Streetpainting.tv is here to speak with 3-D street painting artist Michael Macaulay about his street painting work and interests. Here is our interview with Michael:
How many years street painting?
Since 2003 (five years)
How you got into street painting?
I saw an ad in the monthly magazine for my town (East Greenwich) for an annual “Arts on Main” event that included a street painting contest. I had never tried it before and decided it would be fun to try. I had a 4’x4’ square and completed the piece in about 3 hours. I had a great time and got a lot of positive feedback (including a first place prize). I have been hooked on street painting ever since.
How many paintings do you make a year?
To date, I do about 5 or 6 a year, but look forward to doing more in the future.
What inspires you in your image choices?
I love to do street paintings with kids in mind. I think about what I would have liked to have seen as a kid and go with it (partly because my interests haven’t changed all that much). I tend to do mostly sports and superheroes – kids really seem to respond to my street paintings. Children are such a great audience when it comes to street painting because they are very expressive and it is great to see them get excited about art. They tell you exactly how they feel; they get genuinely excited. It is also pretty cool to see grown adults get excited about it as well. When a grown man sees a large image of Superman on the pavement and gets wide-eyed, that is priceless too.
Do you get to choose your own image or interpretation for your event(s) (or at your square)?
Yes, but there always seem to be restrictions for different events (no logos, etc.). I have done a few street paintings for the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, RI and they often give me an idea or theme and let me run with it.
What do you enjoy most about street painting?
The thing I enjoy most about street painting is human interaction. I love the instant feedback of passersby and the gratification of people telling me how much they are enjoying my work. It is so very rewarding. I love to hear the response of children and their response to artwork being done right before their eyes on a large scale.
How long does it take you to make a street painting? (State sizes you do...)
I have done street paintings from 4’x4’ to 10’x12’ and I have had to complete these street paintings within 5 hours on average.
Do you work alone or with other people?
I have always worked alone to this point. If a large project of interest presents itself where I get to work with other artists, I would definitely consider it.
How do you feel about the ephemeral quality of the art form?
Street painting is definitely a temporary art form. You better make sure to take lots of pictures, and I always do. The real art of doing a street painting is not so much the destination, but the journey to complete the piece. I think it is fun to watch an artist at his craft, making art come to life right before your eyes. I love being the one to create the work.
Does street painting relate to other work you do, are you an artist full time?
When I do a street painting the theme does tend to relate to my other artwork. My artwork is generally centered on a sports theme and it shows in a lot of my street paintings. I am not a full time artist, but I enjoy honing my skills as much as possible and as often as possible.
What do you like best about the New England/Northeast street painting festival atmosphere?
The time of year when most of the street painting festivals occur in New England is great. Most of the festivals in the Northeast and New England take place between May and September. Springtime in New England can be wonderful. After a long, cold winter New Englanders love to get outside to see and do things. The festivals that I have participated in are very well-attended. You can’t beat Summer and Fall in the Northeast either.
New Englanders are passionate and very expressive – especially when it comes to sports. Sports are such a big part of the New England culture. Fans all over New England are fanatics when it comes to their favorite team, whether it’s the Patriots, Red Sox, Yankees, Celtics, or Bruins. The tremendous rivalry between Red Sox fans and Yankees fans is fantastic – it stirs a lot of emotion in local sports fans. The New England audience tends to get excited about what they are seeing before their eyes, when I create something related to sports.
Do you have any amazing/interesting/crazy stories to share with us? - anything from traveling with the chalk and the whole security issue, to having an impromptu assistant from the audience, or something a spectator may have shared with you.
I participated in a street painting contest in Providence, RI on September 11, 2004. The date marked the third anniversary of the tragedy of 9-11-01. In honor of the fallen NY firefighters I decided to do an 8’x8’ piece to pay tribute to the men of the FDNY. All day long, as I worked on the piece people stopped and stared. Many got choked up and said “thank you”, including a number of local firemen. I can’t tell you how many great comments I got that day. At times, I got chills myself as I created the artwork.
Anyway, I won the Judges’ Award as well as the Peoples Choice Award, which rarely happens at any street painting event – let alone a real competitive event like the one hosted in Providence. After they announced the winners, I returned to my space to take a couple pictures. What I saw was awesome. Someone had laid a single red rose on my artwork. It was one of the coolest things I ever experienced.
What is the funniest thing that ever happened to you or the funniest things people have said while watching you?
I think something funny happens or is said at about any event I do. But some things just stand out more than others. Just a couple months ago I did a street painting for the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, RI depicting a few lily pads and a couple frogs. Well, I can’t tell you how many kids wanted to hop from one lily pad to another. A couple kids actually did, before their parents grabbed them. I found it kind of funny. One little boy walked over and sat right down on one of the lily pads. I snapped a picture for posterity.
Another time I did a street painting of two football players coming out of the pavement. The painting was of a Patriot’s football player carrying a football and stiff-arming a would-be tackler. A young couple approached the street painting and what the woman said was priceless: “Hey that’s Corey Dillon. He’s so hot. I want that painted in our bedroom right over my bed.” Her husband had a momentary look of shock and said, “Yeah that would be cool!” The wife then looked back at him and said, “I was just kidding.” The husband sounded a little deflated when he replied, “Oh.”
