A Year in the Life of a Street Painter

Black Bird

noreply@blogger.com (Street Painter) — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 03:39:00 +0000

Blue Hair & Rich Reds

noreply@blogger.com (Street Painter) — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 03:36:00 +0000

"The Surrogate"

Still needs a bit of work but I am setting this aside for a bit. It's always nice to revisit after finishing a few more in the series...Gives you a new perspective on things and helps you see what still needs to be done to finish it up. In the mean time, I've started painting #2..."Black Bird," which i am already loving. Mostly because of the color. I love the skin tones over the rich red.

"Black Bird"

Painting My Painting

noreply@blogger.com (Street Painter) — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 06:23:00 +0000

I never anticipated We Talk Chalk being such a success. So much so, that I haven't created a Fine Art painting in over 2 years. Well, add giving birth into that timeline and you really are left with absolutely no extra time. This I say with great appreciation because it is not many artists that are so busy creating art that they are not able to create art :) Some may argue that the commercial/client work is not art...that could be argued for days.

So...I'm staring a new series of Fine Art Paintings based on a set of sketches & doodles over the last few years. While I would usually paint these in oils, I've decided to paint them all digitally. I've always enjoyed painting in photoshop, painter, etc. I even authored a tutorial DVD titled "Painting Fantasy Portraits in Photoshop" featured in the 'Photoshop Top Secret' series. Anyway...I've missed it. The best part is, I don't have to put the painting on hold if I have to travel or be away from the studio because I can paint via my SurfacePro.

I'm posting a closeup of the beginnings of the first painting in the series. It's titled 'The Surrogate' and this is the face of my figure. The hair is next. My favorite part. Second favorite. faces are always my favorite and fun swirling hair is the close second.

Detail - 'The Surrogate' painted in photoshop.

2013

noreply@blogger.com (Street Painter) — Thu, 19 Dec 2013 16:47:00 +0000

2013 was an incredible year! It was full of cool projects, a crazy amount of work, some turbulent changes, and some incredible new friendships and partnerships. I am so grateful for having We Talk Chalk, Inc. be such a success and to be doing what I love doing. We have an exciting new Studio Team including Street Painter Ever Galvez, Artist Lynn Okimura, and Muralist David Lee.

Here are a few pics from my favorite projects of the year...

"We Talk Chalk" painting for Lexus @ Balboa Arts Festival
Painted by Julie Kirk & Myself
Posing: Remco and Luc

Spring Pig Celebration for Living Arts Festival @ Ratchaprasong District, Bangkok.
Painting featured live bubbles blowing from Jester's mouth.

Thai girls playing with the bubbles of my painting.

Pilot for a Day "We Talk Chalk" painting for the 'Foire De Paris' in Paris, France.
Posing: Me & Luc

Kiss a Mermaid "We Talk Chalk" painting for the 'Foire De Paris' in Paris, France.
Posing: Remco

"We Talk Chalk" painting for League of Legends @ LA Live
painted by Alex Maksiov & Myself

Centaur Styles @ Downtown Disney

View of my 'Centaur Styles' from the top of painting. That's some big hair!

"We Talk Chalk" Painting for American Express Open @ SEMA, Las Vegas
Painted by Me

"We Talk Chalk" painting for Toyota @ SEMA, Las Vegas
painted by the We Talk Chalk Studio Team. designed by Alex Maksiov
Posing: Ever & I.

"We Talk Chalk" Painting for M&M @ M&M World, Las Vegas
Painted by the We Talk Chalk Studio Team.
Posing: Ever, Lynn, Remco

Here's to another creative and productive year for all!!!

Happy 2014!

Longest Anamorphic Street Painting in the World

noreply@blogger.com (Street Painter) — Thu, 19 Dec 2013 15:59:00 +0000

There are few project that will ever be as daunting as the one we created in Thailand this past August but I'm so glad we pushed through and made it happen.

We Talk Chalk was contacted to create a painting for Smirnoff at the SIAM Center in Bangkok. We had been to Bangkok just a few months earlier for the Living Arts Festival so we were familiar with the Center and the area which made it all the more exciting. The brief was to create a 3D street painting for Smirnoff representing their new flavor 'Melon Burst'. We went back and forth on designs for quite a while before the final concept was chosen. After a ton of sketches I found out that this design actually had to snake through the shopping center and open up onto a large painting in the Center's Atrium. Wow. Then I was told we would be attempting a record for the 'Longest Anamorphic Painting' and that Guinness was going to be on site to record it. Double WOW!!!

