RICHARD SALCIDOthe artwork and musings of Richard Salcido

When I was a kid I wanted a drum set. As far back as I can remember till about the age of 17 or so I would ask my parents to buy one for me. They always said no but like most kids I still asked, and asked, and asked, and asked. The answer was always no. I never really wanted a lot of things and my parents always provided me with all the things I needed, but oh how great would a cool kick ass drum set be? Honestly, without the drum set how would I ever have the tools to practice what was to be my future career as the drummer in an awesome worldwide touring band. They tried other things though. Like around the age of 9 or 10 they got me a clarinet. Clarinet’s are ok I guess but clearly not even close to a drum set. A few years later I received a guitar, awesome right? It wasn’t an expensive guitar or anything but it worked and it was closest to a drum set these parent child peace negotiations had ever come. I knew I was on my way and that guitar was going to look so cool next to the drum set I was eventually going to receive and, “I know what will make this guitar even better. I’ll paint something awesome on the backside!” So I painted Mickey Mouse on the back of the guitar. Mickey, the guitar, the clarinet and I waited patiently for the drum set to arrive. The drum set never came

So I guess the point of this whole story is that I’d always wanted drums but since I never got them I’d never have the tools be able to do something awesome for a living. In my lust for making the perfect beat I overlooked one important thing, where did I get the paint to paint Mickey Mouse on my guitar? Oh, my parents had bought me a paint set a while back. In fact there was never a shortage of pens, pencils, papers, crayons, brushes and paints for me to spend hours with. Copying what my brother was drawing, drawing characters from comic books and cartoons on tv, drawing anything and anywhere I could hour after hour just waiting for that drum set to get to my house. Looking back now, sure I never got the drum set but my parents had given me all the tools I needed when they supplied me with pens and papers never more than a few feet away from me all the time. More importantly they never told me I was wasting my time drawing and in fact they encourage it. Even when deciding to do art as a major in college they never said anything about it being a waste of time or money and too encouraged that. Today is my 5 year anniversary as a full time artist and it truly is an awesome way to make a living. So thank you Robert and Esther Salcido for never buying me that drum set.

Here’s a few drawings I found in my hiding in my high school year book