— The featured artist of the 62nd issue of Living the Photo Artistic Life magazine is US-based AWAKE artist Bethany Perron. I’m very excited to be able to share my interview with Bethany here on Quill and Camera . . .
Q: Let’s start at the beginning. What got you started in photo artistry?
I began using Photoshop in 2001, grabbing a copy of the Photoshop 6 WOW Book, and trying to teach myself. But it was challenging and Photoshop became regulated as a tool for retouching, and not for art. Then in 2016, I stumbled across Sebastian Michaels’s Photoshop Artistry Fine Art Grunge course. It was the “grunge” part that got me: the gritty, get-your-hands-dirty kind of Photoshop that I thought I wanted. What’s funny is, my gritty phase lasted about 6 months after I completed the course, and ever since, my work is anything BUT grungy! That course, and Sebastian’s subsequent courses, succeeded in teaching me (and crafting my love affair with) Photoshop. (And especially important here were Sebastian’s AWAKE tutorials, which go way, way further and include very little grunge at all.)
Q: Where do you find your creative inspiration?
I’m a huge fan of fantasy and science fiction movies because they push us to see worlds that operate differently than our own, and that freshness of thought can get my creativity going. But in addition to that, I become fascinated by the cinematography, how the light falls, the choice of a camera angle — so much so that I will pause a movie and screen-shot it just to have a color palette reference or a pose for a model.
I majored in Art History in college, and that definitely impacts my artwork. Going to museums and contemporary art galleries, studying how other artists treat subject matter and composition (why does this Three Graces work, and that one doesn’t?) has helped me hone my preferences.
Also I find a lot of inspiration from the photographers and digital artists that I follow on social media. Right now, I’m loving the work by Columbian artist Carlos Quevedo, and the photography of Bella Kotak and Irina Dzhul. I keep Pinterest boards filled with ideas for costumes, poses, themes, and techniques, and I have a list on my phone of images I want to make so I can add to it whenever an idea strikes. Everywhere I look, the Muse is there!
Q: How do you approach your work? Do you follow any particular process?
My process is continually evolving, so I can only say how I am working right now. I start with an idea, have it somewhat fleshed out in my head, then I grab the closest model shot (knowing it will probably be heavily modified) and add a few blank layers to create sketches of the layout. I find this really helps save time, so that I’m not trying to change compositions once I have 60 or 80 layers in place.
Then it’s all about getting the model prepped: extracting, moving or replacing limbs to create the pose, adding any “costuming” and hair, skin retouching.
After that, I will usually add the background, and then fill in the other objects or elements. Then it’s time for special effects like sparkles or flares. And finally we reach my favorite part: the post production.
Post production is where the magic really starts to happen, and I can spend days just on this part because often the post process reveals problems lower down in the layer stack, and I do a lot of work cleaning up areas that now bother me with all my color grading in place. I then walk away from a piece for a day or two before coming back to see what else bothers a fresh eye. And then it’s done!
I’ll be the first to admit that I am way more detail-oriented than I probably need to be, and I live a rich, charmed life as well, so a full composition usually takes me about two weeks.
Q: I love that — a “charmed life.” What does that mean for you?
I work full-time as a technical designer in the garment industry, which is wonderful in itself, but besides that, I have so many hobbies and interests, and I am not willing to give any of them up!
In addition to being a photographer and artist, I also teach and perform bellydance, practice archery, and more recently sword-fighting too, and I make costumes for fun. I’m an avid hiker and nature-lover, and I adore cooking. And finally, I’m an adventurer and love to travel when I can. I don’t know how I fit it all in actually!
Q: Apart from finding the time, what are you struggling with in your artistic life right now?
Two things come up for me. First, I don’t think I’ve worked out a style that is unique to me. I’m constantly changing and exploring, and I know that’s a good thing, but I don’t seem to do it within a framework that is recognizably my own. My work all seems so disparate to me, so I’m trying to find some unity in order to create a more cohesive body of work.
Secondly, I keep thinking about emotion and art, particularly about whether I want my work to make me, and my viewers, feel something. Beauty for its own sake is certainly admirable, but “pretty” isn’t an emotion and often elicits a tepid response. Keep scrolling. What is that quality that makes someone stop and gasp over an image? That tugs at us, whether through fear or longing or despair? I am a very happy and optimistic person, which is great for life . . . though perhaps bad for art! So I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately.
Q: Where do you wish to take your art next?
I’ve challenged myself this past year to start working with my own model photography more, relying on stock images less. I definitely want to continue that, particularly in shooting specifically with an idea for an image in mind. I have recently been working with some costume pieces I created, plus thrift shop finds, random fabric pieces, etc… But I’d like to be creating the costuming more deliberately for each shoot, and really crafting the image from scratch.
I have also been getting some commissions to do fantasy portraits, so I think there are side hustle opportunities there, and that’s exciting!
Q: Any advice or tips for aspiring digital artists?
Practice. And then practice more. Constantly challenge yourself, whether it’s improving your technique in Photoshop or pushing your work further. Study the masters of painting and photography. Watch tutorials on YouTube or take courses from sites like Creative Live. Live an inspired life. And never stop learning.