How2StreetPaint.com

Street Painting an EYE

One of the most important parts of any portrait is the eyes. If they are not painted well and convey emotion it can ruin the whole image. With the following series of images I will show how I paint an eye with soft pastel on rough asphalt.

Step 1. Draw your eye in a light blue. (avoid using white or black) This should just be a contour drawing.





Step 2. Color in the white of the eye with a midtone gray chalk, Iris in olive green, and pupil in black. These should be applied in thin consistant layers and rubbed in so that the surface is covered.



Step 3. Now add a brick red to the inner and outer edge of the eye and also the eye lids. This will add a bit more depth and realism to your eye. Outline lash line with dark brown.




Step 4. Begin to apply skin tone on the eye lids. You will layer this over the red you applied in step 3. To create the illusion of light reflecting on the eye, apply a yellow ochre to the left side gradually fading to the olive green. Using a white, bring up the highlight on the white of the eye. You want to begin at the iris and fade your way out to the gray before reaching the red in the corner.



Step 5. On the bottom right, add pale blue and brick red to the upper right. Now your iris should gradate from yellow-green-blue-green-red. Blend lightly with your fingers and reapply each given color by lightly scummbling over surface a second time. With black pastel outline your lash line and iris. This line should be soft but clear so you can blend over it with your finger to soften slightly. Around the iris, blend the black outline inward toward pupil. You can now add small white highlights on the eyeball; one over the yellow ocher, one small dot in the pupil, and one slightly larger dot on the right side between the red and blue.



Step 6. The flesh surrounding the eye can now be painted in working your way out from the center.

3D Angels on the Street

Well, I'm in London, Canada now on the eve of their first ever street painting festival.  Everyone here is really great and have been so incredibly nice to us.  I'm not sure we deserve such hospitality but we are tremendously grateful.  The Expressions in Chalk festival is tomorrow which means I must begin painting my first ever anamorphic piece.  Exciting!  Right?   Well, after much nervous anticipation, I am actually very excited to begin.  I would like to walk you through the process from the beginning.   This will come in several stages over several days as I am updating as I travel on not much sleep...So please be patient ;)

This is the preliminary image I designed for the festival to be painted at St. Peter's Cathedral.   I knew I wanted something religious so I found some photo reference I had from a few years back and the poses worked perfectly.  The two seated figures were photographed from above just enough to  look convincingly like they are seated on the edge of the opening in the ground.  All being the same model, I will modify the hair color and facial features so they all look different.  So, I composed them together around this opening which  leads down to earh.  You can see the sky at the bottom in blue.  Then I just added some toga-like garments and wings. 

Fine for a preliminary but not really religious enough.  They look  a little like fairies and the image is missing a lot of key elements to really make it more content based instead of just a 3D piece.

Ok...So this is the final version before 3d formula application. 
I've added more angel-like robes, halos, a white lily, bible, banner,  and white doves ascending into heaven.  I basically just took a piece of tracing paper over the first drawing and modified it till it worked with all the added props then added some doves I found online.  Pretty quick transformation but a huge difference. 

3D Street Paintings

OK, OK...It is time for me to address the subject of 3D streetpaintings.  I know you've all seen the emails or been walking down the sidewalk and accidentally avoided what you thought was a whole in the street.  This is a picture of Julian Beever and his 3D image of a Coca Cola.

Well, I have always been very traditional in my pianting styles and really viewed these 3D paintings as a trend, a novelty act, something that would get old really quick once everyone had seen one or two - not because they were silly or unconventional but because I truly believe in the timeless beauty of a traditionally painted image...complete with translucent skin tones and supple fleshy thighs intertwined with swirling gathers of satin fabrics and golden tresses all created with a few sticks of chalk on a terribly rough and blazing hot stretch of asphalt.  Doesn't that sound appealing??
But really, 3D paintings are only viewable from one spot...usually 5 and a half feet away from the bottom of the painting.  Very mathematical...part of my resistance.  The formulas for creating these images are very precise and when viewed from the side are just strange.  What looks like a 12 foot tall image from that 5 foot mark will actually be more like 25 feet.  Still, the effects are very cool but just weren't for me.

