LAST OF THE CHALK ART

Photo above is a lovely example of the 3D artist's ability to create realism and the perception of depth.  The birds actually seem to be flying out of the painting.

Please note to view a bigger and better picture just click on any of the photos.

 

Today I have an appointment with my ophthalmologist for a yearly eye exam.  Though the procedure is painless it has that annoying aftermath of leaving me with owl eyes from having had my eyes dilated and of course things like sunlight and any bright light is intolerable.  Therefore I decided to post my last photos of the Sarasota annual Chalk Festival, before my appointment and while my eyes are not super sensitive to light.

 

Photos above and below are truly whimsical. I loved the juxtaposition of having the lion being the psychoanalyst listening intently to his animal tamer patient.

The photo below was an interactive piece where a person can sit within the painting and look  as though they are a part of it.  Unfortunately there was no one volunteering for the seat of honor when I snapped this picture and just as unfortunately there was a large  tripod, with a profession camera mounted to it, that blocked the "sweet spot" for my taking photos.  Even from this slightly off center viewing position, one can see how the troup of acrobats appear to stand up and out of an otherwise flat  painting

 

Lastly my favortie, not because it was more creative or bigger, brighter or even better than any of the other works of street chalk art but simply because the bright red nose on the circus clown stood out proud and loud . . .  even if I stood slightly off center. 

 

 

Don't know about you but I'm now in the mood to go see a circus.  :D 

A Matter of Perspectives

 photo above is a portion of one of The Sarasota Chalk Frestival's paintings.  I look forward to seeing the profession photographer's photos to see the depth and dimensions of this piece.

(First of all I wish to say that I had intentions of posting this yesterday but that didn't happen. My hubby had to go in for another surgery to remove some rather deep precancerous skin cells. So I had to be available to drive him home after the surgery and to care for and keep an eye on him afterwards. Believe me, keeping an eye on him was no easy task, he wanted to run to the store and other places and did not want to just sit and rest. It was only when his surgical incision began bleeding that he agreed to sit still awhile and not to run around town doing errands.)

 This batch of photos is a hodge podge of 2D and 3D  chalk art.  In many cases the paintings were too large for me to fit within my camera's viewing field and had I stood farther back the perspective would have been completely lost.  In case anyone doesn't know, you can click on the photos to view larger images of them, which helps to see the detail and perspectives of the paintings (of course with my not so adept photography skills, sometimes even the largest of pictures doesn't improve the viewing. lol)

 

Photo above. Though I can see the cleverness of this painting I'm sure it would have been better viewed from above rather than on an angle.

 

 

Photo above shows a bright and colorful piece rich in whimsy, I have a feeling the little girl's bunch of balloons would really have stood out had I been able to stand just a few feet more to my left, unfortunately there were people standing a few feet more to my left.

Photo below is unusual as it is basically black and white, but it is rich in realistic details.  I am fairly sure that when viewed from above it would have had some 3D definition.

 

Photos above and below.  I thought this particular piece was unique.  You can easily see how the marquee stands proud from the pavement, giving it an undeniable 3D illusion.  But alas, again the piece was too immense to capture completely within my camera view finder.

 

Blogger is behaving petulantly this morning and tends to freeze up every few words and my cursor disappears as it goes through its, far to frequent, "save" procedure.  I will however muddle through this. :D  The photo below is of a local building that has been painted by an artist depicting a scene from a time long ago.  The paint is in tones of black and white giving authenticity to its vintage quality. 

 

 

Blogger is being incredibly annoying so I will stop for now and save the rest of my photos for yet another posting.  I hope that I'm not boring anyone with what may seem like a very repetitive series of the same event.

A Stroll Down Chalk Boulevard

As I begin to type up the next installment of the Sarasota Chalk Festival, I look out upon a gray, dark and rainy day.  Today is the last day of the festival and hopefully this bit of rain is very localized and doesn't carry southward to the city of Sarasota where it could render the chalk paintings a murky mess.

The chalk festival featured both 2D and 3D art work and I soon learned that perspective (where the viewer was actually standing) made all the difference.  Unfortunately, due to the crowd, the most desirable perspective was not always readily available.  I truly envied the event photographers who had unlimited access to ladders, scaffolding and "straight-on-frontseat-center" viewing advantages.  I am looking forward to viewing their professional photographs.

The photo at the top of this post is (I think) a 2D painting.  It is an imaginative one, as were most, featuring a circus performer atop the arena, her foot disappearing through a hole in the top of the  roof . . . and then reappearing at the bottom of the painting through a hole that the blue-chalk "artist" is busy sketching.

 

Below is whimsical work of 3D chalk art.

 

 

 

And below is what I think could be called 2D art.

 

Wish I could have been able to take advantage of the ladder used by the event's professional photographer  . . . or that I was another foot or two taller.   But anyway the above photo is my ground-level perspective . . . all 4 ft. 11 inches of me.  :D

Below is a nice example of the 3D art.  The toys are all rather shabby and are laying at the bottom of what appears to be one of those "Grab a Prize" machines that you see at carnivals and amusement parks.

 

Bottom photo shows how the "grabber" really pops and stands upright in clear 3D definition . . . especially visible with the people in the background.

 

There are more photos of this year's festival in my photo files but as I mentioned in another posting, I don't want to flood you with a bunch of my mediocre pictures.   If any of you are interested in reading more about the Annual Sarasota Chalk Festival their website is : http://www.chalkfestival.org/

 

The Circus Comes to Town - Almost !

Once a year the city of Sarasota Florida hosts a Chalk Festival.  Chalk artists from around the world come to paint the streets with their chalk art - even the big name 3-D chalk artists (the ones you see in all those email attachments). 

This was my first year to actually see this Sarasota event and to walk down the boulevard (along with a crowd of onlookers) to view these incredible pictures.

Granted the elephant in the photo above is not 3-D chalk art - it's a statue heralding Ringling Bros. and Barnum Bailey Circus.  Sarasota was the winter home of the old Barnum Bailey Circus, here the performers could relax and practice their routines before the next circus tour began.  So this year's theme for the chalk art was "The Circus".  Very apropos.

 

Everyone wanted pictures and a few daring souls even ventured out on to the tight rope. 

Careful there, don't fall !

I will be posting more photos of this event but I didn't want to post them all at once for fear of overwhelming anyone (especially since my photography is not the best - lol)

The following photo is not of the Sarasota street chalk art but I couldn't resist snapping a shot of someone snapping a shot ...