Here are a few shots of us working in studio on the large Atrium painting and the many panels that would end up on the floor of the Siam Center. It was two weeks of in-studio painting with 8 artists.
Here's a little photo diary of the project...

Panels being painted in studio

Panels boxed up in front of our design board

working on the 35 x 35 foot Atrium Panel
That's Lynn and Lorelle

On site in the Siam Center Atrium setting up cameras and prepping panels for installation.
That's Remmie and Alex setting up the tripod and an entire install team to help us. They were amazing!!

Once on site we worked each day from 10pm until 8am inside the closed Siam Center. It was so hot inside once the air conditioning was turned off. Thankfully the 'Index Creative' team thought of portable air conditioners that followed us all around or we would have sweltered. 7 days straight and we finally finished. It was grueling!! We were very grateful to the amazing vinyl install team from Index. As soon as we had something completed they were there to install it for us. This Atrium painting was a bear. It was so big and in 3 huge panels that were really hard to match up again after being packed away for shipping. But it all worked out in the end.

The Atrium painting laid out. Ready for install! 35 x 35 feet.

Alex and Holly working on the finishing touches.
Alex did an amazing job on that guitar, btw.

These panels were installed unfinished. They had to be modified onsite once the project specs changed.
This section is leading down the first hallway from the Siam entrance.

Alex the Ballerina :) Perfect for those hard to reach places.

Equalizer squares at entrance of Siam Center. (Painted on canvas)

Shot of an almost finished panel.

Smirnoff Logo before trimming and install.

Melon on ice. Near finished install.

View of entrance from top of stairs. (actual viewing point is at the bottom of stair case.)

That's me painting in some more water.

Melon Burst

Alex working on taglines.

Guinness Representative monitoring the measuring of painting

The Press!!!

The team having fun!
Alex Maksiov, Holly Lynn Schineller, Remco Van Latum, & Me.

The Record! The Longest Anamorphic Painting in the World - 165 Meters

A project of this magnitude would not have been possible without the work of our talented group of artists. The entire painting took a total of three weeks, culminating in over 1000 hours in production. The project is a milestone.

Remco and I would like to thank the amazing artists who took part in this incredible journey with us... Artists: Alex Maksiov, Holly Lynn Schineller, Clancy Bree Kirk, Holly Wenger, Lynn Okimura, Lorelle Miller, Ever Galvez, Nha Lee

A special thank you to Nannapas Publishing, Index Creative, and the Siam Center for making this all possible.

3 weeks of 3D Street Painting

noreply@blogger.com (Street Painter) — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 23:20:00 +0000

It's been almost 4 weeks since I've been home for longer then a single day. Today is my first full day at home after 3 back to back street painting events. The 3 projects were really diverse in imagery and location so I certainly wasn't bored ;)

The frist project was in Kerkrade, The Netherlands for the first International 3D Street Painting Festival organized by FreddaArt for the City. It was an honor to be selected for this as one of two Americans. Turns out, I was the only American to attend. Besides the travel itself, the most rewarding part of the event was seeing all of my friends from all over the world. Germany, Holland, The Ukraine, Italy...and a few new friends from Mexico and Russia.

Farewell Artists dinner

"Nature is Energy'

My dad joined me on this trip...his first time in Holland. He loved it. The festival arranged for us to stay in a 900 year old Abbey...It was unbelievably beautiful, tucked up against a forest with towering trees that spoke to you as the wind blew. We really enjoyed it but I definitely missed Remmie and Luc. It's difficult to be away from them even for a day or two but especially when it's out of the country. Thank goodness for skype ;)

Rolduc Abbey

We arrived back early evening on Monday, just enough time to wash my clothes and drop em back in my suitcase. Remmie, Luc, and I loaded up the car Tuesday morning and headed up to San Mateo for my project with the San Mateo County Fair..."The Curly Tail Races" I finished most of the painting before the fair even opened. Final touches on opening day. It was a lot of fun, especially for Luc.

