

Gianluca Neri (Milan, 23 June 1971) is an Italian television author, writer, radio host, and blogger. He has collaborated with the satirical weekly “human resistance” publication Cuore and, together with the illustrator Roberto Grassilli went on to found and manage the Clarence web portal, which was subsequently sold to Spray and then passed on to Lycos and Dada. He collaborates with several magazines and directs Macchianera, a multi-author blog. He was a screenwriter for Magnolia’s series Camera Cafè. For the same company, he has led a creative laboratory for the creation of new formats. In May 2005, he appeared in the news for being the blogger who, with the simple copy and paste of a PDF, revealed the “omissis” in the official document issued by the United States following the investigation of the murder of the Italian agent Nicola Calipari. For Rizzoli, he published the novel “The Great Phone Directory of the Earth and Neighboring Planets (Jupiter not included)”. He has developed and presented several programs for Rai Radio2.