Friday night, Monkey and Seal boarded the bus at 9pm with their easel, table, and acrylic paints for Hyphen Magazine's live painting at 111 Minna, SF.
With live painting and any engaging creative act, it is a constant feedback between the artist and its surrounding. There is often a lot of pressure to make something "amazing" in a couple of minutes. I don't know how many of the guests stayed for the entire night to see its progress, but the earlier guests only saw a blank canvas and some incoherent squiggle marks. Some audience members also approached with, "what the hell is that?" "where are you going with this?" And often, the artist themselves are unsure.
When good music came on, the paint and canvas connected. There were a couple of moments of crippling self-doubts, and I had to reign myself in and trust the movement and life of the art to come through.
Not quite what I had envisioned, but after 2 hours, this is what Seal came up with. Not too bad for the first live painting ever. Monkey was so supportive and Seal had so much fun. She is looking forward to the next one!