"They Curly Tail Races"

My little clown enjoying ice cream in a San Mateo hotspot.

A day and a half after arriving home from San Mateo, we were off to Las Vegas. Seemed like a short drive after the last few trips ;) I was hired by Key Artist Group to paint a 3D street painting at The Venetian / Palazzo for their annual summer Carnivale. I was one of 300 attractions during the summer festival. They have puppet shows, parades, light shows, dinner and wine tasting events, living vines, dueling pianos...I could go on and on.

For my Carnivale painting I designed an image called "Cupid's Gandola" A cute little boat with cupid hailing the front with his bow and arrow. People were able to pose in the boat for their photos. I really had a great time working on this project. I hope to be back for many more Carnivale events. Here are a few of my favorite shots...

Even though I enjoyed the last 3 weeks...I am happy to be home, in my own bed, with my family, dog, turtles, and dragonflies circling the pond.

3 weeks till Canada...

Curly Tails in 3D

noreply@blogger.com (Street Painter) — Sat, 11 May 2013 16:36:00 +0000

One of my favorite animals is the pig. I'm a huge animal lover!!! How can you not love an adorable little pig. So cute and pink and smart. So, so smart. I created a painting with pigs for Thailand and I had so much fun with it. With an upcoming event at the San Mateo County Fair I've designed a 3D street painting that gives you a front row seat at the piglet races.

If you're in the neighborhood, come by and pose with my curly tailed cuties...June 8-9

The Curly Tails Race to the Finish

3D at Foire de Paris

noreply@blogger.com (Street Painter) — Sat, 11 May 2013 16:31:00 +0000

There are times when what I do for a living is really difficult. Not only because the work can be so labor intensive, difficult, lonely (when traveling so much), but it is also amazing. I dreamed of traveling the world when I was young. I dreamed of exploring, living, creating. It's funny how the universe hands you what you want...usually not how you envisioned it, but always what you asked for without even realizing it.

A few days ago, Julie, Amani, Remco, Luc, and I returned from Paris. Julie, Remco, and I were there as We Talk Chalk, to install 3 10 x 18 foot paintings at the largest Expo in France, the Foire de Paris. Wow...what a privilage to create for such a huge, international event...an american company, with two of it's creatives being women, and with an opportunity to work in such an inspirational city.

A special thank you to Stephane and Patrick from LaSolution, Marsailles!

Kiss a Siren

Pilot for a Day

Nature Soars

Remmie and I were fortunate to be able to take a few extra days and travel to Holland to introduce Luc to the family. Many of Remmie's relatives have only seen him on skype. (thank goodness for Skype) Here are a few of my favorite pics...

Goat Farm!!! Zoeterwoude, The Netherlands

AviFauna!!! The Netherlands

In Brugge

Newport to New York

noreply@blogger.com (Street Painter) — Sat, 11 May 2013 15:44:00 +0000

Home from VASE and straight to the Studio. At the last minute we were giving the green light to create a 3D street painting for the Herald Square UFC TakeDown in New York. Remmie and I love to visit NY. He spend 10 summers there, when he was just out of school, working at a summer camp for mentally challenged children and adults. So we were excited to spend a few days in Manhatten enjoying the city in spring....only after Julie and I created the painting, of course ;p

While we were painting the UFC painting in studio, we were also painting for a Lexus. Lexus wanted a Sailing inspired painting to promote their brand at the Newport to Ensenada Yacht Race in Newport Beach, CA. We created a Wall, ground painting with half created in studio, and half created live on site at the event. Beautiful weather and big crowds on balboa island where the festival took place. Check out our pics...

After we installed in Newport, Remmie and I left for NY to instal the UFC painting. We were just there a day and a half but really had fun. They day we arrived we had dinner at the Bourgeois Pig for Fondue! OMG...delicious! It was so good and it is such an intimate, baroque/gothic/victorian mix of style and ambiance. We loved it. Installed the painting the next morning in Herald Square, right in front of Macy's and as the crowds started to form to be a part of the big event, we made our exit. Just a few hours exploring the city which was overflowing with tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, ranunculus...it was stunning to see.

