Laughter fills the air as children play on the large playfield. Excited about honing Benjamin’s talent, Mrs. Barrett enrolled him
Footballers are deeply engaged in a training match, completely in art classes. He soon became bored and kept asking for more
unaware of the small group of budding artists observing them at challenges. His art teacher, therefore, treats him like an advanced
a distance. Their chairs are lined in a perfect row and their student so that he’s provided with an appropriate level of challenge.
teacher is excitedly teaching them the skill of drawing objects
in the mid-ground, foreground and background.
Benjamin’s eyes light up when he talks about art. He says that
drawing and painting relax him, put him in his comfort zone, help
However, there’s one child who stands out. While the others him express his imagination, and help him capture memories.
are hurriedly doing their work and craving the teacher’s Portraits are of particular interest to him because he likes to study
approval, he sits quietly with one leg crossed over the other people’s faces.
intently focused on capturing the best snapshot of the football
match. His strokes and shading patterns capture an image More people have been noticing his work because of numerous
that’s far beyond what one would expect of a 10 year old. awards and commendations he has received. One of his most
notable accomplishments is the award-winning piece entitled
His name is Benjamin Barrett, an artistic prodigy whose talent “Friendship” that he created for the Junior Art Contest judged by
was discovered by chance. One day, he started drawing half of the National Art Gallery. The piece features Benjamin’s sister,
a face while in the family car. He completed the drawing when Elizabeth, and the most handsome horse in the world, Frederic the
they got home and showed his mother. He said excitedly, Great (featured on the front page of this article). Additionally, he
"Mummy...look what I drew in the car!". Mrs. Barrett responded was recently commissioned by the Manchester Co-op Credit Union
in amazement, "You drew this in the car?!" Benjamin to do two pieces for their o�ces.
responded, "Yes I did....I always wanted to draw a realistic eye
and I finally did it!"
Delving into the world of entrepreneurship isn’t something
Benjamin expected to be doing at such a young age. However,
He had seen a YouTube video earlier in the day showing how to people got wind of his talent and began ordering pieces. The
draw a human eye. At that time Mrs. Barrett had opted not to encouragement he gets when someone likes his work motivates him
have WiFi at home so he watched the tutorial at his father's and fills him with gratitude.
workplace, memorized the information and then captured it on
paper. His father, who has a background in Technical Drawing, His advice to young entrepreneurs is to keep learning from their
helped him add more texture and this became one of his first mistakes and have fun. Skill level doesn’t matter because you can
pieces that was proudly displayed in the family home. always improve. What matters most is that you enjoy what you’re
doing and can portray that passion in what you produce.
If you’re interested in purchasing one of his pieces, feel free to contact him at [email protected].
Issue 3 : January 2019
29