Read this Wildlife Art Journal article

You already know Randal M. Dutra's work.  It's part of the communal social tradition called going to the movies.  As an animator, Dutra has worked as a creative collaborator on special effects teams that produced some of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters.  Ever heard ofthe films "Star Wars:  Return of the Jedi", "Jurassic Park II: The Lost World", the remake of "War of the Worlds", "Gremlins", "Robocop", "Willow", "The Nightmare Before Christmas", and "101 Dalmations"?  For two of those, he was nominated for an Academy Award.
    Yet for the past three decades, Dutra, who makes his home in northern California, has never abandoned his first passion: painting landscapes and animal scenes with an old school technique. Prior to making a fateful professional detour toward the big screen, Dutra spent a decade learning from masters of plein air painting and animal art—mentors such as the late Robert Lougheed of Santa Fe and Bob Kuhn of Tucson, sculptor George Carlson of Idaho, and Clarence Tillenius of Winnipeg who was one of the last old school scientific expedition painters in Canada.  Dutra has a distinctive palette and is known for his unconventional designs.  He is a regular participant at the annual Prix de West Invitational in Oklahoma City, the Western Visions Show at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole and the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum's Birds In Art show. He has been recognized by the Society of Animal Artists. He is represented by Whistle Pik Galleries in Fredericksburg, Texas,...