Portrait and figure painter in oil, pastel, charcoal and graphic media. Born in London, Bates studied at Willesden School of Art in the early 1940s under Maurice de Sausmarez, then for the later 1940s at Guildford College of Art with Maurice Wheatley. Exhibited at SGA, of which he was a council member, NS, RBA and PS. Lived at Earlswood, Redhill, Surrey.