Richard Sneary: Watercolor Master

Precision. Design. Mastery of light and color. These are the qualities you notice right away in the watercolors of Richard Russell Sneary.

Richard Sneary was born in Baltimore, raised in Kansas City, and educated at the University of Kansas. Sneary has been drawing since the age of 5 when a piece he executed in kindergarten was published in the local paper.

Richard Sneary, Carrie Furnaces #5, watercolor, 20 x 12 in.

That same year, Sneary’s aunt gave him a book, How to Draw Dogs by Walter Foster (although very worn and tattered he still has the book) as a Christmas gift. It was those two events that started his successful art journey and encouragement kept him drawing and painting through high school and college.

Sneary attended the University of Kansas. He started by majoring in architecture, and he worked for various architectural firms in Kansas City during the summers. As part of the curriculum for a degree in Architecture, students were required to take drawing, painting, and sculpture courses. Sneary was fortunate to have gifted artist — Professor James Sterritt – as one of his instructors, whose influence still guides him today.

Richard Sneary, Scarlet Catch, watercolor, 7 x 10 in.

Sterritt’s classes were an oasis of creativity to all studying architecture at KU in those years. As Sneary states, “We could step away from architecture and explore art and Jim made it fun.”

Sneary started his career as a painter in 2011 after 40 years working as an architect, architectural illustrator, and educator. During the early part of his artistic career, Sneary worked primarily en plein air. Sneary prefers painting subjects that reflect mankind’s presence in our environment…buildings, bridges, industrial structures, fences, telephone poles, people…and the natural landscape.