Gene Franks left Arkansas and went to California when he was 17, searching for an art education. He was sidetracked by two wars and the U.S. Air Force, but the good thing that came of all that was something a lot of Americans benefited from in the 1950's. The U.S. Government paid for his education. For two years Gene was trained in classical realism in Santa Monica , California – at the Jefferson Mackhammer School of Art.

Gene Franks has painted many subjects: California landscapes, Southwest Native Americans, animals, still life and portraits – in many mediums: pencil, oil, acrylic and watercolor. He sold his paintings in prestigious galleries in Carmel and Laguna Beach , California ; Phoenix and Houston .

In the 1980's, after teaching art to adults for 7 years, Gene and his wife, Jane Franks, spent 8 years producing 8 pencil drawing instruction books. The books are published by Walter Foster Publishing, Inc. and have been translated into many languages. They have sold over 2 million copies.

Gene Franks returned to Arkansas , his home state, in 1991, and decided to specialize in his water based mediums of gouache opaque water based paint) and watercolor.

Since 1991, he has painted in these mediums and he has produced over 150 paintings depicting Arkansas rural life.