Watkins taught art at Ravenscroft School from 1959 to 1964 and later studied lithography at Hornsey College of Art. In 1960 Watkins started to make abstract, waste wood assemblages.[4] He collaborated with Jeff Nuttall, the author of Bomb Culture.[2] A book by Nuttall called Mr Watkins got drunk and had to be carried home was named after him.[5]