Hudson's father apparently did not live with the family after 1822, but his mother had investments in real estate and had a steady income.

After a two-year apprenticeship to tailor Erasme Logoaster in the mid-1820s, Hudson began working with the husband and wife team of miniature painters Antoine Meucci and Nina Meucci at their studio on the corner of Royal and St. Peters Streets.

Little is known of Hudson's activities until June 1831, when he advertised in The New Orleans Bee that he had undergone a "complete course of studies" with Antoine Meucci.

In August, Hudson applied for a passport to sail to Liverpool, and by December informed readers of The Louisiana Courier that he "lately had returned from Paris."

After returning to New Orleans, Hudson opened his own studio on 120 Bienville Street in 1831, though he appears in city directories as an artist only in the years 1837–1838.