Richard Villa III was born and raised in Los Angeles, California.
Although he has been painting and drawing for most of his life, he has been a devoted digital artist since 2001. He knew from the moment he sat behind a computer and opened up photoshop 6, that digital art was the future. He knew it would one day be accepted and acknowledged as being contemporary art and that the world would view it in the same way he does. Richard Villa finds inspiration from; technology, Heavy Metal, Science Fiction, horror movies, and from Life itself. It’s what fuels his soul to create, and his inspirations are common themes that can be seen throughout every piece he creates. One of his favorite digital creations is called “MASTER OF PUPPETS”, inspired from the song and album from the band, METALLICA. It was originally created for his art show exhibition called, “Obey Your Master” which opened January 2012 at Exhibit A Gallery. There was a full art show reception with the entire band, 44 artists, celebrities and fans present. The art show was featured in Juxtapoz, Alternative Press, Thrasher magazine's, and covered by multiple traditional news media outlets. This ultimately was one of his most proudest moments as an artist, gallerist and metal fan.
For the last 20 years, he has been creating digital paintings, 3D modeling / sculpting and 3D animation for personal clients, companies and bands such as; DISNEY, UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC RECORDS, LAVA RECORDS, HOLLYWOOD RECORDS, BANDMERCH, NUCLEAR BLAST RECORDS, FRONTIER RECORDS, THE MISFITS, SEBASTIAN BACH, ALVA SKATES, DREAM CIRCLE RECORDS, EDEL MUSIC AG, STANDBY RECORDS, TECH DECK, etc. Richard Villa's decade-long creative collaboration with the Universal Music’s band, Black Veil Brides, awarded him with a gold record for his artistic contribution to the band. He created; album covers, logo design, merch design, art direction, production design for music videos and a 45 minute movie where he did; all the design work, art production and including writing the original storyline / concept. The videos collectively have hundreds of millions of views on YouTube.
Since 2008, he opened his own art gallery called Exhibit A Gallery in Los Angeles, California that has represented artists like; SHEPARD FAIREY, SYLVIA JI, SHAWN BARBER, GLEN E. FRIEDMAN, SAS CHRISTIAN & GREG GOSSEL, BRIAN M. VIVEROS, GERARD WAY and many more renowned successful artists. Exhibit A Gallery has worked and partnered up with other companies including; KROQ, JUXTAPOZ MAGAZINE, THRASHER MAGAZINE, AP MAGAZINE, LA WEEKLY, TAMA, MONSTER ENERGY, FOX, LEVI’S, DR MARTENS, FUEL TV. Now in 2021, he is currently working on re-envisioning the gallery with the focus of the digital art medium and giving the opportunity to digital artists and digital art enthusiasts a place to celebrate art physically and virtually.
Artist Richard Villa III : Traditional Painter * Illustrator * Digital Artist * 3d Sculptor * Graphic Artist * Prop Maker * Art Director * Gallerist
Proficient Digitally In : Adobe Photoshop * Adobe Illustrator * Zbrush * Blender 3d * Unreal Engine * Davinci Resolve * Adobe After Effects * Adobe Premier * Final Cut Pro * Adobe Indesign * Corel Painter
Proficient Traditionally In : Oils * Acrylics * Air Brushing * Sketching * Drawing * Sculpting