About Richard

Richard Toberen is part self-taught, part art-schooled — a combination that has defined his unique approach to documenting the world around him.

Born in Ashland, Ohio in 1953, Richard developed his artistic eye long before formal training. He moved to Lawrence, Kansas for a time before making his way west to California.

Richard first came to Isla Vista in May 1979 and immediately felt at home. Right away he got a job as a cook at Carrillo Commons, and after a month of camping at the lagoon, moved into a one-bedroom apartment on Picasso Street — where he still lives today.

In 1988, he graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a B.F.A. in Illustration. But even before that, and certainly after, the sketchbook remained his primary medium.

The Sketchbook Method

Rather than setting up easels and trying to paint en plein air, Richard made a simple but profound choice: limit himself to sketchbooks. This decision has shaped everything.

"Sketchbooks have a way of improving drawing," he says. The immediacy and portability of a sketchbook allowed him to capture Isla Vista's daily rhythm — the people, places, and moments that make this community unique.

For over 45 years, Richard has filled sketchbook after sketchbook. Each page is a small act of documentation — not posed, not staged, just honest observation of life as it happens.

Today

Richard continues to sketch daily from his home in Isla Vista. His work spans hundreds of sketchbooks and countless scenes — street corners, courtyards, architectural studies, botanical observations, and the everyday characters that populate this beachside community.

Now, he's offering custom commissions: original sketches on 12×16" sturdy watercolor paper, bringing his distinctive observational style to whatever you'd like him to capture.