Yet another time I made the most of a situation out of my control with the space that I was given for a festival in Cambridge, MA. I had prepared my sketch for my street painting that depicted the New York Yankee’s Derek Jeter sliding into home plate with the Red Sox’ Jason Varitek blocking the plate with his leg. When I saw my square I noticed there was a circular hole in the pavement that was about three inches in diameter and it was not in a spot that would work well with my plans. So, I altered my sketch a little and diagramed out the street painting so that the hole in the pavement would be Derek Jeter’s mouth. People loved it. I got the biggest kick out of all the comments people made about that. Plus, the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry is so heated in New England – everyone wanted to know if Jeter was safe or out. I would then say, “It depends, are you a Yankees fan or a Red Sox fan?”
How do you decide what your subject matter will be?
If I have the opportunity to select my subject (which I usually do), I do what I enjoy to do most – sports or superheroes. Kids love this kind of stuff and so do I. I do it because I love seeing and hearing reactions from kids when they see my work. It is so true; kids do say the darndest things. Children certainly let you know if they like your work. I love hearing a little one come up to me and ask, “Did you do that? Whoa, that’s awesome!” Even a shy kid can’t hide the excitement when his eyes open wide and a grin graces his face. I know I have done my job.
What is your favorite street painting you have worked on to date?
I have enjoyed doing a number of different street paintings but probably none more so than the one I did in Providence on September 11, 2004 for all the same reasons stated above for the “amazing story” question.
Do the audiences vary from one festival to another?
Audiences definitely vary from one festival to another. The larger ones that take place in larger cities have a more diverse crowd than the small town festivals. But I enjoy them both so much for different reasons. All the festivals I have participated seem to be family-friendly, but the bigger festivals like the Harvard Square Mayfair in Cambridge, MA draws more single people, college kids, and people of different backgrounds and ethnicity than the smaller festivals. I love it. I get so much positive feedback.
Technical questions:
Explain your approach to making your image? (Collage, original sketch, photo?)
I often plan ahead about a week or two before a festival. I try to do something a little different than the last time I was at the particular festival. I may look through magazines or images online to get ideas of what I want to do. When I decide on the subject, I come up with my own sketch that I think will work well in a street painting. More recently, I have started to incorporate more anamorphic designs into my work.
How do you start? How do you transfer your sketch to the larger size on the pavement?
I work from my sketch and transpose the design onto the pavement by using a grid. It is the easiest way for me to re-create the image to scale. If the sketch is more freeform and less precise, I simply work from the sketch without worrying about scale and create the work as if I was creating a fresh painting.
How do you apply the color?
I apply the color to the pavement like most anyone else. I draw with the chalks and then blend the color as much as possible using my hands. I often use a sponge to spread large base areas of color. I use my fingers and hands for the details.
How do you complete the painting? (top to bottom, left to right?...)
First, I transpose my sketch on the pavement using a grid. Then I tend to work in some of the detail or focus of the street painting. After I have a good start on the detail I work on the background to pull the painting together. After that, I re-work the detail until I am satisfied – which must be never because I continually sharpen the piece as much as possible. Wind has a dulling effect on the artwork, so I keep at brightening up my work as much as possible.
What other tools do you use when working?
My hands are the primary tools I use when working on a street painting. I have adopted tape for my fingers and gloves as a means to save some skin on my fingers. Other than that I use sponges to spread color over more vast areas – like background or even base color areas.
What is the most difficult aspect of street painting?
The elements that are not in your control are sometimes difficult to deal with when doing a street painting. Wind can dull the artwork or blow color around. Rain is never any good for a street painting for obvious reasons. Sometimes you have to deal with a rough or cracked surface (or even a pothole). People who don’t respect the fact that you are working on art are sometimes difficult to deal with – those individuals that don’t pay attention to where they are going and walk blatantly across your work while they are chatting on their cell phone. It doesn’t happen that often but it happens.
Taking the picture of the street painting when it is complete is sometimes difficult too because they can be so large and you just can’t seem to capture the dynamics of the actual work in the photograph.
Do you have any tricks to share? (technique, chalks, etc.)
I don’t incorporate many tricks when I do a street painting. I do most of the work with my fingers for detail and the sponge to spread color.
Has it rained while street painting? How did you deal/handle the situation.
If there is the threat of rain, I bring a piece of plastic to cover my work just in case. If it is going to really pour, there isn’t much you can do. Everybody is in the same boat. The festivals tend to postpone or cancel street painting events if the weather is bad though.
How do you physically prepare to do a street painting, isn't it really hard on the body? What are you tricks to keep from getting sore and tired?
I tend to keep myself in decent physical condition. I exercise a lot and stretch, but that doesn’t mean I won’t get stiff while spending a lot time down on the pavement. When I am doing s street painting, I get up off the ground now and then to take a look at my work. I might take a short walk around just to get the blood flowing through my body.
