Graham, a native Californian who was born in Santa Monica in 1962, received his Masters of Fine Arts from the University of California at Santa Barbara in June of 2002. His thesis was based on stories he had collected while doing research in the county as well as his observations of the places he had visited in the area. More than simply painting landscapes, Graham collected anecdotes and legends and sketched them, often drawing out the story and adding narrative to the objects. Eventually, for his final thesis shows at Santa Monica's Bergamont Station and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art's Ridley Tree Learning Center, Graham completed a series of large drawings, "grand illustrations" he calls them, depicting the settings and narratives he thought the most interesting.