Richard is one of my favorite artists on depthcore, with such a unique and mind blowing style, his work is great inspiration for all of us. On this exclusive interview the 18 year old rising artist tell us all about his works and his plans for the future, check it out!

Let’s start with the usual, tell us a little about yourself?

Well my name is Richard Roberts and I am 18 years old. I was born in the UK and moved to the US when I was about 5 years old. I have lived in 4 different states. I currently am living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I have been designing for about 4 years but recently have been taking it very serious and putting huge amounts of hours in everyday. A few months ago I opened my freelance portfolio website www.theotherstream.com and that at the moment is going very well. My goal is to open my own studio one day and design for the rest of my life.

How did you start your interest for design?

When I was young around the age of 12 or 13 I used to play online video games. And one day I came across some designs at a game forum and was so intrigued by them. That led to me installing a copy of adobe Photoshop 4.0 on my computer. After a few months of playing around on it, I came to realize I was using an outdated version of Photoshop and that I was restricted. So I eventually purchased a copy of adobe Photoshop cs2 and spent the next few years getting familiar with the program. About two years ago I realized people made a living doing design work and I aspired to be like them. So I set out goals for myself and did everything possible to reach them. I am fascinated with all art forms and always have been. I think I have a drive to design in my blood as it's my number one passion in life.

How did you get so good in Photoshop?

I think perseverance, knowledge, aspirations, patience, effort and practice are all words that would describe how I got to where I am now. Everything I know is self taught and I spent years practicing learning how to do different things in Photoshop. The amount of time and care I put it my artworks is not just a day of work. It's over a weeks worth if not a month.

Good artwork comes from obviously has good knowledge but also a lot of time and care. I do think however not everyone can be a designer or artist. I think you need a certain frame of mind in which you know what looks right and wrong. I think people are born with this ability. For example perspective shadows colors contrasts, are all different factors that I think people neutrally are good at doing. I would say I am one of those people. I have always had huge aspirations to be a successful freelancer and I am now getting to that point. So I would say me getting good is some neutral ability but also the time and effort and perseverance I have as an artist.

How long do you usually take working on one piece?

It depends from project to project usually. Personal work I like to spend a week at least but I sometimes take a few weeks. On cliental work I work on the deadlines, for example working on my computer arts commission I spent 4 days because the deadline was so soon. Those 4 days consisted of 8 or 10 hours a day though. So I spend hundreds of hours on pieces usually.

Describe to us the usual process you do to create your images.

I usually start off by thinking of a concept, after that is established I write down key words on a white board I have above my workspace. After I have a basic idea of what I want to do I begin finding photo's that would fit well etc... I then slave away for hours/days/weeks on the piece. The pieces usually come out a bit different then how I imagined it before hand.

I like to experiment and try things when I am designing and I go with what looks good and it ends up being different from my original thought. Cliental work is another process on its own. I find client work easier in a sense as they are feeding you a concept/ideas some of the time. After I get the brief on the project I write down ideas and get to work.

Depending on the deadline the time can vary. Sometimes I will go 12 hours straight working on a project per day if the deadline is soon. If the deadline is far away I like to do a little every day. One factor I make sure of is to be consistent through out all my designs, which ends in good finished results.

Do you use any other tools besides Photoshop?

The only thing I use besides Photoshop is a wacom intuos3 6x11 but currently my tool of trade is adobe Photoshop solely. I am hoping to branch off and use adobe illustrator a bit more. Other then using pen and paper to write down concepts and ideas Photoshop is the only program I use to design my artwork

What inspires you to create such good pieces?

I would say the desire to be a successful well known designer is a huge factor when it comes to me designing my pieces. I push myself each piece to produce a wonderful piece of art. There is nothing better then the satisfaction of knowing you yourself inspire others and people get enjoyment out of something you have created. I have huge goals and I design good pieces to get to those goals.

Can you tell us about some of your goals and you projects for the future?

Currently I am getting more and more established as a freelance artist by the day. An aspiration I have is for it to keep developing until eventually I have enough cliental that I can make a living off it. My highest goal is in a couple of years to open my own design studio and hopefully have some other designers working for me.

I am currently working on a new piece inspired by Salvador Dali, I can't say when that will be released but I am sure people will enjoy it. I am also working on some side projects such as an album cover and some other works for depthcore. I will be also setting up a section on my website www.theotherstream.com where you can request prints of some of my designs. So there will be some new cool stuff coming your way, and I will be to sure to keep you guys posted.

Great, was a pleasure to interview you, thank you for sharing everything with us, and I'll leave the last words for you.

The pleasure was all mine, thanks to all the readers and fans that enjoy my work. Remember never let anything get in the way of your goals, if you put the time and effort into something great results will appear. Thanks again and have great day!

About the author

Hi! I'm Paulo Canabarro and I'm here to post some really cool stuff for you, if you have any ideas or any requests please get @ me - pvpcanabarro@gmail.com you can also Follow me on twitter!

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