Burrowing Owl Painting

Burrowing Owl Portrait • 12" x 18" • oil on lead-primed panel

Almost finished with this portrait of a Burrowing Owl on a high perch.

When I asked him if he would sit for me, at first he was just amazed that I wanted to paint him.

But he grew concerned when I asked if he would mind posing against a chipped and peeling background, his only concern was that the perch was a bit higher than he was comfortable on. They are ground dwellers, you see.

In the end, he adjusted to the demands of modeling and settled down.

I'm Richard, that guy your art teachers warned you about...

I was born and raised in Massachusetts. Went to The Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. My further art studies followed the atelier system.

None of the painting teachers at Pratt could teach me anything about how to do the paintings I envisioned. My paintings are about discovery, probably appropriate for someone who has discovered the methods I use to paint them.

I'm currently showing at Principle Gallery (Washington, DC & Charleston, SC) and Waterhouse Gallery (Santa Barbara, CA & Montecito, CA). I've been featured in many national magazines, and my work is broadly collected.

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