Many of the great master painters for centuries have painted the human figure in its natural nude state. Richard has also chosen this subject to portray in his works.

Richard paints figure in both oil and pastel, but considers pastel his favorite medium for this subject. Richard’s figures are very tasteful and spontaneous. His paintings of the figure sometimes include very abstract backgrounds suggesting drapery and interior other times they are vignettes with very little more than the figure itself.

“During my studies with Ramon Kelley, it was hard not to be influenced by his handling of the figure and during these years we painted every Thursday from a live model. This training gave me the experience in drawing to handle the human figure. To paint the figure in a way that is beautiful and effortless one must practice painting from life. To discern skin colors, learn anatomy and experiment with design life drawing is the key.”

“Personally, I find the female form to be the more beautiful and mysterious subject so that is my primary focus when painting figure. I try to keep them spontaneous yet believable. I want my skin tones to feel right. I want my anatomy to be right. Figure is a wonderful challenge and when they turn out I have great satisfaction. If you paint a landscape you can move a tree or cloud to make a better painting but with the figure it is either right or it is wrong there is very little room for error. This satisfaction is why I will always paint figure.”

Standing Nude with White Sheet 24"x15" pastel

Holding On 12"x9" pastel

Reclining Nude 16"x 20" pastel

Looking Back 12"x9" pastel

Nude with Bow pastel

Model Resting 20"x24" pastel

White Robe 9"x12" pastel