A native of Mie Prefecture, Uda Tekison moved to Kyoto to study nihonga. His first teacher was Kikuchi Hobun (1862-1918). He then entered the Kyoto Municipal College of Painting, graduating in 1918. He continued his studies in the studio of Kikuchi Keigetsu (1879-1955), and he competed in the Ministry of Education's competitive exhibitions beginning in 1920. He became a teacher at the Kyoto Municipal High School of Arts and Crafts in 1926, then returned to his alma mater as an assistant professor in 1929. Through the years he served as a judge for both Ministry of Education sponsored and municipally sponsored competitive exhibitions, and received important honors such as election to the Japan Arts Academy in 1961, and a commission to paint fusuma for the Kyoto Imperial Palace. Tekison's subjects are generally landscapes and bird-and-flower themes that are based upon the Kyoto school's naturalistic description, combined with brilliant color and pattern qualities which derive from the Rimpa school.