Riley Gogerty is a 9-year-old Burbank resident who is dazzling the community with his stunning splatter paint artwork.
Gogerty was first inspired to explore splatter painting after viewing online tutorials on YouTube and TikTok that made him curious about the medium. His mom, Ashley Erikson, helped him pursue the art form by setting him up with supplies and letting him get creative on their back porch.
In the beginning, Gogerty experimented with making his splatter paintings on printer paper, but after bringing some of his work to school and seeing the great feedback he was getting, he moved on to canvases. His process for making each design can vary and includes a mix of techniques like pouring, spraying, and splattering paint to build a one-of-a-kind composition. It takes Gogerty around 20 minutes to 1 hour to complete a painting, which he then finishes with an application of a sealer.
“First you start by getting your certain size canvas and then finding certain color paints you want to use,” Gogerty said. “Then after that I picture in my head what I want it to look like. I make a plan B or C if I mess up the first try. I just wave the bottle around and splash it on and see what looks best.”
From his introductory artistic endeavors, Gogerty took notice of his innate ability to express concepts through evocative splatter paintings. The young artist’s finished projects all possess a vibrant, yet polished quality, and he explains that this is achieved through a creative process which is often open-ended.
“Usually I’m just, like, ‘Here are my colors, let’s see what happens,’” Gogerty said.
Erikson recently created an Instagram page for her son which she manages and uses to post his work for sale. Followers of the account can even request a custom design from Gogerty.
“Riley has such a creative mind, and I love seeing him at work outside making his art. I am in awe of every piece he puts together,” said Erikson. “He has such an entrepreneurial spirit, and I’m so excited to see where life takes him.”
Gogerty has been selling art to people all over the Burbank community, including a Burbank police officer, a retired civil engineer, a Burbank school employee, and many neighbors and family members.
One of his latest custom commissions for a schoolmate is a painting honoring the fourth season of the hit Netflix series Stranger Things. The image incorporates a color scheme that reflects the most talked-about moments of the fan-favorite show, such as the character Eddie Munson facing an attack from the antagonistic Demobats.
Other subjects that Gogerty has used as inspiration for his art are the popular anime series Naruto, sports teams, the ocean, rainbows, planets and a galaxy. No technique or source of creativity is off limits when creating his original pieces; for the lattermost undertaking, Gogerty mixed numerous colors and utilized string while strategically smearing the image.
“My galaxy painting is my favorite so far. It’s got pink, blue and black and looks like stars scattered across it,” Gogerty said. “I also like my small paintings where I have been making planets using spray paint.”
Right now, Gogerty is saving his art earnings and plans to put this toward purchasing a larger canvas for his biggest painting yet. Though he says he isn’t sure whether art will be his future career, Gogerty is left elated as a result of the continued acclaim he receives from onlookers who admire his work.
“I get butterflies when I see people excited about my art,” Gogerty said.
To learn more about Riley Gogerty’s art, visit his professional Instagram page here. 
