Richard Dana Smith.

He began as an illustrator and designer in the 1960s after graduating from Pratt Institute, where he stepped into a world of publishing, culture, and visual storytelling. His early work found its way onto book covers, magazine pages, and into institutions like The Metropolitan Opera.

Among his most recognized contributions were his illustrations for the novels of Dick Francis, drawings rendered with such care and precision that they seemed to glow from within. His early work was exhibited nationally and recognized by institutions including the Society of Illustrators.

But Richard was never interested in staying in one place for too long. He moved into art direction at CBS, working alongside Lou Dorfsman, while continuing to develop ideas of his own.

That instinct carried him into film and television, where he wrote and produced original work during a period of rapid change in the industry — from the genre-bending series No Soap Radio to psychologically driven thrillers such as Blackout and Apology, part of HBO's early wave of original films.

And yet, no matter where his career took him, Richard remained, at his core, an artist. He worked the way some people breathe — constantly, instinctively, without separation between life and creation.

In his later years, he returned more fully to visual art, expanding into sculpture with the same sense of exploration that defined his earlier work. Each piece carries a sense of narrative, a layering of memory, image, and imagination.