Our Artist: Richard Stergulz

Richard is an Illinois native who by the age of eight knew he wanted to be an artist. He graduated from the American Academy of Art in Chicago in 1983 which began his successful commercial art career. After 12 years of doing commercial art, Richard felt it was time to fine tune his fine art style.

Richard moved to California in 1995 and started painting for himself in a realistic style with a touch of Russian impressionism. "I admire the Russian Impressionists, especially Nickolai Fechin, for their intense brush strokes that exude passion into their paintings. I also admire Norman Rockwell for his amazing drawing ability and the volume of work he produced in his lifetime."
Lastly, Richard admires John Singer Sargent for his portrait work. “His portraits give a sense of reality but still have a painterly style which I hope to aspire to.”

Richard works in oils on masonite board. His work is mostly figurative and he has started plein air painting as much as possible. He also teaches class three times a week as well as doing demos for most of the Art Associations in San Diego and Riverside counties.

Richard's work hangs in galleries in Santa Monica, Idyllwild and Fallbrook, California and Cody, Wyoming. His paintings have won numerous awards from Best of Show to People's Choice.

Click here to visit Richard's Web Site