The Whatnot Shop in Tannersville, New York, sells secondhand furniture and homewares—a porcelain angel, a bird cage, a lamp, and a set of wine glasses. Linda and Rita, who started the business five months ago, also sell Avon products. The storefront was once a tattoo parlor. They haven't gotten a new sign made yet.
A storefront is an expression of a dream: the dream that what one person creates will be of value to someone passing by.
I invite you to paint a storefront on location during the month of August. Try to capture the facts accurately, but also see if you can imply the dream that animates it, with attention to architecture, signage, window displays, and wear and tear.
 |
| Phoenicia Pharmacy, gouache, 5 x 8 inches |
Rules
• It's free to enter and anyone can enter.
• Subject can be any storefront, shopfront, or public place of business.
• All physical painting media are acceptable: casein, gouache, acryla-gouache, oil, acrylic, watercolor pencils, or watercolor.
• No limitation on palette colors. You can paint in black and white, a limited palette, or full color.
• Just shoot two image files:
• It's free to enter and anyone can enter.
• Subject can be any storefront, shopfront, or public place of business.
• All physical painting media are acceptable: casein, gouache, acryla-gouache, oil, acrylic, watercolor pencils, or watercolor.
• No limitation on palette colors. You can paint in black and white, a limited palette, or full color.
• Just shoot two image files:
1. Your finished painting and
2. A photo of the painting on the easel in front of the subject. Your face doesn't have to be in the photo unless you want to.
• Upload the images to this Facebook Event page: Paint a Storefront.
• Upload the images to this Facebook Event page: Paint a Storefront.
• Please include in the FB post a sentence or two about your inspiration or design strategy, or some information about the store.
• Multimedia prize: If you want, you can also record video or audio (1 minute or less) documenting the store, its owner, or your experience painting it.
• If you upload to Instagram or Twitter, please use the hashtag #paintastorefront
• You can enter anytime between now and the deadline, August 31 at midnight New York time. If you do more than one painting, upload only your best and delete any previous entries.
• I'll pick one Grand Prize, five Finalists, and one Multimedia winner. The winners will be published on the blog GurneyJourney. All the winners will receive an exclusive "Department of Art" embroidered patch. In addition, all the prize winners will receive one of my videos (DVD or download) of their choice.
• Winners will be presented on the blog onThursday Sunday, September 3.
• Multimedia prize: If you want, you can also record video or audio (1 minute or less) documenting the store, its owner, or your experience painting it.
• If you upload to Instagram or Twitter, please use the hashtag #paintastorefront
• You can enter anytime between now and the deadline, August 31 at midnight New York time. If you do more than one painting, upload only your best and delete any previous entries.
• I'll pick one Grand Prize, five Finalists, and one Multimedia winner. The winners will be published on the blog GurneyJourney. All the winners will receive an exclusive "Department of Art" embroidered patch. In addition, all the prize winners will receive one of my videos (DVD or download) of their choice.
• Winners will be presented on the blog on
----
Paint a Storefront event page on Facebook
I think a small error. Sept. 3rd is a Sunday. And, I hope to enter this event, a first for me. And, this week, first time FB account. We'll see how the learning curve goes. Have several shops trying to make a go of it downtown where a few years ago there were many empty store fronts.
ReplyDeleteGreat challenge for summer. Artists painting outdoors has an allure of money on the ground, most will mosey over for a look. It can be scary, and a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteHi James,
ReplyDeleteDoes the business have to still be in business to qualify (I suppose a dashed dream?) as long as one can tell what the business was? Would a museum/historic site's gift shop work?
Michael, any storefront, whether in action or abandoned, is OK.
ReplyDeleteJames, during the dead car challenge you had written in the rules that if we don't have fb or other social media we could have someone else post it for us. Is that still applicable here? A friend of mine tried to post my painting and photo last night on the fb event page but it still says it's awaiting approval. Just wanted to make sure it's not stuck in limbo for a rule I may have missed.
ReplyDeleteI'm bummed that I haven't had the time to participate in this challenge; I'm trying to paint more but circumstances just weren't in my favor this month. Looking forward to seeing all of the entries though! :)
ReplyDeleteMichael, hopefully all pending posts are approved and posted now.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! Good luck to everyone!
ReplyDelete