Archive for the ‘Chalk’ Category

Arto on the Walk – Day 1 to 4

October 13, 2016

Promo –

“Art On The Walk, at the Henry Deane Plaza Monday 10th – Friday 14th October between 8.00am-7.00pm. Over the week follow each work of art on facebook.com/henrydeaneplaza and get a chance to vote for your favourite artist at henrydeaneplaza.com.”

The passers by can watch the compositions grow from a few sketchy lines to the completed artwork, I am very excited to be drawing at the very hub of the Sydney commuters. I am looking forward to putting many hours of creativity for the public to enjoy, please come and visit, if not then follow our progress on Facebook. If you do not know me, do not be afraid to have a small chat while I work, I do enjoy entertaining a large crowd while dancing on the end of a pencil, LOL, Arto.

My running commentary:

Day 1

A nice warm day, perfect to attack the paper with some quick pencil sketches. The other Artists are a terrific bunch of hard working crafters, good enough to scare the pants out of the average sketcher.

They day went well and I completed the initial sketch in record time, I worked like lightening, without hardley a break, I hope my crowd pleasing pencil dance inspired all in attendance, LOL.

artoartofthewalk2 artoartofthewalk1

Day 2

It was failing light near 6.30pm, I was struggling to get a clear photo of drawing. My leg muscles ached all day but I still carried on, just too much fun for this old dude LOL. I have 3 more days and all I will be doing is increasing detail and I will not add any colour, as the overwhelming response from the public was keep it as a pencil drawing. I agree, the paper that we are using is not suitable for my classical approach to pastel/watercolour/gouache, yet I could just smudge my way through and ruin a very comprehensive pencil drawing, which this paper is an excellent choice.

The cotton paper of choice would have cost over $100 a sheet, not economical for a live venue, where problems can occur with wind and weather. My only choice is to use this as a drawing in its own right rather than sully it with an unsuitable medium. The crowds have been fantastic and very responsive to our live drawing, all the Artists involved are absolutely the nicest folks around, not to forget the quality organizers.

artoartofthewalk6 artoartofthewalk5

Day 3

I forgot to take photos on day 3, my legs muscles were wrecked LOL, try lunges for 9 hours and you’ll understand ouch !! I did a lot of detailed work that day, arriving home at 9.15, a very tired Art soldier.

Day 4

My legs muscles improved overnight but the weather didn’t. The day was filled with strong gusts and threats of rain, to offset that, the drawing went smoothly and crowds were fantastic!!! 🙂 Some extremely interesting visits from members of the public, I am definitely a fan of those that pass through Henry Dean Plaza LOL. The sprinkling of rain come late in the afternoon, while all the Artists acted as a highly co-ordinates team of well trained professionals picking up all the artwork in less than a minute!! You just got to love all the Artists in the group.

Some of us worked in the storage room from sometime, until the rain abated, then another burst of rain came, then back out again. It was a fun day for all with many laughs while birds bombed our artwork with their droppings LOL We are looking forward to the last day for everybody to put their finishing touches on each work.

artonwalkday4-2a artonwalkday4-1a

See you Tomorrow with the picture file when its completed, Regards Arto.

 

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Chalk Day at Five Dock – Day 3

May 30, 2015

I arrived at the Five Dock lane-way with great enthusiasm, laid down my chalking gear and began adding to the previous days work, only bits were worn from the very busy foot traffic. I was greeted by many return visitors who have watched my progress over the last days, again they were enamored with the art as it transformed the dull pavement into my daily diary of chalk. I knew the time was limited so I concentrated on improving the form and the design I had begun with.

I was engaged in numerous conversations with many that passed by, asking about today’s event, all while enjoying the band and singer “Lolo” that Canada Bay Council also hired for the days event. Angela Pasqua also had an art installation near the Post Office where the band played, while across the road were the council members busily engaging the public about the beautification exhibit for Five Dock. I would say a very exciting day for the residence of Five Dock, with a free sausage sizzle and coffee for all.

Such a great vibe from all the residence, I felt I was welcomed with great enthusiasm, I definitely would be happy to come any time to create any artworks at five Dock in the future. Many more wonderful stories about these last few days than I could ever hope to fit in this blog, Regards Arto.

Arto at the end of day 3

Arto at the end of day 3

Here are some selected pictures.

Lane Art 1 - Day 3

Lane Art 1 – Day 3

 

Lane art 2 - Day 3

Lane art 2 – Day 3

 

Five Dock Lane-way pictures Day 3

Five Dock Lane-way pictures Day 3

 

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Chalk Day at Five Dock – Day 2

May 29, 2015

The morning was damp and foreboding, anticipating a wash out from yesterdays efforts. Arriving to wet streets didn’t deter me, as I approached the lane-way, I could not see anything from the day before. Rather than worry about having to draw it all over again, I surveyed the pavement and I could see that there were still stains from my previous work, this gave me encouragement, so I tentatively started drawing on any dry section I could find.

The concrete was finally dry by about midday. This fired me up to complete as much as I could, even though the clouds were lingering at the days end. I was so hoping to get many more flowers and birds into the scene, but, who knows what sort of miracle comes from your work when the residence are cheering you along. I must say, I have been very much appreciated by the locals at Five Dock, they have made me very welcome.

I was greeted by one gentleman who was 89, he gave me much praise, he has been a residence for most of his life, I thank him for his kind words. The many words of encouragement, kept the chalk scratching hard and progress was swift, I am looking forward to tomorrow to finalize to what has become a very great experience from a very positive community. Regards Arto.

