A prominent landscape painter in the second half of the nineteenth century, Colles Watkins was born at 19 Essex Street, Dublin. His father was a glove maker, and the extended Watkins family included many artists. The artist studied at the Royal Dublin Society drawing schools, where he was awarded prizes for figure drawing in 1847 and 1848.

From the 1850s onwards, Watkins spent time travelling around Ireland. This is reflected in his landscape paintings, which depict the rural and mountainous Irish landscape in a Romantic style.