Thailand to Florida to Florida

noreply@blogger.com (Street Painter) — Sat, 11 May 2013 15:34:00 +0000

It took about a week to recover after a week in Thailand. We were exhausted and jet lagged but so happy to see Luc!! It was way to long to be away from him ;) It's probably the hardest part of what I do.

In the last two months Julie, Remco, and I have been pretty busy with various projects in the studio, and in various cities. We were actually doing sketches while we were in Thailand for a project with Miller Lite, and almost took the canvas with us to work on because I basically had one day between Thailand and when I had to leave for Orlando to install the Miller light painting. So when I say it took me a week to recover from Thailand...It was a turbulent recovery ;)

The Miller Lite painting was a vertical installation that stood in the center of a huge Employee convention on the Marriott golf course. Here's a pic of the final piece....

It's Miller Time

As soon as I was home from Orlando, I jumped into the completion of a painting we did for KIA, which Julie was already working on back in the studio. This was, I think, the largest, painstaking paintings we have done as We Talk Chalk. It was crazy big and just crazy overall. Julie went to Miami to install this one at a huge Latin Music Festival two days after I returned from Orlando...lol.

Crazy!

Kia Sorento

The Streets Heat up in Bangkok

noreply@blogger.com (Street Painter) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 00:16:00 +0000

I can't believe it's taken me this long to post pictures from our project for the Living Arts Festival in Thailand. We spend 10 days in Bangkok and boy was it hot. Hot and humid. The 10 paintings our team created turned out beautiful! You can see all of them on our WeTalkChalk page.

Here are my favorite pics of the painting Remmie and I created. Our location was right in front of the Starbucks and if we were lucky, we could stand in one particular spot and feel the air conditioning wafting out. It was great!

An adorable statue from the Painted Bear Competition & a little green Thai character.

My painting was not only 3D, but also 4D. I designed the artwork to flow from the ground, up a false wall which reveals a whimsical fun house character who actually blows real bubbles out of her mouth. I brought a bubble machine with me to Thailand and mounted it inside the wall so the bubbles would blow out a whole at her mouth. Everything worked out perfectly!! I also glued small rhinestones and sequins to the decor of the saddles of each pig. Remmie and I had a great time painting it and are really happy with the results :)

Just getting started!

Workin away on pig #1.

Almost finished!

Painting complete!

My 4D element - False wall with bubbles emerging from characters mouth. The kids loved it!

My painting made the cover of the Bangkok Sunday Post.

At the Airport, heading home to our little sprite!

Progress

noreply@blogger.com (Street Painter) — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Since my last post, we (We Talk Chalk) lost a job due to uncontrollable circumstances. It was a great street painting project too. The client just couldn't make it work in the end. There's always an upside to things though. In it's place, we landed a huge project with an automobile company. By huge, I mean a 30 x 30 foot 3D street painting. That's crazy big! With only days to get it started before leaving for Thailand for the Living Arts Festival, we did something we'd wanted to do all last year…We moved into a 1200 square foot studio and office space. Remmie found it for us and It's great! We worked so hard last year, in the cold, in the heat…mostly heat. 110 degree weather sometimes for days trying to finish up projects. I won't lie…sometimes it was hell ;) I hate the heat. Especially after having my son, I just can't take it anymore. So I'm looking forward to not being miserable when summer rolls around this year. The space has an air conditioner to boot! How perfect is that?

Julie and I have our Auto mural started and set up in studio while we head to Thailand with our team for the week then back to it as soon as we're back home. I'm on the plane right now actually. Flying over the Eastern shore of Russia, I believe. Sounds exciting, but it's mostly shrouded in clouds. The view of Alaska from above, however, was breathtaking. 6 more hours to Tokyo then a 7 hour flight to Bangkok. Phew! Have the laptop, hardrive, and bamboo tabled packed. Completely mobile given a wifi connection ;) Thank goodness for mobile devices!

Remmie's sitting next to me and Lysa's a few rows back. The baby's with grandma and grandpa again. They are loving this! Taking him to see the live Thomas the Train this week. Fun. We miss him already. He was in the studio the last few days we were working. Picked up a paintbrush, first thing, and started brushing away. Mini Madonnaro!!

