Born in Lorain, Ohio in 1909, studied art at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills Michigan. Scanes worked as a commercial artist, producing illustrations for books and magazines. Scanes was also an accomplished painter and printmaker of Regionalist-inspired works. Scanes’ work has been exhibited at the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Art Institute of Chicago. Scanes received Gold Medals for his work at the Scarab Club, Detroit, in 1950, 1951 and 1961.