I have been working,(part time), as a streetpainter for about 8 years now and it has taken me all over the world to paint the images of artworks you only see in artbooks and museums and also a few of my own design.  In the last 3 years, especially, I have had many offers to come paint as a featured artist for different festivals and cultural events in places I never dreamed I would travel.  But recently the offers to come paint have been under the assumption that I would paint a 3D image.  I did turn down a few offers, referring fellow streetpainters who practice the technique, and  explaining to the festival that I have never done a 3D image myself and would not feel right practicing the technique on their dime.  It just wouldn't be fare.  I have worked on a 3D image with my friend Julie Kirk but it was her design, not my own, so I really wasn't in the brains of the operation.  Besides all the obvious reasons that I have stated, what am I so affraid of?  Well, if I continue to humor my fear and indifference I will get left behind.  I don't think I will turn in to a 3D maniac and just create 3D images from now on but I really need to learn how to do this and prove to myself that I can do it. 

This August I will paint my first solo 3D streetpainting in London, Canada.  Am I excited?  Yes!!
Nervous?  Hell Yes!!  I am working out the design now and really having to think more mathematically...not my strong point and part of my original resistance to the artform.  The idea of having to figure out a geometric formula is just frieghtening to me but the possibilities of the end result are really invigorating.   Yes, the Canadian festival is taking care of all my expenses to come paint as a featured artist but are happy let me try out my first 3D image and I am grateful. 
I will combine all those wonderful things I love -the luscious fabrics and fleshy bodies- but paint it so it looks as though it is popping off the sidewalk.  I hope you'll join me step by step...I will be posting the steps as I go so you can benefit from all the mistakes I will surely make ;) 

To see some great 3D images check out these artists...
www.KurtWenner.com    and    www.JulianBeaver.com

http://www.european-street-painting.com/

Street Painting For Kids

Street Pianting can be a really fun activity for children especially if they haven't done it before.  They really love being able to sit on the ground and color.  The following is a workshop I did for about 200 kids in about 3 hours.

Supplies

The most important  supply is the chalk.  I recommend a student grade soft pastel such as Koss.
I usually buy a case which is 24 boxes of 48 count pastels.  You don't have to purchase the 48 count.  There are wonderful sets of 24 or 12 count which are porbably more pracitcal for kids.  You can see in the 3rd pic that I have seperated colors into tupperware containers.  I just took all the blues from the Koss box and combined them to make one 'blue' box.  For the most part I didn't include any blacks, Grays, or browns.  Stick with the bright colors.  I also use a chalk line and tape measure to create the square.  Duct tape is needed if you are marking out the square by yourself.  I duct tape one end of the string down to the ground and walk the chalk line to the end of my measured square to snap the line.  Also...Baby wipes are a street painters best friend.  They are much nicer to use when you constantly have to clean your hands. 
 

The Square

So I blocked out a large square at about 24 x 36 ft. with the tape measure and chalk line.  I drew in big flowers, ladybugs, bees, rolling hills, and a large earth in the center.  All the elements are large and easy for the children to move around and team up on.  I didn't plan out the image formally.  I simply thought of a general theme - 'Spring' - and did a quick sketch.

After I have the image drawn the children come in to paint.  I have all the tupperware bowls of different colored chalk layed out around the painting and before anyone can touch a piece of chalk I explain the history of street painting and the 'rules' of street painting (These are rules for children as they work - it makes everything a lot easier).

Street Painting Rules:

1. Work together
2. Be respectful of other streetpainters and their work
3. Take only one piece of chalk at a time
4. When finished with a piece of chalk put it back in its container or trade with another artist
5. Try not to touch your clothes, and especially not another artist with chalky hands ; )

Once I have explained all the rules I do a small demonstration on how to apply the chalk and let the kids begin by each choosing one piece of chalk and finding an area to paint.

The Painting

Despite any instruction I give on what colors to use on each element or what to piant first, last, etc. the kids will do something much more random and beautiful.

Lady Bugs

Bees

More Beautiful Bees

Flowers

Finish

Designing a Street Painting

"Allegory of Art: From Canvas to Asphalt"

Deciding on the right image for a street painting is just as important as an American Idol contestant choosing the right song for their voice.  This year I am featured artist at the Santa Barbara Street Painting Festival and was asked to design something on the history of street painting. You can see the pictures I used to compose my image and also a short step by step on my process for designing this image titled  'Allegory of Art: From Canvas to Asphalt.'

Step 1:  The Main Image

This is an image I found in a Dutch magazine while I was in Germany.  Later that trip I was able to see the original image.  Very beautiful.  It is called the Allegory of Art. by Italian artist Domenichino.  I love the image and it would make a beautiful streetpainting all by itself.  The figures are well rendered an emerge from the dark background with a glow.  The figure in white especially stands out with her regal stance and flowing white drapery.  Because of the horizontal space provided for the featured artist I have to change the format.  This requires a little research and work.  The first thing I did was scan the image at 300 dpi.  This is the lowest resolution I will use when scanning any reference material or photograph.