Living Arts

noreply@blogger.com (Street Painter) — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 22:01:00 +0000

Here is a recent ad from the Living Arts Festival by Nannapas Publisher, Earth Wind and Fire in Bangkok next week. We are so excited to be going and creating such fun paintings. This is a great opportunity to bring to life those images you've been wanting to do but couldn't find the right event. This is the event! The ultimate in Fun, Creativity, and Culture. Now the pressure is on to create each of those 10 paintings as we designed them. Correction....Better!

Here's my final sketch...Wish me luck!

http://www.thelivingartsfest.com

JOTUN Penguins Come to Life in 3D Street Painting

noreply@blogger.com (Street Painter) — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 04:27:00 +0000

After days of wet weather and a few redo's the JOTUN team of Penguins finally came to life!
Remmie and I were so happy to be able to complete the painting just in time for the JOTUN, New Orleans, Grand Opening.

Here are a few shots of the finish and the wonderful evening!

View from the top of the painting...super stretched penguins.

The Big Finish! Pigments, Tempera, and Soft Pastel. 20 x 30 feet.

Guests enjoying the painting.

Light-tastic entrance to the main tent is lined with cube in JOTUN colors and giant Penguin banners.

Street Painting In The Rain!

noreply@blogger.com (Street Painter) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 00:51:00 +0000

It's day 4 of my 3D street painting project for JOTUN PAINT's Grand Opening in New Orleans. By now, I would have normally been putting the finishing touches here and there, adding little details that no one will really notice but me, but that make me really happy ;) Like perfect little highlights on bright blue penguin eyes...delicate lashes and reflective light...so fun. But, that's not what we're doing at all.

Remmie and I have been working for days and it's been one thing after the other. We started outdoors, on a nice piece of cement. They put an incredible 30 x 40 foot tent over the area so we'd stay dry, added the walls, a fan, a light. Great! It took us 2 days to draw out the entire 26 x 35 foot image. It looked great until it started to rain... unfortunately the paint didn't have enough time to dry before then. It slowly started to wash away.

So yesterday afternoon we moved indoors to one of the warehouses. Perfect!! Dry, lit, low traffic. We spent hours re-drawing the entire image before heading back to the hotel late last night. This morning we started early with color and painted in all the cute little penguins...(actually, a few are really huge with the amount they have to be stretched ;) The event company put up these amazing, 20 foot high, blue drapes to hide the warehouse view behind and really showcase the painting for tomorrows festivities. Everything was coming together until we came back from lunch. Disaster!!! It was so humid that the cement was actually sweating. Sweating cement!! What??? All the paint that was dry before was now wet again...condensation everywhere. Can't put any new paint down. Anywhere we step, wet footprints :( I can't believe it.

The Grand Opening is tomorrow afternoon. If the temperature drops enough we should be able to head back out and at least get the basics down tonight. So we're hanging out for a while. May head out in the middle of the night when the air is cool! But what's next????

JOTUN Penguins land on US soil!

Penguins in 3D

noreply@blogger.com (Street Painter) — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 05:12:00 +0000

Finished a few more sketches today and completed the painting we're sending to a client in Israel. It's a relief to be done with that one ;) and just in time to head to New Orleans! No, not for Mardi Gras. I'll be painting a really fun 3D street painting of paint brush wielding Penguins. Super cute!!

Usually on these trips it's all work. By the time you get back to the hotel each night you're completely wiped out and can't even think about going out for fun. Maybe a quick dinner but that's max. But this time...Remmie and I are going to have to head into the city to have some beignets, some sweet tea, and maybe even pick up a mardi gras mask or two. Bags are packed and ready to go!

Sketch, sketch, sketching for 3D street painting!

noreply@blogger.com (Street Painter) — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 06:19:00 +0000

We Talk Chalk has kept us busy lately. We have been creating sketches like crazy the last week and a half. I think we've done about 18 sketches for different projects we're working on. I think this is the most stressful part of working on 3-D street paintings - thinking up new ideas and making sure that they work for the 3-D illusion. Part of what makes our sketches successful to the client is the fact that we do almost full mini renderings of how the finish will look. So instead of just doing a pencil sketch it really gives the clients an idea of how the full-color version will be right off the bat, and of course we do several revisions until we know the client is happy...which can mean a lot of time. Those initial color sketches kind of help them visualize how everything will look once painted. It's difficult for some people, especially if they haven't seen a 3D street painting in person, to visualize how a sketch is going to translate into the 3-D street painting because they see a 2-D image in an email as it's suppose to look when you stand in the right spot on the street. It can be incredibly shocking for people to see just how stretched and distorted somethings has to be painted to work as an illusion. Walking them through our process is a big part of of what we do daily. You have to Make sure everyone understands the process and how different the finished painting is going to look from any angle other then that one perfect spot.

