Richard Murdock
Richard Murdock studied art at Pratt Institute during the golden days of the Abstract Expressionism movement. While academically trained, he is primarily self-taught—or at least self-directed—in the realm of Contemporary American Realism. Murdock’s rational approach to making art informs his methodology and technical sensibilities. The quality of the work is always important to him, and he strives to improve with each piece. He feels that one of the benefits of a defined approach is the freedom to experiment, with results that can be carefully examined.
Murdock’s technique has been compared to that of the Little Masters, and his dramatic sense of lighting harkens back to the Italian Renaissance. Yet Murdock insists that he does not want to paint like the Old Masters who influence his work, but rather paint what he sees in his mind in the manner that defines his own art. A purist in many ways, he makes his own panels. Murdock still believes that drawing is the key to understanding the use of color and is the single most important skill most artists should focus on.
