Lead Artist Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

This is the final image from the Italian Street Painting Festival though I'll add another image tomorrow that I took as I walked away from the event. Please check the theme I've created to see the other photos in this brief series.

I apologize for not being able to identify this artist who was given the place of honor in the festival. Working alone she created the largest and most intricate piece attempted during the two days of the festival. Here is a link to a workshop that shows the entire image. Interestingly, this workshop is a photo of a promotional flyer I found posted in the window at my local camera store, Seawood Photo, the day after the festival ended.

And here is a link to a second workshop showing the artist stretched out on the pavement working on an element of the design.

This woman is a professor of art at a California college who travels around the world to perform her artistic magic. If you look closely at the work she is doing it is truly magnificent. My guess is that she well compensated for her two days in the sun. She certainly attracted large audiences of onlookers appreciating and photographing her work.

Enjoy the view of the one last artist on the streets of San Rafael, California.

erdna, Rinie_Hoff, Galeota, Burnham, peter1892 has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Rinie_Hoff (9332) 2006-06-16 2:57

Wow! and all this in only two days? And then washed away?? She is doing an awful good job with the colors here, and applying real texture with the chalk. That's what I always admire the most, the play of light in a painting, whether it be an oil on canvas painting or a street painting like this. Like Isabel, I can't even draw a full moon, and painting is something I've never done.
Nice focus, Curtis, her arm leading us straight to that beautiful colored cloak. Did you see the knees in her pants? Completely torn apart. Poor people, being on the streets for so long. I hope the festival provided a physio therapist.
And now on to the (Arts &) wine festival? ;-))

erdna (5348) 2006-06-16 11:30

I like your pictures in this series Curtis. You always emphasize the hand that is doing the drawing and the drawing itself, taken at a very good point of views. It would have been really a pleasure as it is so close to home. These artists are just fantstic!

Andre'

Galeota (10334) 2006-06-17 1:39

Hello Curtis. Interesting series on the Italian Street painting Festival. I like your choice of chosing a tele lens to focus on details, and play with bokeh allowing us to imagine the scene, rather than overall views of the paintings. Image quality is awsome, but what could one expect from one of the most praised lenses in Canon world. Amazing work done by these fellows. I like the idea of ephemerity, which is after all the main characteristic of beauty...

[workshop] [compare] +

Burnham (2426) 2006-06-18 11:00

I have enjoyed your visit to this festival. This being the last and showing the main artist is my favorite. You have developed a style that makes me recognize your images before seeing your name below them, and this one has that Curtis look to it aswell. I guess it is the calm you managed to give even images with many details like this one, you cut to the core, the most important part of the artist, her working hand, her tools and the artwork, but in addition to that you have other little details like the knee (as Rinie mentioned) but also the black cord that i suspect goes to some sort of compact music device, maybe she's listening to something classical to get in the right mood and block out everything else. And despite this abundance of detail this is so calm and my eyes are gently led around the frame.

peter1892 (3201) 2006-06-18 14:05

Hi Curtis - another good contribution to this theme. Excellent colours & bokeh, the viewpoint & focus on the artist rather than the artwork is interesting & makes me think of the artist herself & just how hard she's working to produce her piece.