Richard Thomas
Richard D. Thomas gets inspiration for his landscapes and background for his western paintings from the lifestyle he has lived in California, Colorado and his current home in Montana. Commissioned in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1962, serving in Vietnam in 1965, Thomas has been a professional artist since the 70’s. Thomas is nationally recognized for his images of contemporary working cowboys, western landscapes, cow ponies and Native American warriors. An outdoor painter, he immerses himself completely in his subject matter, becoming a part of what is conveyed on the canvas.
Source: Trailside Galleries
Leadville Cowboy
Artist: Richard Thomas
Description: Oil | Image Size: 10h x 14w; Framed Size: 19”h x 23”w
In this masterwork of a cowboy and his loaded pack horse riding toward distant, gleaming snow-covered mountains, it is Richard Thomas’ skill at painting the landscape that makes the scene special. He has effectively captured three very different surfaces: the muddy water in the foreground, the scrub and sage filled desert floor that occupies the middle ground and which also grounds the cowboy and horses, and finally the sun kissed mountains with their white, silvery layers. Each area has a distinct color and texture. Thomas has also very effectively divided the canvas into areas of shadow – the foreground and middle ground – and bright light, the background. The result gives the viewer a true sense of the countryside.
