Dick Graves was born in the Red River Valley in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and was raised along the Glacial Ridge in Western Minnesota. He spent his younger adult life living and working in the Minnesota River Valley of Southern Minnesota, and lives today in Roseville, Minnesota, a suburb north of St. Paul.

Dick has a passion for international and domestic travel, having spent considerable time traveling in Central and South America and as well as throughout the U.S., Africa, Europe, and British Isles.

His topics for paintings are varied, but are primarily landscapes, seascapes, and those of architectural elements. His university degree is in architecture, which accounts for both his knowledge of and affinity for it in his painting topics. 

Most often, about 90 % of a painting is completed in the initial sitting, with details added after a time of reflection.  Dick states that two to three hours is sufficient time for him to complete a watercolor, and in addition to being afraid of overworking a piece, he starts to tire of the subject matter after that length of time. "So many things to paint and so little time" is a philosophy that pushes him to get done with the present subject matter and move onto the next. While there are some exceptions where more time and the process of glazing may be used because of the subject matter, his quick, no nonsense technique make his paintings fresh and bold. Many of his students accuse him of working for paint companies, as his method is to use “tons” of pigment in hopes of getting maximum brilliance with a minimum number of strokes.

Being a devout Lutheran, he had already learned to sin boldly. However, world-renowned watercolorist Tony Couch, the instructor of his first watercolor workshop, admonished him to paint boldly as well. “It’s more important to make the stroke bold than it is to make it right”, Tony would say. First hearing Tony state this turned out to be a real freeing moment for Dick, and boldness now takes precedence in his work. Throughout the years, Dick has become pretty good at getting the strokes right as well.