From a very young age, Richard’s drawings revealed an extraordinary talent that set him apart from other children. His sophisticated use of colour and shape, combined with a remarkable eye for fine detail, allowed him to create intricate works that captured with astonishing precision scenes from television — cartoons, news moments, sports events, and pop bands — or in fact anything within his daily experience, from what he had for breakfast to the school bus. Richard was able to form letters, which often appear in his early work, but not to write full words.
Even Richard’s earliest work showed the characteristic ability of artistic savants to start drawing immediately in perspective; there was no period of "flat" composition as done by other children.
Despite facing significant challenges, including visual impairments and delayed speech development, Richard’s early drawings reveal a depth of artistry that defied all expectations. At just 12 years old, his work left Professor Marian Bohusz-Szyszko of the Polish School of Art in London "thunderstruck," describing it as "an incredible phenomenon rendered with the precision of a mechanic and the vision of a poet."
The images on this page, created between the ages of 7 and 15, showcase not only Richard’s prodigious technical skill but also a profound emotional maturity, capturing the world around him with a sensitivity and insight far beyond his years.
