Anderson apprenticed with his father for seven years in the craft of engraving heraldic symbols on metal tankards and cups. But he sought a higher art and attended the Bristol School of Art where he learned to etch. His etching won him a scholarship to the Royal College of Art where he studied under Sir Frank Short. He arrived at pure line engraving via the drypoint technique.

Anderson taught on the faculty of Goldsmiths' College and the British School in Rome. He was later elected to full membership in the Royal Academy. His line engravings are some of the best work ever created in that medium.