Scott was painting in London by the 1720s and a marine scene by him was recorded for auction in London in 1725. Nothing is known of his training. However, it is clear that he learnt much about the portrayal of marine subjects from the 17th-century work of the van de Veldes. Indeed, the auction catalogue of his possessions at his death included four paintings by Willem van de Velde the Younger (1633–1707). Initially, Scott’s works tended to the traditional subject matter of naval battles and shipping scenes on the Thames and he appears to have had good social skills and contacts which clearly helped his career. From 1731/32, he was commissioned to paint a series of views of the East India Company’s settlements, which he produced in collaboration with the landscape painter George Lambert. The arrival of Canaletto in London in 1746 prompted Scott to extend his talents to topographical views of the Thames and its bridges. Scott was a successful painter who earned between £200 and £800 a year for his work, was a friend of Hogarth and enthusiastically supported by Horace Walpole. Sometime around 1766 he left London, retiring with gout to Bath, where he died on 21 October 1772.