Charles E. Waltensperger began sketching at a very young age, this continued as he worked as an elevator operator for the Detroit Free Press. There he kept a sketch tablet with him, drawing his passengers. One model, William E. Quinby, publisher of the Free Press was so impressed with the boy's skill that he paid Charles' tuition at the school of the Detroit Museum of Art and asked him to become an illustrator for the paper.

Waltensperger began entering competitions at the Detroit Museum of Art School, until at the age of fourteen, he won the James E. Scripps Scholarship. This enabled him to spend two years studying in Paris at the Julien Academy with Benjamin Constant and Jean Paul Laurens. Charles returned to Detroit after his stud...