Last year around this time, January - February it was really quiet. I think I was working on a mural, if I remember correctly, but it was plenty of free time to prep for our first trip to Thailand. This year, pretty much right after January 1, things got started. Inquiries for new projects and events started popping up. So exciting. Now it's the first week of February and we are to have three projects that were heading into this month alone. I have a personal project for an amazing paint company from Norway. Julie's at a press conference in Bangkok as I write this. A quick 2 day trip. At the same time were working on a canvas to send to the investment Company in Israel, Still working on finalizing our sketch for an amazing evening event (confidential for now) in New York City that I'll go and install next week and I'm super thrilled because Luc and Remmie are coming along with me for that. And then – four days after, Remco and I along with Julie and eight other artists, from all over the world, head to Thailand for our 3-D street painting exhibition! I should say 3-D and 4 D Street Painting Exhibition. That'll take us right into the first week of March. It's turning out to be a very busy started to the year and we are so grateful!

Ready. Set. Street Paint!

noreply@blogger.com (Street Painter) — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 20:01:00 +0000

It's been a crazy stressful week. The street painting season has already gotten well under way. I have personal projects and projects with our company, We Talk Chalk. We also have a possible project in Israel and New York. Everything is in planning stages right now and we'll be starting actual paintings next week!!

After months of planning, Remco, Julie, and I had an artist cancel on us just a few weeks before our big event in Thailand. Luckily we found a wonderful artist to take their place in a pinch. I guess it was meant to be because it just all fell into place...thank goodness! We just booked all the tickets to Bangkok. It's a We Talk Chalk project and we are taking 10 artists to Bangkok to create incredible 3D and 4D street paintings. Each artist will create their own work of art in the theme of 'Fun Park'. All the sketches are finally in and we can't wait to see how all of them turn out. I'm announcing all the artists

My sketch was approved for a project I'll do just outside New Orleans in two weeks, just before Thailand. The 3D painting will have lots of adorable penguins ;) The company, Jotun paint, has a penguin in their logo ;) I'm really excited about this project. The sketch below is still rough. I'm adding more detail and color as well as logos, etc. It'll be a really cute photo op with these little guys.

It'll also be nice to return to New Orleans with Remmie. We had our honeymoon their in February of 2009. Luc get's a week with grandma and grandpa ;)

Stay tuned for an update on these two projects...They are the first of the season and within a week of one another. 2013 is starting off with a bang!!

'Fun' Street Paintings!

noreply@blogger.com (Street Painter) — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 04:29:00 +0000

It's only a few weeks into 2013 but things are already busy...lots of sketching. Not so easy a lot of the time, especially with an 18 month old running & climbing around the house ;) Actually, sketching can super frustrating for me depending on the subject of the piece. I'm working on my design for Thailand right now...I say 'now' but what I actually mean is, I've been working on it for weeks. I've had the idea for quite a while and it's grown and morphed quite a bit.

Sometimes the hardest projects are the one's where you have almost complete free reign. That's pretty much the case with the Thailand Event. We do have a theme..."Fun Park," "Lively & Entertaining." Sounds easy enough, right. Well, sure...lots of things come to mind but then you have a zillion ideas you think are good ones and you want to use them all, or you can't decide on one, and you're on this endless cycle of second guessing yourself...lol. I think it's something every artist does in one way or the other. It's maddening sometimes.

