Suzanne Royal is a landscape and portrait artist based in Summerville, Georgia.  She received her BFA from the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia where she studied fine arts, graphic design and illustration  followed by additional courses in illustration from the Portfolio Center in Atlanta.  She began her career as an Art Director for the University of Georgia's Department of Student Affairs, and was later an Art Director for Edgehill Advertising Agency.  She spent four years as a Creative Director and Designer at Crawford & Company, where she designed and produced Annual Reports and Corporate Brochures.  Since that time, she has been a freelance illustrator and designer.

After working for 20 years as a commercial artist in the Atlanta area and doing an occasional portrait for a friend or special client, Ms Royal recently decided to pursue fine art on a full time basis.  She has studied with portrait artist Tom Nash, southwestern landscape painter Albert Handell and New York painter Gregg Kreutz.  She has studied for the past 8 years with Atlanta based portrait artist Marc Chatov.  

Plein air landscape painting has become an important pastime for her in the last few years, since becoming a member of  the Plein Air Painters of Georgia.  Plein air painting allows her to combine her love of being outdoors with her love of painting.  Ms Royal works predominantly in oils because they allow her to capture the subtleties found in nature very quickly.  She finds that the beauty of the farmlands, mountains, and rivers of the Georgia landscape provides endless inspiration and subject matter for her plein air paintings.