28May2011

Sheridan’s Story Pictorial Inspiration

Posted by BaBa under: Geek Stuff - Technology; Photography; Special Days.

For Sheridan’s birthday, we framed two pictures for his room. The first print is from Half the Sky. It is their logo print and depicts the red thread story.

This image was the inspiration for a project that I dreamed up last year, but had to wait until I could find the resources to make it a reality. Click Here to go to the post with Sheridan’s Pictorial Story.

A couple of our friends had pictures painted for them. One of these families is located out of state with twins. Their painting depicts each of the girls with a pet and the painting is in two pieces. Each painting is complete by itself, and can also be displayed together.

I was also influenced by local friends who also run a foundation for orphans in Africa and are frequent bloggers. The painting which is full of images tells their story in a unified theme. I was really taken in by the artist’s explanation of the symbolism used in the artistic depiction of their journey.

Both of these families paintings and the Half the Sky logo inspired me to show his story in a painting. I tried to get this done last year, however it never got completed. I bought him a good set of pastels, but the work was too complicated for his abilities. I then thought about combining different photos into a collage that we could apply some effects in photoshop. This approach was successful. One of the main elements was a picture of Sheridan taken holding a balloon. We combined this photo, minus the balloon into the final picture. I worked with one of my students who is a photoshop expert. We combined the many layers and flattened them into one picture with the watercolor effects applied. In the end, we went through several edits and 2 drafts in preparation of the final version which was completed for his birthday.

His photo story and picture are in the next post.