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Born in 1962, Richard Gallego grew up in Los Angeles. Though raised in the city, he knew from the time of his first camping trip that it was the open spaces of the mountains and deserts that would continue to lure him back again and again. Eventually Richard landed a part time job reconditioning sculptures in his spare time. Exposure to these artworks sparked in him an interest in drawing, then painting. It wasn't long before what started as a creative diversion grew into a passion.

Richard attended ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena in 1998 and in 2001, after receiving a portable sketch box easel as a gift, ventured out into the hills of Malibu to paint on location for the first time. He was hooked. The challenge of capturing the fleeting light, the changing colors, and the mood of a place first hand, while standing in the middle of it was captivating. He remembers laughing out loud and thinking, “What could be better than this?". Since then, ninety percent of Richard's painting has been done "en plein aire".

He has studied with Mark Strickland at ArtCenter in Pasadena, CA, as well as with respected landscape painter and California Art Club signature member Karl Dempwolf. In 2006, with a group from The Taos Art School and instructor George Strickland, Richard spent a week painting at Canyon deChelly. In addition to continuous study of the genre, Richard conducts weekly plein air painting workshops in and around California’s Antelope Valley and has provided artist demonstrations for the Antelope Valley Allied Arts and the Lakes and Valleys Art Guild.

He lists Matt Smith, Scott Christensen, Paul Rafferty, Donald Hildreth, and Clyde Aspevig as some of the painters who have influenced him artistically. Richard lives in Palmdale, CA with his wife Ludelle and children, Carly and Chayton.