Blog Now on streetpainting.tv - 4D Street Painting Art

'Undiscovered' 3D Street Painting by Michael Macaulay at the Peabody Essex Museum

 

Last Saturday, the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA, opened its doors to celebrate a special event called, “Eye Spy, Playing with Perception”.  Highlights of the day were magic shows, optical illusion exhibits, interactive art and illusionary activities, presentations, tours, and an anamorphic street painting created in the atrium of the museum by featured artist, Michael Macaulay. Michael’s street painting 'Undiscovered' tied in the illusion and perception theme while also incorporating a Mayan ruin into the piece since there was a Mayan exhibit featured at the museum as well. 

 

  

 

The 8’x8’ 3D piece took Michael about seven hours to complete.  Hundreds of people stopped to watch Michael work throughout the day.  There were even seats set up around the piece for people to sit and watch as he worked on his art work. 

  
A majority of the viewers had camera in hand and stepped into the proper viewing angle to really see the street painting come to life.  Many were excited to see the results of the 3D effect captured by their camera lenses.  The piece was a hit with the public, especially children who were not afraid to comment on how much they loved it.

 

Michael's finished street painting remains on display in the museum until the end of the week.

 'Undiscovered' street painting - design by Michael Macaulay. Copyright 2010, Michael Macaulay and Art for After Hours.

Michael Macaulay at Motif #1 Art Festival in Rockport, MA

Street painter Michael Macaulay was asked to be the featured artist as a demonstration to accompany the street painting contest held at the Motif #1 Art Festival in Rockport, MA. Mike had just a few hours to complete his 3D street painting.

The red building depicted is the "Motif #1" and is famous in Rockport for being one of the most painted and photographed buildings in the United States.  Nemo is in there because the founder, creator, and director of "Finding Nemo" (Andrew Stanton) is from Rockport.

 

Mike posing with his street painting for Motif #1 Art Festival.

 

Many people came by took photos of Mike's street painting and had fun recognizing the Motif #1 building and of course Nemo the fish!

Michael Macaulay Shares Street Painting with Second Graders

Street Painter Michael Macaulay shared his talent with his son's second grade class as part of "parent professional days" where parents come in and talk to the class about something they do professionally. Mike did a simple demonstration of street painting for the class, using a butterfly as the subject.

 

Mike working on his butterfly street painting.

 

Mike's finished butterfly street painting. The kids loved the pretty bright butterfly and the cool 3D effect that made the butterfly look like it was hovering!

  
The students really enjoyed Mike's demonstration and had lots of fun doing their own street paintings!

Michael Macaulay: 1 Hour & a Box of Chalk at the Main Street Stroll

Street painter Michael Macaulay has been busy and here is another quick street painting he did a few days ago.  Check out the piece he created in just over 60 minutes!

 

 
Michael tells us: “The ‘Snake Chasing His Tail’ street painting was completed within a 4' x 4' space and took a little over an hour to complete.  The Main Street Stroll is an event that takes place on the first Thursday of each month between May and September.  Between 5pm and 8pm, over 50 artists set up shop and display everything from paintings to hand-made jewelry.  Live music can be heard up and down Main Street in East Greenwich as hundreds of people stroll through town looking for treasures and trying food and treats from some of the local restaurants.  It is a great event for people to get out on a Thursday evening a walk around the quaint, New England Town of East Greenwich.

 

During the event, some artists paint or draw as people pass by.  This year I decided to do that as well.  Only I did not paint on canvas or draw on paper.  I performed my art on the sidewalk for all to enjoy.  I did my first Main Street Stroll street painting and it was very rewarding.  People loved to see something different from the ordinary.  Kids absolutely loved it!  Some little ones even wanted to get down the ground and chalk it up as well.  The event was a success and I will be street painting at future Strolls as well.”

Michael Macaulay & the Great (Penguin) Escape!

