Farrah Welch
This venerable painting was created by Beyond the Brushes member, Farrah Welch, who is another one of the community "lifers."
Farrah painted on her own with no official training before delving into other courses I offer. Intro to Portrait Painting and Secrets of Painting Hair were her selections, and it seems the lessons were reinforced by her time in the community. Look at this stunning painting! But wait, it gets better...
This painting is not ordinary. It contains many of the struggles an artist can face. You see, this sweet man is Farrah's father, who is struggling with aphasia and dementia. Him being the subject matter was both the best and worst part of creating it. Yet, she doesn't have many photos of him, so what did she end up using? A picture taken by her 9-year-old son while they were hiking!
Farrah's son “decided to get into a silly photographer stance, rotating the camera at odd angles” to take a picture of the group. You can guess how it goes from here. 😅 The selected photo was out of focus, tilted at 45 degrees, and with everyone out of pose. But he caught this expression, and that was more valuable to Farrah than the challenges she would face using it as her reference. Why was she so confident?
Farrah noted that "After taking Beyond the Brushes, I got to a point where I felt I could do it justice and turn it into a painted portrait." Working with the details and trying to preserve the essence of her father was the hardest task. But she had guidance every step of the way. 😊
When asked about Beyond the Brushes as a whole, Farrah said...
"I LOVE Beyond the Brushes...If you are looking for a place to learn how to paint in Photoshop, this is it! It doesn't matter if you are a beginner or already have a stack of loans behind you. There is a lot to learn in here, and Michelle is the one to teach it! I'm so glad to be part of this community and can't wait to see where another six months takes me."
Thank you, Farrah, for sharing this silly, heartwarming story. The struggles you faced with this painting have and will continue to impact your future works. You are on your way to becoming quite the Photoshop Artisan. 🤗
You can learn more about this painting by clicking over to page 30 of the December 2021 edition for the Elevate Your Art magazine! https://www.elevateyourart.com/elevate-your-art-magazine
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