This picture was just before packing up.

Lane Progress Day 2

Lane Progress Day 2

The other view drawn an hour earlier.

Lane way Day 2

Lane way Day 2

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Chalk Day at Five Dock – Day 1

May 28, 2015

What a great day!! The morning was fresh and the sun was rising on a clear cool day. I arrived at the lane-way at Five Dock, ready and bouncing for action, I started by using an aluminum frame that I had from an old print, this seemed the best way to begin the transfer from sketch to the pavement.

As the day progressed, the wonderful residence showed their sense of community by giving me great encouragement and also gratitude for giving the dingy well worn lane-way some new life. A surprise visit from a local Artist Lucinda Clutterbuck, she had me posing for a few shots, thanks for letting me use her pictures, I have included her photos in my blog.

I am looking forward to another day of chalking on Friday, the locals are well mannered, courteous with generous smiles and words of encouragement. What more can a live chalk artist want. thanks for the people of Five Dock, Canada Bay Council and Stephanie, regards Arto.

Lane Way Day 1

Lane Way Day 1

These are some of the excellent photos by Lucinda Clutterbuck.

Arto in Action by Lucinda

Arto in Action by Lucinda

Another shot.

Arto in Action 2 by Lucinda

Arto in Action 2 by Lucinda

A long distant shot from the other perspective.

Arto Long Shot by Lucinda

Arto Long Shot by Lucinda

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Halloween Chalk Art Day 3

October 30, 2014

A great day, I started with the main draw of “The Witches Haunted House”, I really enjoyed this one, it reminds me of all the old creepy houses I drew when I was young. The day was preceding with the usual warm and friendly Drummoyne local greeting of “Great work”, “Love The Chalking” and the kids were very excited about seeing the haunted house, one little boy even told his mum the story of the witches house. Then a car pulled over and the lady waved to me, she had taken my chalks thinking it was rubbish pick up, she was distraught with guilt and very regretful, she realized it was my drawing chalks when she had seen the work on the street corners. I was beyond happy and thanked her very much for restoring my faith in the kindnesses that still exists in human nature. She was relived at finding me and I asked her name, not knowing how to spell it, it sounded just like the Finnish word for sing “Laulaa”, this was amazing and I bid farewell letting her know all was OK and forgiven, no harm intended, she left very happy to have returned my chalks, people can be so wonderful.

The next draw was “Look A Skull”, this was fast paced as I had more street corners to draw with warning signs for the kids walking around knocking on doors on Halloween. I improvised the rest of the signs, while all the passing kids cheered me on, also a “Duff Duff” car went past with a dude in sunglasses stuck his thumb up and said “Cool Man”. A terrific outcome with Stephanie and Canada Bay Council being the sponsor, these guys are great they really listen to their residence, apparently 1500 kids will be knocking on doors tomorrow. Thanks for following my 3 day journey, I hope you enjoyed it as much as i did, regards Arto.

The Witches Haunted House

Look A Skull

Signs

 

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Halloween Chalk Art Day 2

October 29, 2014

A great start for the day, the first location was in front of an abandoned factory, very spooky. I pulled out all my chalk gear to realize I left a tray of my essentials rubbing implements at home, time to improvise. I drew the “Pumpkin Ghosts” first, it was a total blast as the locals were impressed by my Halloween Hat. I was given an old tea towel, this was my savior, off I went and worked the chalk with linen.

The next two “Warning Teeth” and “Caution” were fun as the locals had a great laugh at my hat and my antics while I was drawing. The word has got around and all the locals are coming to have a look at the work. A great day, regards Arto.

Pumpkin Ghosts

Warning Teeth

Caution

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Halloween Chalk Art Day 1

October 28, 2014

The Drummoyne suburb has a lot of federation period homes, well kempt and restored to original condition. the streets are lined with the some very large and old trees, the footpaths are original concrete from around the turn of the century(1900-1920). This made the task of chalking an interesting challenge, the aggregate was multicolored stone pieces quarried from an old river deposit,this was my observation as most of the stones were rounded at the edges, the sand also seemed to be of a coarse grain, definitely not smooth beach sand. The small amount of erosion of the concrete surface was apparent and the corrugations were lined with a dark mossy layer, this gave the concrete a mid to dark gray appearance. This was not an ideal surface, still I love a challenge, I found a way to get the chalk to take regardless.

The first image is the “Look A Ghost” creeping out of the chasm.  I went for a short walk with Stephanie  to view the other sites for chalking, then when I arrived back I found out somebody had pilfered two of my chalk boxes, I learned my lesson very quickly, who can you trust? The local residents I met were wonderful and enjoyed the images, they were looking forward to seeing more pieces in the next couple of day, the kids were very excited to see ghosts and monsters.

So I thought I might have to improvise with the chalks I had left, graciously Stephanie went and bought a supply of chalk that would get me through the whole gig, thanks for saving the day. The second image “The Watchtower Monster”, was a response to the pilfered chalks, he’s looking pretty scary, the finished picture was bleached with sunlight, sorry about that. The final “Danger Hand” was tougher than it looks, the aggregate was extremely coarse, it was very hard to lay the chalk down.

The first day was a blast, despite the dramas, could have done more, just ran out of time . See you tomorrow regards Arto.

Look A Ghost

 

The Watchtower Monster

 

Danger Hand

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