Step 2:  Masking

I took the image into Photoshop and added a mask to the layer so that I could hide the elements I did not want without getting rid of them permanently.  (If you are unfamiliar with photoshop you can visit www.UsingPhotoshopCS.com for Free step by step tutorials).  I decided to get rid of the two figures in the background behind the artist because they didn't seem to serve a purpose in my idea for this piece.  I wanted to use the figure in the gold drapery as the model for the artists painting and the figure in white brings in the element of music which is very prominant at the Santa Barbara festival.  These 3 figures still have a very nice interaction and composition without the two background figures.  I then went online to google.com and searched for columns where I found this image.

Step 3:  Finding Images that Work for You

First I had to change the canvas size to 12 inch x 16 inch  because my street painting will be 12 ft x 16 ft.  I always us inches to feet.  This keeps the proportions accurate and will make the gridding process we will do later much easier.  I cut out the column on the left and brought into the Allegory file to complete the column behind the artist and added the one on the right.  I also had to complete the lavender drapery so I painted that in with the Photoshop brush tool.  Now I have the basics skeleton of my image done and can move onto the extra elements that will pull it all together to fit my theme of the history of streetpainting.

I found this image and new instantly that the figure in blue was perfect as a streetpainter.  She is kneeling in the perfect position to be painting and will be a pleasure to paint not only because it is a beautiful figure but it is also by one of my favorite painters French Adolphe-William Bouguereau.   

I brought the image into photoshop and cut out the figure with the lasso tool, copied and pasted it into my Allegory file.  Now comes the time consuming part.  I went around the figure carefully with the erasor tool to rid any background from the image.  You can also use the magic wand tool to select the background if it is a solid color, or close to it and delete it.  (I try and put my selections on 'Feather' by 2 or 3 pixels so that the image has a softer transition into the new image.)

This lovely painting is by an Italian artist named Domenichino.  It is called the Allegory of Architecture, Astrology, and Agriculture.  I thought the baby in the center was perfect because he is holding an hour glass which can symbolize the time constraints of streetpainting.  Whether you are rushing to finish before dark or before it begins to rain, or the festival ends there is always some sort of deadline to streetpainting.  So I knew the second saw him that he was the perfect little cherub for me.  I scanned the image, cut him out, and placed him in he Allegory file.

I wanted to put the church of Grazie in Mantova, Italy  in my image because it is where the original streetpainting festival is held.  So I needed a beautiful sunset as a backdrop.  I chose this one because it was fairly simple and didn't want it to stand out too much and compete with the important elements of the painting.

This is the lovely church in Grazie where the festival is held every year on August 14th and 15th.  I erased the sky in the original photo because it was a plain blue.  Then I was able to drop my sunset image behind it.

Step 3:  Putting it All Together

This is how it looked when I first put all the elements together.  I have added some Lotus flowers and an image of the madonna and child to both the canvas the artist is painting one on the street that I had to skew.  This gives the streetpainter her purpose and ties everything into the original theme : The history of StreetPainting.

You can see how bright and competitive all the elements are with one another.  Nothing stands out as the focal point.  The madonna and child that I originally chose is in a different color pallete and doesn't really fit in with the rest of the image.

Step 4:  Revisions

I found this image of the Modonna and Child by Tiepolo that I really liked.  The colors are softer and more like those in the original Allegory image.  I brought the image into the Allegory file and scaled and skewed it to the artist's canvas.  I then added a mask to reveal the artist's arm 'over' the painting.  Lastly I took the same image and flipped it 180 degrees and changed the perspective so it looks like it is on the street.  I erased the edges so it looked like more like it was being painted on the ground. 

This is the 2nd image I saved.  You can see that I changed the color of the sky for added drama.  It sends the background back farther and brings the figures forward which is what you want.  They are now the focal point.  I added a more interesting shape to the streetpainting by adding a frame over the top.  The gray border will be the actual border of the image.  The black surrounding will be the street itself.  I really liked this version but my friend made a wonderful suggestion.  He asked if I could put the hourglass baby in the lap of of the woman in gold to improve the composition even more. 

  Step 5: The Final Image   

Placing the baby in the woman's lap worked perfectly.  Now the image has a triangular composition.  All the figures lie within that central triangle where most of the vibrant color resides.  This is my final image.  It turned out better than I thought it would with all the different images I incorporated.