He studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts (1909-1916), with professors Spyros Vikatos, Dimitrios Geraniotis, Georgios Iakovidis, Stefanos Lantsas, Georgios Roilos and Pavlos Mathiopoulos, earning seven first prizes over the course of his studies. In 1917 he went to Paris, where he continued his studies at the Academies Julian and Grande Chaumiere, only to interrupt them in 1921 in order to join the Greek campaign in Asia Minor as a war artist, along with Periklis Vyzantios and Pavlos Rodokanakis. The works he created during his tour were presented in 1922 at the Zappeion, but were later lost during the destruction of Smyrna.
He spent the years 1923-1924 on Mount Athos, where he studied nature and the Byzantine art and painted a series of works, which he exhibited at the end of 1924 in Thessaloniki. Having won the 1926 contest for painting the icons in the Cathedral of Amfissa, Papaloukas worked on that project from 1927 to 1932. During the years 1932-1933, he painted an apartment building in the Exarchia district of Athens, which is known ever since as the “Blue Apartment Building”. His activity as icon painter and decorator continued with the creation of paintings for other churches and with the decoration of the Archaeological Museum in Herakleion of Crete. In addition, by 1926 he had also become active in stage design, creating the sets for performances of the National Theater, the Kotopouli Theater, etc.
He taught freehand and decorative drawing at the Artisan School since 1925, and decorative arts at the Sivitanideio school since 1936. In 1940, he was appointed decorator at the Urban Planning Service of the Ministry of Capital Administration and the Technical Services of the City of Athens. At the same time, he took over the management of the Municipal Gallery. From 1943 to 1951 he taught freehand drawing at the National Technical University of Athens School of Architecture, and in 1956 he was elected professor at the painting studio of the Athens School of Fine Arts.
During the years 1935-1937, he co-published, together with Stratis Doukas, Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas, Dimitris Pikionis and Sokratis Karantinos, the pioneering magazine “The Third Eye”. A founding member of the art group “Omada Techni” and a member of the Union of Greek Artists, he took part in their exhibitions, as well as other group shows in Greece and abroad, including the Panehellenic exhibitions. In 1976, his work was presented in a retrospective exhibition at the National Gallery and, in 1982, at the Cultural Center of the City of Athens.
He created portraits and still lifes, but the main focus of his work was landscape painting, in which he assimilated the teachings of Byzantine art as well as the post-impressionist trends, especially those of Gauguin, Les Nabis and the Pointillists. In his portraits he adopted various styles, while in his religious paintings he tried to combine traditional Byzantine types with elements from modern artistic movements.

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  The Village Geras on Lesbos
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  Βάζο με λουλούδια (σκούρα χρώματα)