Born in Santa Barbara, California, Roy Grinnell joined the Navy upon graduation of high school. He later attended Art Center School of Design in Pasadena and graduated with honors. For years he worked as a freelance illustrator in New York. Grinnell cites his
work as an illustrator as the best education and training for an artist. In 1975, Grinnell
returned to California to pursue his life long dream of painting full time.
Encouraged by artists in the Southwest, Grinnell moved to Santa Fe in 1978 and began
painting western themed works. As a youth in the Boy Scouts, Grinnell enjoyed the Native American traditions his troop studied, collecting artifacts and creating historically
accurate costumes for regional fiestas. Utilizing the visual balance between reality and imagination, he became a strong participant in the traditional western realism movement.
His canvases, while accurately depicting the historical Southwest, possess an undeniably
painterly feel. In 1988, Grinnell was invited to become a member of the prestigious
Cowboy Artists of America.
Roy Grinnell’s paintings hang in numerous private collections throughout the world.
They are also included in corporate and public collections such as the Sangre de Cristo Art Center, Pueblo, Colorado; Museum of Albuquerque, Albuquerque, New Mexico: Cheyenne Old West Museum, Cheyenne, Wyoming; the Naval Air Museum, Pensacola, Florida; and the Polish War Museum in Warsaw, Poland.