Richard Culling uses rich colors to bring his narrative stories into reality. Culling first paint several figures on different canvasses or pieces of wood, cut these out and reassembles them onto a master canvas or shallow wooden box. This canvas or box was then heavily repainted until it resembled layers. In his words:
'My subject matter started out being extremely personal, almost always involving family members, or memories regarding my family as subjects. Found photographs or family snapshots would be integrated with old master paintings. I try to dig back deeper into history to create my own peculiar and unusual combinations of subject matter and style taken from Christianity. It was an odd juxtaposition of models adopted from the High Renaissance and an awkward, primitive look at late Medieval and early Renaissance painting carried over to scenes of secular allegory'.

Culling received a bachelor's degree in painting from Detroit's Wayne State University and a master's degree in painting from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He has received the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Award for Painting along with several other accolades. His exhibitions have been held throughout Michigan and Illinois and his work is held in several private collections in US. Culling is currently a professor at the University of Michigan where he teaches studio courses in oil and watercolor.