Richard Blunt was born in Stourbridge, West Midlands, and found his creative calling through a path that wound through music and back to art. After studying 3D design at art college and spending years touring as a gigging musician, he relocated to Cardiff and graduated with a First Class Honours BA in Popular Music from the University of Glamorgan in 2010 — but it was oil painting, discovered during those university years, that would define his future.

Signed by Wishbone Publishing in 2018 and now working full-time from his Cardiff studio, Blunt paints on hessian using classical methods drawn from Vermeer, Caravaggio and John William Waterhouse. He is particularly fascinated by chiaroscuro — the dramatic interplay of light and shadow — which gives his intimate figurative scenes their cinematic depth. His subjects are drawn from carefully directed photoshoots, freezing moments of romance, longing and aspiration into richly atmospheric vignettes.

Hailed as the 'new Vettriano' for his narrative-driven oils, Richard Blunt's work has attracted international collectors, with original paintings fetching up to £2,244 at auction. His limited edition prints are among the most sought-after in contemporary British figurative art.