Happily, the guessing is over. I'm really excited how everything turned out. I have a really cool sketch! 'Yay,' I say with confidence!! BUT, in reality, that was the easy part. Now I have to make sure the actual painting lives up to that sketch. It doesn't always turn out that way unfortunately. I've had my share of blunders over the last 15 years ;)

Anyway...I'm finally finished with my sketch. I can't reveal it all just yet so I'm posting a small detail.
What I can say is, It will be 4D! What does that mean exactly? You'll see ;o

detail of "Spring Piglet Celebration" (digital painting over pencil sketch)

Street Painting Society

noreply@blogger.com (Street Painter) — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 07:17:00 +0000

It's been over a year since Remmie and I took down StreetPaintingSociety.com. That 'Under Construction' sign was getting pretty dusty ;) We decided we had to get it back up an running. There are a few imitations that popped up in the last few months with a lot of our previous info. So it was definitely time to revamp an old favorite.

We have a cool new interactive festival list/map that I'm still adding to...Seems there's a new festival every few months or so which is amazing!! If you know of one I haven't included, please let me know. We've also added a common practices page that I hope will be really helpful for new events and artists. There aren't really any rules or guidelines for street painters or street painting festivals so it makes it difficult to set standards. We hope this can be a starting point.

Check it out & become a member...www.streetpaintingsociety.com

A Year in the Life of a Street Painter

noreply@blogger.com (Street Painter) — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 04:10:00 +0000

Wow...2013. It's funny to think how much things have changed in 15 years. It wasn't so long ago I was working on my first big project out of school - South Park (the movie, then the TV show for 8 years). That same year I participated in my first street painting festival thanks to my good friend, and now business partner Julie Kirk. She invited me to this little inaugural event in Miami, Florida for 'my' inaugural street painting performance. I had no idea what I was doing really. Sure, I studied painting at Art Center, Oils, Acrylics, Gouache, even Photoshop and Maya...but this was different. This was different then anything I had ever done and it was incredible. My good friend Amir shared the painting with me. We recreated 'Mary Magdalin' by De La Tour. It turned out beautiful. We were really proud ;) Unfortunately, the festival itself wasn't a success, but for me, it was a weekend that would change my life.

Now, New Years day 2013, I look back at the last 15 years of incredible projects, travels, and the making of incredible friends...all because of street painting. It's been quite an unexpected journey for someone who wanted to be a children's book illustrator. One of the dreams I had as a young girl was to travel the world. I knew I wanted to see all I could. Well, it came true. It's one of those things... I didn't know how, or when, or who with but I asked, and I received. That my work has taken me around the world to some of the most magnificent places to create something in chalk on the ground...really...who would have guessed that? Imagine my parents surprise when I said I was going to quit an amazing full time career at one of the most popular TV shows...lol. They were actually incredibly supportive. So I thank them dearly for that.

Now, I have an incredible husband, Remmie, that manages my career and our new company We Talk Chalk. That's right, Remco, Julie, and I started a Street Painting company last year. We create 3D street paintings and visual solutions for clients all over the world. 2012 was more successful then we could have imagined. Remco handles all of our Finances, Marketing, and Technical (web, video, etc)
And Julie and I are the creatives. It's been an incredible amount of work and by November we were completely wiped out. But the adventures were well worth it. So, I decided it would be interesting to keep a journal of this years journey. Will it be as successful? Who knows. But in looking back at the last 12 months it's hard to remember everything in that whirlwind of airports, asphalt, baby bottles, and paint. Oh yeah, did I mention Remco and I have an adorable 17 month old named Luc. He's quite a spunky little monkey and makes traveling difficult a lot of the time whether he comes along or not. But amazing grandparents make it all possible me, or both Remco and I, to get the job done.

So, here this is it. My first blog post of 2013's "A Year in the Life of a Street Painter: A Street Painting Journal by Melanie Stimmell Van Latum. I hope to post at least once a week as we lead into the street painting season, and maybe even everyday once we're in the thick of things. Hope you'll hang in there with me. It's going to be fun :) Until next week...have a great start to 2013!!!

Here's a map of my street painting adventures the last 12 months. Some We Talk Chalk, some MelanieStimmell.

