Born in Logan, Utah, Douglas Ricks and his family moved to Rexburg, Idaho when he was a child. His roots in the area hold deep historical ties, however, for the town of Rexburg was settled as a Mormon colony by his great, great grandfather.

As Ricks grew up, he was enveloped in art. His father was a renowned commercial artist who staged summer workshops along with outstanding artists such as Sergei Bongart. Despite this exposure to art at home and at the workshops, Ricks never seriously contemplated becoming an artist until he was nearly 18. "My father never pushed art on me, and I was just plain not interested…But the summer before I was 18, something happened…I got an urge to paint." After that, Ricks began to study seriou...