Carlos Anderson studied at the Los Angeles Art Institute, the Art Students League (1930 to 1932) and the Grand Chaumiere in Paris. He specialized in lithography and was an artist in the graphic arts division of the New York City WPA. His work was exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1936 and at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1938. In 1934 he received a government commission for a series of drawings of the Old West.