While receiving his BFA at Brigham Young University, Richard Russell received the Dean’s Award for Excellence in the Visual Arts Department. He then interned in New York with internationally acclaimed artist Burt Silverman.

For a time Richard was primarily involved in freelancing for magazines and books. He concurrently worked for a well-known video game company creating concept artwork, textures, animation, and backgrounds. However, his work for the corporate world of entertainment was not fulfilling to him as an artist. Consequently, for the past four years he has concentrated exclusively on his drawing and oil painting. Richard taught advanced figure drawing and painting at Brigham Young University until 2005 when he moved to the scenic Four Corners area of the southwest.

Richard’s painterly canvases indicate his artistic versatility. From landscapes alive with movement and color to striking portraiture, his oil paintings show a combination of talent and training. His figurative work is characterized by skillful composition and the dynamics of light on the surfaces of each human form. Painting from life provides an artistic challenge and infuses his work with the vitality that comes from rapidly changing light and shifting subjects.

Richard’s work has been included in various shows across the country: the Oil Painters of America’s 2006 National Juried Exhibition, the 2005 and 2006Greenhouse Galleries Salon International, the Springville Salon 2003 and 2005, a solo exhibition at the Freedom Gallery in 2005, a two-man show for the Utah County Art Board in 2005, and the Rising Stars Exhibition 2005 in Santa Fe. He is presently represented by the Freedom Gallery in Provo, Utah, and by Joe Wade Fine Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

This year Richard was awarded the President’s Award of Excellence in the Oil Painters of America’s 15th National Juried Exhibition of Oils.