From a young age Richard has been very artistic.  Filling sketchbooks with characters from Dr. Seuss and Tin Tin, as he grew up his subject material began to grow as well. Inspired by science fiction fantasy movies and magazines like Fangoria and Heavy Metal he began making homemade costumes and futuristic weapons from anything he could get his hands on.

In the early nineties, Richard landed a job at a local carpentry shop. Unknown to him at the time, this would be the beginning of a wonderful career in the film industry. The carpentry shop as it turned out was a set construction and model making shop that catered primarily to the world of advertising. It wasn’t long before Richard began taking part in the building and set up of the sets as well as having a hand in some interesting models constructed for toy commercials.

After a few years an opportunity arose for Richard to work on set for the commercials that he had been helping build the sets for. As an assistant to one of Vancouver’s leading Props Masters, Richard learned the ins and outs of rig building, product handling as well as problem solving while under the usual pressure of a commercial shoot. Richard developed his own style as well as many contacts during the following years as a Props Master. Eventually, seeking more of a challenge he began accepting Art Directing jobs, where he was able to use his skills as an artist as well as the practical skills he had picked up on set. As an Art Director he drew upon his knowledge of set building, special effects, rigging, drawing, and model making to land large jobs with very well known directors in the commercial world.

Over the course of the last 18 years and hundreds of projects, Richard has developed strong relationships with local suppliers and is surrounded by a solid ‘A’ list crew of set decorators, buyers and props men. Whatever the project, whatever degree of difficulty, you can be sure Art Direct West is up to the challenge.