 

MM: "The "Chalk on the Walk" street painting competition was just a part of all the happenings at the 27th Annual May Fair in Harvard Square.  Harvard Square was bustling with a diverse crowd of a couple hundred thousand people as they had the opportunity to experience great live music, a variety of food, balloon rides, art, jewelry, and everything else that was on display.  Church Street in Cambridge, MA, came alive with vibrant colors as about 100 artists created a variety of different street paintings on the pavement.  The street paintings were a tremendous hit with the passersby." 

  

"I chose to do an 8'x10' street painting that would be popular and fun for both old and young while using the anamorphic style.  It took me about five hours to complete the piece.  Children as young as 3 years old knew exactly who the four penguins were, their names (Kowalski, Skipper, Private, Rico) and what movie they were from (Madagascar).  In the movie, the penguins attempt to break out of the zoo by digging themselves a tunnel.  They tunnel up to the surface to tell the other animals that they are going to Antarctica.  It is a hilarious scene in the movie that I wished to capture right there on Church Street in Cambridge.  The scene lent itself to the anamorphic 3D style perfectly.  People loved it!  It was a real rewarding day.  I even came away with a prize from the competition!"

  

 

 
A little fan taking a picture of Michael's street painting. 
 

3D Street Painting by Michael Macaulay at 'Colors of Willemstad' in Curacao

 

Street painter Michael Macaulay was recently in Curacao for the first 'Colors of Willemstad' Street Painting Festival, which took place on March 27 & 28, 2010.  Before the festival, Michael taught a workshop to local student artists to show them the fundamentals of how to street paint.  Check out pics of the worksop, Michael's fun 3D street painting, and what he had to say about his experience in Curacao!

 

Mike (standing in the grey t-shirt) giving instruction to local student artists.

 

A local artist learning to work with chalk.

  
 Mike's sketch with the first dolphin started.

 

MM: "I chose to do an anamorphic street painting based on a Curacao theme.  I chose animals that are native to Curacao, including dolphins, iguanas, and even a troupial (bird).  Diving is popular in the waters of Curacao so I incorporated a diver down flag into the street painting as well.  The airborne dolphin added a nice dynamic to the piece and a focal point as well."

 

Mike taping his fingers.  The rough surface will tear up your fingertips, so tape helps save them.

 

"The surface was brick pavers and posed a bit of a challenge.  I had to make sure to chalk into the cracks between pavers and the pavers themselves were fairly rough."  

 

Mike working on the rocks on the right side of his street painting.

 

Locals having fun with Mike's street painting.

 

"The people of Curacao LOVED the street painting.  They were extremely friendly and greatly appreciated my efforts.  I had offers to go on peoples' boats to see the island, invited to dinner (all of which I respectfully declined), and one gentleman bought me a Pepsi because he thought I looked thirsty.  There was a constant crowd gathered to watch me work.  They love the 3D aspect of the drawing.  I drew footprints on the pavement with directions to "Take Picture Here to see 3D".  People were amazed at how the street painting rose out of the ground.  When I was completed, a ton of people were getting their pictures taken with the finished piece.  They would pretend to jump into the water or pet the jumping dolphin - whatever!"  

 

 Mike (in the blue t-shirt) talking to people about his 3D street painting art.

 

"There was a real nice crowd throughout the whole two day festival that numbered in the thousands.  The festival took place throughout the downtown Willemstad area, so I am not sure how many people all in all. But, there were people everywhere.  Most of the people were locals, and all the amateur street painters were locals (mostly teenagers).  There were a few people on vacation from places such as Wisconsin, Texas, and as far away as Holland.  Actually, a lot of Dutch vacation in the Netherlands Antilles for good reason."

 

  

"The island of Curacao was beautiful.  The weather was perfect - 90 degrees and sunny with the trade winds blowing.  The snorkeling was out of this world; the water is so crystal clear and warm.  The food was good.  The people were so friendly; I was thoroughly impressed by their hospitality.  I was impressed with the locals' ability to speak multiple languages including Papiementu, Dutch, English, and some Spanish. Even children were well versed in as many as four languages.  It was a great place to visit and I would go back again.

 

It was a great experience altogether.  I learned a lot about a different culture, had a great experience drawing, and learned a few things from other artists."

