SEATTLE — With more than 400,000 subscribers and 30 million+ views, a Seattle artist has created a worldwide following on YouTube.
Feliks Kaparchuk’s YouTube channel, Color By Feliks, offers tutorials on painting with acrylics.
"I love color, I always loved color,” he said.
Like a millennial Bob Ross, his soothing voice and mesmerizing brush strokes keep audiences captivated for tutorials that last as long as two hours.
It’s an achievement Kaparchuk couldn't have imagined when he moved from Russia to the Pacific Northwest at age 6.
“(I learned) sacrifice from my parents, big sacrifice, I'm still very thankful for that, because there's a lot of opportunities here of course,” he said. “And also hard work, they taught me that for sure."
He gravitated to art from an early age and started painting in 9th grade. That’s when he discovered acrylic paints dry so quickly, they're hard to use.
"I kind of liked the challenge. It was frustrating but I also wanted to find a technique where I could make it work,” he said.
Kaparchuk eventually developed his own approach and brush strokes, and shares those techniques in the tutorials.
His brand is growing by more than 10,000 subscribers a month. But he still finds time to create art off-camera, thanks to his partner in business and life.
"Everything happened with my wife Andrea, she's amazing," he said.
She manages the commerce side of things, including the Color By Feliks brush and line of paints.
"Definitely a big learning curve, but it's definitely super exciting and it's blowing both of our minds,” she said, laughing.
Someday, Kaparchuk hopes to create huge pieces of fine art. But for now, he’s happy to share his work on smaller canvases and screens.
When he reads the YouTube comments, he knows his love of color is making a difference in the world.
"(People write) ‘you gave me hope, your lessons are easy to follow and I was able to get into painting now, I love it, and they gave me life.’ And that makes me really happy to hear about that,” he said.
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