#3DstreetPainting #ChalkPainting #PavementArt #Anamorhic #3DchalkArt #3Dillusion #ChalkArt #MelanieStimmell

Da Vinci's Corner Mural

noreply@blogger.com (Street Painter) — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 23:10:00 +0000

Julie and I recently spent some time away from Street Painting. We were 4 days at the Discovery Museum in Reno Nevada. A great place of exploration for children, we enjoyed creating a mural for the Museum's new 'Da Vinci Corner.' We painted two walls in a space that will feature interactive games and activities inspired by Da Vinci's designs and inventions. We incorporated several of DaVinci's images including the Mona Lisa, Madonna of the Rocks, and a beautiful drawing of an armored soldier.

detail - Madonna of the Rocks

detail - Mona Lisa

Da Vinci's Corner

3D Street Painting Company

noreply@blogger.com (Street Painter) — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 21:07:00 +0000

Happy to have a little time to post while working on a 3D street painting in North Dakota. It's been go go go for the last few months with We Talk Chalk. Julie, Remco, and I have had back to back to back projects creating 3D street paintings, murals, and nationwide campaigns. It's been incredible. Here are a few pics of what we've been up to...

5 city 'Coors Splash Down' Campaign!

'Coors Splash Down' San Diego, California

'Coors Splash Down' Chicago, Illinois

First Street Painting Festival in Israel!

'Mermaid Rising' Ramat Hasharon, Israel

3 painting 'Verizon - Life is your Journey' Campaign!

'Verizon - Your Life's Journey' Seattle, Washington

2 wall mural in the Nevada Discovery Museum!

'DaVinci Corner' Reno, Nevada

To see more of our recent work visit us at WeTalkChalk.com

Trade Show Entertainment

noreply@blogger.com (Street Painter) — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 05:14:00 +0000

I've done a few projects at Trade Shows, or Conventions, over the last several years. Creating street paintings or chalk murals to draw attention to a clients booth or just as entertainment. My favorite part about creating a painting at such an event is just how different it is from everything else in the event. Within a sea of corporate booths and dark suited salesmen sits a girl with a few pieces of colored chalk. I always feel a sense of excitement in creating something before an audience with a twist of the unexpected.

Last April I painted a 40 foot wall for TecaPrintUSA at the National Plastics Trade Show in Orlando, FL. This was a unique project because it was huge...but also because it was vertical. I'm so used to creating my work on the floor. This was a nice change. The image I designed was inspired by the clients idea of a drag race...A crumbling cement wall opened up to reveal a dramatic city scape with neon, billboards, and hanging lanterns. All created in soft pastel, I finished the 8 x 40 foot wall in about 3 days. Had a great time painting it and it turned out to be one of my favorite paintings.

3D Street Painting In Thailand!

noreply@blogger.com (Street Painter) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 18:58:00 +0000

The last few months have been the busiest start to the street painting season thus far. It's been great...hoping it continues ;)

In March I traveled to Thailand with 5 other artists, via my new company We Talk Chalk, to create Thailand's first 3D street paintings and also give a few workshops to local artists. We were invited by a wonderful events company in Chiang Mai called Earth Wind and Fire headed up by the most amazing power couple, Yut and Aom. They provided us with the most incredible hospitality we could have ever asked for.

So, 4 of us teamed up to create a 15 x 67 foot painting that traveled from ground to wall and took 5 days to complete. Tony Cubuliquido, Lysa Ashly, my husband Remco Van Latum, and I had a great time painting this with pigments & binder and designed it so spectators could pose for pics on our sacred Thai Elephants. Here's a photo of us sitting atop the majestic creatures.

Ruben Poncia from the Netherlands, and Juandres Vera from Mexico rounded out our team and create two beautiful individual 3D paintings that drew crowds.

Sacred Creatures

A Year in the Life of a Street Painter

Black Bird

Blue Hair & Rich Reds

Painting My Painting

2013

Here's to another creative and productive year for all!!! Happy 2014!

Longest Anamorphic Street Painting in the World

3 weeks of 3D Street Painting

Curly Tails in 3D

3D at Foire de Paris

Newport to New York

Thailand to Florida to Florida

The Streets Heat up in Bangkok

Progress

Living Arts

JOTUN Penguins Come to Life in 3D Street Painting

Street Painting In The Rain!

Penguins in 3D

Sketch, sketch, sketching for 3D street painting!

Ready. Set. Street Paint!

'Fun' Street Paintings!

Street Painting Society

A Year in the Life of a Street Painter

Da Vinci's Corner Mural

3D Street Painting Company

Trade Show Entertainment

3D Street Painting In Thailand!

Here's to another creative and productive year for all!!!

Happy 2014!