Remember when you used to bring your box of chalk out on the streets to doodle like this?
My friend Joel does that too... to this day. Except that he uses his chalk to paint the streets with classical paintings.
Like this...
Joel is a madonnaro, a street painter based in San Rafael, California.
Since all these street paintings happen mostly on weekends, Joel keeps a day job as a graphic artist/illustrator - at a sweat shop called Yahoo!
Joel has a degree in Visual Communication from the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts; and in Illustration from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
More than art smart, my friend Joel is most definitely, street smart.
Street paintings are huge, so they're usually done in collaboration with equally talented artists. Joel and his friends are fixtures at various art festivals, stunning and fascinating crowds. It would be hard not to watch them in awe.
Joel has ventured beyond neighboring streets. His chalks have traveled to Mexico, and about two years ago, to China. Last weekend, Joel was in a new street painting festival (St. Laurent du Var) near Nice, France called Les Craies d'Azur - Un Festival de Peinture sur Sol, where he painted this:
While he normally draws quickly, Joel paces himself "to prolong the experience, so people could see the process," he said. "They're fascinated by the scale and the medium."
Since all these street paintings happen mostly on weekends, Joel keeps a day job as a graphic artist/illustrator - at a sweat shop called Yahoo!
Joel has a degree in Visual Communication from the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts; and in Illustration from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
More than art smart, my friend Joel is most definitely, street smart. To see more of Joel's and other madonnaros' work, click here.
And here.
Check out Joel's website.
Les Craies d'Azur photos by Lionel Urman; all other photos stolen from Joel's and his friends' websites, with permission from Joel, of course.
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