 

Michael Macaulay to Street Paint at 'Colors of Willemstad' Festival in Curacao

The Colors of Willemstad Street Painting Festival will take place on March 27 & 28, 2010 on the beautiful Caribbean Island of Curacao.  Curacao is located north of Venezuela and is the largest island in the Netherlands Antilles.  U.S. street painter Michael Macaulay will be a featured artist, creating a 3D street painting with Caribbean themes!

The festival will focus on local and young artists by providing them with workshops so they can learn the fundamentals of street painting.  These artists will then create their own street paintings to share with the public! 

Colors of Willemstad is open to the public and will include artists other than street painters, such as living statues, musicians, and dancers.  Expected attendance will be up to 10,000 people over the two day festival.  If you are lucky enough to be visiting (or live in!) Curacao, stop by and say hi to Michael and check out the fun street paintings!

Michael Macaulay working on a street painting he made for at an arts festival in South Carolina in 2009.

'Golden Catch' by Michael Macaulay at the Providence Street Painting Festival

Michael Macaulay has been busy, street painting again on Sunday at the Providence Street Painting Festival in Rhode Island. His 8' x 8' piece called "Golden Catch' took about 6 & 1/2 hours to complete and was the only 3D street painting created during the festival. 

Michael told us "I had an opportunity to talk to a lot of people about the 3D aspect of the piece.  It was cool to see peoples' reactions when they took a picture from the 'x' that I marked on the ground and then looked through their camera.  It created a buzz for sure.  No one else was doing the 3D thing.  A number of other artists seemed impressed by the anamorphic effect.  I had a number of people ask about my work.  It was a great day overall."  

Side view of 'Golden Catch' by Michael Macaulay.  You can see that the eagle's wings look much longer from this view and the water hole looks quite small, but when you look at the photo below, the eagle looks in proportion and the water hole looks much larger. This is due to the drawing technique called anamorphic perspective.

 Michael Macaulay by his street painting.

 

Just in time for Fall! 'The Scarecrow' 3-D street painting by Michael Macaulay

Along with the arrival of Fall comes Michael Macaulay's latest street painting 'The Scarecrow'.  Michael was the featured artist at this one day event in Rhode Island on September 13th.  The event included a street painting competition for local artists and Michael gave tips and pointers to the artists to help them fine tune their own street paintings. 

Here are pictures of Michael's street painting in progress.  Enjoy!

Announcing the streetpainting.tv live streaming video player (powered by Livestream)

You may have noticed the video player at the upper left portion of the blog showing streetpainting.tv videos of street painting artists and festival directors continuously playing.  This is the new streetpainting.tv: online and video on demand live streaming video player thanks to the people at Livestream.com.

The player offers chat, video on demand, where you can choose what videos to watch, and live broadcasting from  remote locations (such as street painting art festivals, events, exhibitions, etc.).

We at Blog Now on streetpainting.tv are very excited about the possibilities to offer street painting festival, events, and exhibitions the ability to have live streams from their events to the streetpainting.tv channel with additional channels under development to share with the street painting fans and attendees around the USA and internationally. With live broadcasting, we are envisioning the environment where street painting festivals, artists, and fans can see programming on aspects and subjects in street painting, such as information, entertainment and open discussion from the casual festival attendees and internet viewers to the international street painting art scene.

Yes, we are seeking interested people and groups who want to bring their street painting art events live on streetpainting.tv and all they have to do is contact us at [email protected] for more information.  Nearly all possibilities are open for live broadcasting and we wil be glad to be helpful in the development of these ideas with enterprising groups for interesting projects.

Our live broadcast schedule for the fall is underway and will be released in the near future.

That said, Blog Now on streetpainting.tv strongly encourages our readers to share the streetpainting.tv player, post it on blogs, websites, Facebook, Twitter, everywhere that the many readers of our blog go to and use to help us bring the coming live broadcasting of street painting art to the many people we know enjoy and appreciate the art and people.

Here is the link to see the streetpainting.tv player and share, embed, and post (at a more viewable size)...

Thanks for your continued support,

  

Anthony and Wendy, streetpainting.tv