We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Richard Newkirk. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Richard below.
Richard, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
I first began practicing art at a young age, always getting my best grades in art classes or creative writing. I also credit my dad, as I would spend time in his work office drawing for hours at a time, when I was a kid. I don’t think I took art as serious as possible until I went to college and majored in Visual Arts and Design. That was my beginning of understanding the true technical side of art, and the history behind the types of art that I enjoyed the most. Art had always come second nature to me, but attending these classes and putting in real academic effort really helped me to understand myself and my own craft even better. It wasn’t easy at first, as I wasn’t too used to a structure behind art, but with adaptation and understanding, it came easier as I continued.
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 background and context?
I like to think of myself as a creative, but to be more specific, a visual artist that focuses on surrealism. I love painting, drawing, writing, really anything creative. I began putting a professional focus on my art around the year 2020, and I’ve been continuing to consider it my profession ever since. I think my unique view on concepts such as dreaming and imagination set me apart from others. I am proudest of my wide variety of artworks that all cover different concepts but are technically similar and visually provocative. I want people to know that there is more to the world than just the physical. Imagination and creativity are such a huge part of our world, that you can even say sometimes they are the basis of shaping our physical worlds.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Society is in a weird place when it comes to the creative ecosystem. For one, with the rise of AI, I think it makes the creative ecosystem much more bloated, and less impactful. I think if AI becomes even more prevalent, it will cause a true crisis for creatives of all mediums, and not just visual artistry. A human touch is necessary in creativity and it’s up to us to support that creative touch.
In order for us as a society to best support artists and creatives I think we have to put more of an effort into showing up physically, rather than our social media support. Visit your local art exhibitions, museums, and events. Social media is a great tool to spread the reach of your creativity to a grand crowd, but it doesn’t translate to real world support. Let’s re-invest our money into purchasing of tickets to shows, merchandise from creative vendors, canvases from artists, and much more.
I’d also like to say, don’t be afraid to shy away from societal norms. I feel like, in order to support a creative ecosystem, the consumers and producers need to be okay with being different. Trends are great, but with creativity comes a responsibility to be different.
With that being said, I think we have to work towards being more accepting when we do see different things from artists and other creatives. New things are often dismissed or neglected because they don’t fit the narrative of today, in other words, the status quo.
In summary, providing human touch, supporting change, and accepting differences would all make for a much more productive and meaningful creative environment or ecosystem.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is the ability to express myself through many mediums and forms. I don’t consider myself the most talkative of people, when it comes to more introspective things. I like for my art to speak for me. Sometimes I imagine grand scenes or have crazy dreams, and I get to illustrate them for other people to see and interpret. Whether people realize it or not, they are learning about me as a creative and person every time they view my works.
Also, I love the connection that I get to have with other creatives. Some of my best friends in this world are other creatives, whether in fashion, art, videography, photography, etc. I love forging creative to creative relationships.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thenameisrich.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/thenameis.rich
Image Credits
Travis Richardson James Cao