Meet the Correspondent: Richard Sheppard > Sonoma County Wine Country

“In the 1980s, I earned a B.A. in Studio Art at Arizona State University. After relocating to San Francisco, I studied illustration at the Academy of Art University, under Barbara Bradley, Barron Storey, and Howard Brodie. At the Academy, sketchbooks were required and it was there that I began plein air sketching. Sketching in public was always a challenge, until 2009, when on an extended sketching trip to Greece, I got beyond my fears. Today, sketching provides relief from the screen driven world, allowing me to brush off the restlessness of the day and absorb the stillness of the landscape.

Currently I live in Cloverdale, California with my wife, Marilyn, and our Australian Shepherd dog, Dharma. Cloverdale is located on the north end of the Sonoma County Wine Country. With a population of 8,400, it’s an eclectic community founded on agriculture and livestock that now thrives on vineyards, art galleries, and restaurants. From Cloverdale, it’s easy to make a day trip to San Francisco, where the urban landscape complements my day-to-day rural environment. Both places provide endless sketching opportunities.

Professionally, I create illustrations for books, magazines, theater posters, and package designs. I’m also a freelance contributor (writer and sketch artist) for the Press Democrat Newspaper based in Sonoma County, California. I have written two books about sketching: The Artist on the Road: Impressions of Greece, and my most recent, Impressions of Wine Country. Both are available on Amazon.”

• See more of Richard’s work on his blog and Flickr.