Richard Chao, also known as Tiejun Chao, was born in 1972 in China into a family with artistic atmosphere. He started drawing at age 5 and inherited his talent from his grandfather, an artist in 1930’s China. He studied at Xi’an Fine Arts College, Xi’an Fine Arts Academy, and obtained his Master of Art from Xi’an Jiaotong University.
He worked as a fine arts teacher for 9 years and as a cartoonist and graphic designer for 13 years before settling in Sydney in 2013. After moving to Australia, he began to focus on watercolor and developed a keen sense of colors. His works have won him international reputation, with “Street Drummer” winning 2nd Place in IWS Indian 2017 Biennale.
“Transparent watercolor is a material that is truly difficult to control. What is exciting for him is to apply quasi-super-realistic technique to experiment the possibility of watercolor in depicting the subject’s innermost being.”
His work “The Art of Watercolor” Issue 26 featured him on 6 full pages with his painting “Looking into the Sky” on the cover. He has been selected as finalist in many international exhibitions and won multiple awards, including Merit Award in The 8th Continental Watercolor Art Hwa-yang Award. He is active in the international watercolor arena and continues to create exquisite portraits.