Jose Vistan,a filipino realist,started out as a comics illustrator in the '80s.From there,he started doing covers for pocket books. By 1995 he was painting full time,recognized and earned award of merits for his excellence in many prestigious exhibitions and competitions in the country sponsored by Gallery Genesis, Heritage Art Center,UP-PGH and many others.Some of his works were twice featured in philArt,a magazine on Philippine art,published both locally and internationally.His excellence in the exacting and challenging medium of watercolor,his favorite among his mediums of oil and acrylic, catches the eyes of museum curators and featured his artworks in a series of exhibitions in San Beda Alabang Museum and Museo Walo.
Vistan paints in an illustrative-graphic style,the paint thinly applied, displaying his works in an uncanny ability to capture life in its simplicity on his favorite subject: children at play