Just returned from glorious San Francisco where I created a series of two 3d chalk art paintings for CA Technologies at the VM World 2010 Expo. The show was held at the Moscone Center, notorious for it’s challenging working surfaces to we street painters, but with a little extra preparation, I was able to tame that surface with very successful results. Assisted by my friend and associate, Charlene, we were able to create one 10′ x 10′ painting per day, working approximately 7 hours on each painting. CA Technologies loved the images, as did all the show participants who had a chance to see them. It was a lot of fun for us, and gave me a chance to catch up with some good friends who live in the Bay Area!

“Bad news travels fast. Good news takes the scenic route.” – Doug Larson

I can’t imagine a more scenic route: I’m delighted to announce that I’ve been included in ‘American Lifestyle’ magazine‘s Sept/Oct issue. Check out the ‘latest issue’ download on their home page for the full scoop! Gratitude to the entire editorial team for honoring me.

After my visit to Hong Kong, I decided to make a trip over to beautiful Japan to check out Kyoto and visit some good friends down in Toba, where I had street painted back in 2004 as part of a Santa Barbara Sister City project. My dear friend Mitusko Yamamoto had extended an invitation to visit with her family along with providing a 3-D workshop for the students enrolled in the Kokusai Kids Club in Toba.

I was thrilled to teach while there so we agreed to a 3 hour session, with approximately 30 students enrolled. Since our age gr0ups were younger than my usual classes (kids participating were aged 7 – 10 years), I decided to simplify the curriculum and present some very basic images for them to draw with chalk pastels on paper (as it was 40 degrees C outside, it was just too hot to work on pavement) – tea cups, soup bowls, vases and fish bowls; images they could relate to.  I had them follow me on the drawing set – up in which I explained simple perspective and shading techniques. After about 45 minutes for each group of 10 students, they each created a drawing that worked in 3D when viewed through the camera lens. To see the wide smiles on their otherwise reserved faces – wow! They were thrilled and amazed that, yes, they had each created a real 3D work of art! Excited about the images, they were eager to share their drawings with friends and family. It was a success for everyone involved and I can’t thank Mitsuko and her entire team enough for orchestrating this fun day for me.

Stay tuned for more adventures in spreading the street painting word……!

3d chalk drawing of a tea cup and saucer by a 7 year old student

Tracy teaching shading techniques to 7 and 8 year old students

10 year old students created fish bowls and flower vases in 3d

3d chalk drawing of tea cup and saucer by a 7 year old student

3d chalk drawing of a tea cup and saucer by an 8 year old student

7 & 8 year old students display their 3d chalk drawings

3d chalk drawing of miso soup by an 8 year old student

Miso soup in 3d with chalk by an 8 year old student

While in Hong Kong for the Home Square 3-D Illusion House Project, I had the pleasure of conducting a fun & informative 3 hour workshop for select high school art students from the Hong Kong area. I get inquiries from people all around the globe on how to draw in 3-D. Kids, especially, want to know how to draw in 3-D, so it’s been very rewarding for me to add an educational component, via the workshop, to many of the contracted projects I engage in around the world. Last year’s workshops in India proved so productive for everyone involved that I decided to evolve my teaching approach to make the experience simple, fun and manageable, with success. I’m fairly sure I can teach just about anybody, of any age, to make a 3-D drawing now. (My youngest student to date is a 4 year old from Japan, although the attention span tends to diminish at that age before the drawing is completely realized!)

The girls in Hong Kong were all very gifted, smart and quick – they ‘got it’ right away, which allowed for some creative additions and alterations to the planned images we began. That proved to be enjoyable for them and interesting for me, as it allowed me to see inside their individual creative minds. That was a bonus for sure!

At the end of the 3 hours, we had several revised drawings done by the 7 participants, which worked in 3-D. They were amazed and thrilled that they had been able to crack the 3-D mystery, which of course, opened up an entirely new way of imagining how to approach drawings for them. Given simple concepts to build on, they claimed these images as their own and really showed us how creatively intelligent they were. Bravo to Lisa Tse, Lucy Ng, Charlotte Mui, Alvina Ng, Sylvia Kwan, Margaret Kwok and Tracy Tang for a fantastic effort!

Workshop demo drawing

Tracy working on demo drawing

Student being interviewed by media at workshop

Demo drawing

Media covering workshop at Home Square

Student painting

Student painting

Student painting

Demo painting

Tracy with participating students