Troy Dalton (1952–2010) was a Northern California painter and educator known for large-scale figurative paintings that combine psychological intensity with biblical, mythological and personal narratives. Born in Sweetwater, Texas, Dalton was raised by his grandparents on a cattle ranch near Billings, Montana. He earned a B.A. from Eastern Montana College (now Montana State University Billings) in 1979 and an M.A. in art from the University of Wyoming in 1981. Dalton moved to Sacramento in 1989 to pursue an M.F.A. at the University of California, Davis. His early work included landscape and abstraction, but he became best known for expressive paintings of the human figure. Dalton taught figure drawing and painting at UC Davis, California State University, Chico, American River College, City College of San Francisco, and Woodland Community High School.