Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alex Radulescu. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alex, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
When I began my artistic studies in Belgium around the age of 15, one of my teachers took us to visit museums in Europe (in Belgium, England, France, and the Netherlands.). One of the exercises he required of us was to sketch some pieces we selected in these museums.
I drew my first portrait at the age of 7, therefore the works that attracted me in the museums (and art history books) were mainly portraits of artists such as Hans Holbein, Frederick Sandys, or Jan Van Eyck to name a few.
Initially, I started by drawing my friends, musicians, and soccer players which I combined with geometric and/or floral decorations inspired by the paintings that influenced me, as well as some graphic design influences.
In 2010, I painted a portrait of Wiz Khalifa and had the privilege to meet him at a nightclub in Europe. I showed him the painting and he was very impressed. He asked for my business card and website (which I didn’t have!).
Immediately after that encounter, I decided to launch the Rà Paints project and I was meeting every single celebrity that I was painting, having the amazing surprise of seeing some of my portraits in their music videoclips (Rick Ross, French Montana, Tyga, Ryan Leslie,…), and also on U.S. and french magazines.
One of the reasons I knew this was working, is because I was taking my art outside of the traditional context of Art Galleries and/or Museums. I was exhibiting in nightclubs, live on stage during concerts (French Montana, Tarrus Riley, Stalley,…) at car dealerships (Jaguar – Land Rover…).
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Alex Radulescu (artist name: Rá Paints). I am an American, Belgian and Romanian Artist/Entrepreneur whose colorful paintings pay homage to modern-day cultural icons. I also create custom paintings and sculptures on demand. You can order any size, and we are delivering Worldwide.
I believe that what sets me apart, and what I am most proud of is my unique journey: “where I started vs where I am at now”.
I started to draw at the age of 2 using pieces of rocks on the walls in the streets of Bucharest, Romania, at the block where I was living. I now have the privilege to meet and collaborate with celebrities, having my work featured in Music Videos, Magazines and Museums.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
When I started the Rà Paints project, Instagram didn’t exist.
After some time, a friend of mine recommended that I create and account, which I did. I did not know much about Social Media at that time, so I let my collaborator take full control of it.
After a few months of posting my paintings, we saw some famous celebrities liking, sharing and/or commenting the posts on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook (such as Rick Ross, Stalley, Daddy Yankee, or French Montana). I realized that I should focus more on Social Media and invest some time to learn. I believe that it is a very useful and powerful tool. I have clients that I don’t know in real life, who are ordering paintings just by sending DM’s to my Instagram account.
To be very honest though, my focus was never on likes or numbers of followers. My focus is more on sales (number of likes and sales are not necessarily directly connected). To give you an example, some of the artists that I admire and that I know personally are not very “popular” on Social Media, yet they are selling $50.000 paintings.
I would like to take this opportunity to say that I am extremely grateful and I would like to thank every single person that follows and/or likes my work. Fun Fact: in the music industry, Timbaland is one of my favorite artist/producer of all time, and he is been the very first artist/celebrity to follow me, and share my work.
How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?
Being honest, transparent, pricing myself “appropriately”. When the clients are satisfy with the quality and price of the product/services, they will come back.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.ra-paints.com/gallery
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rapaintsofficial/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/r%C3%A1-paints/?viewAsMember=true
Image Credits
@rapaintsofficial