Joseph Oddo is a painter and educator associated with the Bay Area's figurative painting tradition. He studied at the San Francisco Art Institute during the 1960s with James Weeks, whose emphasis on observation and expressive painting influenced his artistic development. Working primarily in oil, Oddo became known for representational paintings of harbors, boats, waterfronts and urban streets. His compositions reflect a sustained interest in drawing, color and the relationship between recognizable subjects and the painterly process. Describing himself as a traditionalist, Oddo approaches painting as an intuitive exploration in which the relationships among subject, color and form emerge through sustained observation and experimentation. taught at the University of California, Davis, as a visiting lecturer from 1967 to 1968.