From the Street to Blank Canvas Sheets

From Outside to Sculpting Detailed Lines

Right out of the DMV: Radiant Child, from Washington D.C., gets his artist name Radiant child from Jean-Michel Basquiat’s production, Radiant Child. Basquiat’s documentary and children’s picture book Radiant Child is a documentary on a New York artist who experienced quite a lot through his years, as he rose as a Puerto Rican American-Haitian, in a predominantly white field during the 1980s.

Pre Pandemic, let’s be real, many of us were just going through life as it came. As we graduated from one level in life, we moved on to the next. Many living for the weekends, outside with our friends. We didn’t think about what we were passionate the most about, and how we could pursue that. Since the pandemic, more people have embraced business owners, those with multiple streams of income, and more nontraditional ways of making a living. The lockdown forced us to be home, to ourselves, fortunately sometimes even unfortunately in our own thoughts. Radiant Child is the product of two artistic individuals; his mother being an art major and his father being able to draw. Since the age of 7 Radiant Child aspired to be as great of an artist as he saw his mother be. His mother was his first critic to give honest feedback, critique, and even reinforcement that his artwork was improving. During the pandemic, Radiant Child was able to sit down and focus more of his time and energy on his artwork.

As a child, Radiant Child loved to watch Boss Ross, and as an adult, he’s able to re-watch episodes and learn with a developed mindset and continue to improve his artwork drastically over time. He enjoys the ability to create abstract art, as it’s a form of expression to him, a sense of release of whatever’s on the mind or in the heart. Though abstract paintings are what he’s worked on quite a bit keep an eye out for his portraits in the future.

Though he enjoys painting, Radiant Child is actually a sculptor, specializing in Maquette sculptures. Out of a lump of clay, he’s able to sculpt a smaller scale of whatever he has in mind. He’s done small preliminary scales of Michael Jackson, Nipsey Hustle, Chucky, 2 Pac, Pokémon, customs, and more. During the pandemic as he was sharing his artwork on Instagram, is when then he went from sculpting as a side project to a source of income. People began to offer commissions for these pieces, hence how the custom became an option. Depending on the detailing and material needed the price would vary, but be very much worthwhile. With so many people wanting to appreciate his artwork, Radiant Child is not able to produce as many maquette sculptures as the demand increases. With such high demand, Radiant Child has looked into achieving a 3D printer to be able to mass-produce his work.

Though Radiant Child has been into art at a young age, hanging outside was lookin’ a lot more attractive than paintin’ abstract and horizon lines. It wasn’t until late 2012, early 2013 when he began to pick up the paintbrush again and see where his skill level was at.

SIDE NOTE: "I swear, 2012 was the year the innovation gears started to turn in our heads, but not many were talking about it. " - Radiant Child

Radiant Child can get inspiration from just about anywhere. Before even being a Willow Smith fan he went to a concert after hearing a few of her songs. It was then, he was inspired by the performances and her music, that he went home on a mission to sculpt the multitalented artist. At the concert, he laid eyes on a quartet of siblings, We Don't Ride Llamas (WDRL). The all-black, songwriting band, WDRL, plays all genres of music from punk to funk. Along with the painting of Willow, Radiant child is also working on building a collection of the band to eventually have in a gallery. There are quite a bit of series in which Radiant Child is working to put into an art gallery.

To anyone else aspiring to be an artist, there's a lot to keep in mind before you begin the journey.

"If you feel this is your passion, stick with it and learn on your own, youtube, take classes to build your skill and technique to be the best at what it is you want to do. Stay grounded. Find your passion."

- Radiant Child

Even when there is no one necessarily cheering you on, be your own biggest cheerleader. The act of motivating others is what motivates Radiant Child to continue to pursue his art. No one believes in you until you've already made it, so don't let the input of others determine your future. Keep an eye out, in galleries near you, for artwork by Radiant Child.

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