Last Sunday saw another Wet Paint productions’ Graffiti Workshop and this time we were working with some budding young artists from the Link-Up Project . The Brighton and Hove parent-run group provide support and a social network for children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and their parents. As part of their activities and outings they included an aerosol art afternoon schooled by Snub 23 (powered by Kobra Paint) who introduced the kids to the art of the craft. The kids loved it so much we have a sneaking suspicion they will be coming back for more. We’d like to thank all the members of Link-Up as they were great and a pleasure to work with. Especially Tom who at 15 years-old had this to say: “I feel this workshop has really enriched my knowledge of graffiti, character construction and building on a canvas. I think we have all learnt new skills with spray paint and I’d definitely love to do it again in the near future. All participants have really enjoyed themselves and found a way of expressing their individual artistic side with brilliant outcomes.” And of course a huge thanks to Snub 23 for being inspirational and to Wet Paint’s Community & Projects Manager Charlie Allsebrook for heading up this and all of our workshops and community work. To find out more about The Link-Up Project click the highlighted link and to enquire about Wet Paint’s workshop and community related work contact Charlie Allsebrook: wetpaintproductions@hotmail.com
The last artist but by no means the least Wet Paint Productions put forward as part of Channel 4′s Street Summer competition is Req.
Born in London in 1966 Req is a Brighton-based artist schooled in the New York subway graffiti tradition. His graffiti career started in 1984 in Brighton’s derelict areas but he soon started painting internationally onstage with the Norman Cook band Beats International.
Req’s new work is defined by his attempt to purge the graffiti and graphic influences of his past in favour of a lighter, diffuse impressionism which he calls ‘Spraypaint Realism’. His more recent charcoal and spray paint works on paper provide a quick and more expressive outlet to balance the more intensive ‘Spraypaint Realism’ style.
As we’ve said in the past, if the French impressionist painter Monet used Belton, this is kind of what his work may have looked like.
Req is the judge for the South East and your piece should represent one of the five elements of street culture which the Street Summer season is featuring: street dance, urban sports, spoken word, hip hop and street art. Write, draw, collage, sketch or render your work in any way you like. How you make this work is up to you.
Remember your piece is art but also it needs to work to promote Channel 4′s season. The better your piece looks the more chance you will have of winning but we will accept entries on pen and paper which have been scanned or photographed. Remember the idea is what counts not your computer skills!
Don’t forget that the competition starts on 13th June and for full details on how to enter make sure to follow this link:
The next artist in the line up to promote Channel 4′s Street Summer in association with Don’t Panic is our boy Ventsa, who is representing the Midlands and East. Wet Paint have worked with him in the past and Ventsa really has a unique style. In this film he gives you an introduction to the Birmingham scene and explains a little of what he as a judge is looking for from the winning designs.
The competition will run from 13th June to 17th July so start representing your area and start submitting your designs. All winning entrants’ work will appear in a major city from their part of the UK.
Winning entrants will be paid £300 for the use of their artwork
Winners will have their designs displayed on a premium outdoor space for two weeks in their area during August
Winners will get the opportunity to work with an established street artist from their region of the UK
Winners’ work will feature on the Don’t panic Poster and on postcards which will be distributed across the UK in Don’t Panic Packs
Winners will be featured in a short film about their work
The regions and the artists representing those areas are:
London – Ser
South East – Req
South West – Cheba
Midlands & East – Ventsa
Wales – Rmer
North – Faunagraphic
Scotland – Smug
So, Channel 4 are calling for all emerging street artists, writers and vandals out there, to join their Street Summer competition.
Wet Paint Productions want to wish you all the best of luck. Next post on this site will feature Req’s video who represents the South East out of our home town Brighton. So hope to see some of your work going up soon down here!
Follow us on Twitter @WetPaintUK and Like us on our new facebook page to keep up to date with Wet Paint Productions and competition news.
As promised, we give you yet more photos from the WET PAINT PRODUCTIONS’ inCANdescent showcase as part of Brighton’s White Night festival. Positive that we have delivered a first, our event rocked the city as it has never been seen before. Wet Paint’s unique concept not only caught the imagination of the council but all of the thousands of people who attended our ‘light graffiti spectacular’ in Jubilee Square as part of the this city-wide event. It’s important to remember though, that without the amazing talents of the artists and a dedicated team, events like this can’t be realised. So, with that in mind, we need to thank the people that made it happen: First shout goes out to our main man Russell, who worked tirelessly to see the project through (you know who are playa!), and to all the artists for their work and vision. Thank you and we look forward to buying you a stiff drink at the WPP Xmas party: Fay MacDonald, of Diosa Media, who is a visionary who never lets us down and underpinned the White Night/Wet Paint concept. WPP also need thank Snowstorm and the crew, Andy cummins for being a legend, Giles Smith for his doubtless hard work and help and my sister who is in hospital but wishing the best for us (please, get well soon soon).
Long overdue are these amazing pictures (courtesy Ant Clausen) from Wet Paint commissioned artists Kelzo, Faunagraphic, Rocket 1 and Panda hitting up the PaintBox and bringing the Brugal message to Manchester. Set up in the bohemian Northern quarter of the city, the roadshow drew a crowd despite the weather and the writers’ work injected much needed colour on a wet October day. We asked them to think Dominican Republic, sand, surf, sun and rum, and then unleashed them onto a 24ft x 8ft blank ‘canvas’ and unsuspecting public. As soon as we have the short film from the day we’ll post it. In the meantime, you can follow the Brugal blog to find out more about the street art activities Wet Paint are putting on for the campaign and you can follow Brugal on facebook.
Sometimes posts can be like buses, you wait for ages for one then several come along at once. Well, that’s pretty much how things are at Wet Paint at the moment so excuse the deluge. This latest is a piece from Brighton’s Argus last Saturday showing Req at work on a light column for the White Night festival. Plans are definitely afoot and if you’re anywhere near Brighton on 30th October we strongly recommend you come along. It’s going to be a great night across the city. Joining Req at inCANdescent will be local artists Pinky, Hutch, Snub 23, Mishfit and Imbue.
Last week Brighton got it’s newest club in the shape of The Yard and after being commissioned to give the interior a serious street vibe overhaul, we thought we’d share some more pictures with you. At the top is Snub 23, the man behind all of the work, next to his image ‘Be Nice to Girls’ which now adorns one complete wall on the ground floor. Most of this floor has been given a distressed, lived-in look to mimic art on the street and we think we fulfilled the brief. At the bottom is a commissioned piece by rum producer Brugal which WPP worked with over the summer. We can now announce that there will be a rum-fueled spray paint antics coming up next month in Edinburgh, Manchester and London. We’ll update you on events soon.
A couple of posts ago we showed you the pictures of Foundry’s work on the side of a jewelers called Studio Crafts in Peacehaven. Well we weren’t the only ones impressed. The Brighton Argus also took an interest and like buses, two articles come along at once! Foundry got in the picture but didn’t get a mention so we’re doing it for him. And he also wanted people to know that when the picture was taken the piece wasn’t finished! Skip back a couple of posts to see the completed works. We’d like to thank Phil Blackwell for the call and get in touch if you need Wet Paint Productions to organise something like this for your premises.
Brighton graffiti and street art got some well deserved recognition in the way of a centre double page spread in The Argus, on Saturday 14th. Talking about an art revolution in the city they go on to extoll the benefits of graffiti bettering “unloved or monochrome areas”. The article features images of work by Aroe and Heavy Artillery, Req, Rarekind, Hutch and Banksy (we dispute that) to name a few. And although we don’t get a name check, Wet Paint Productions and the artists we work with are responsible for some of it too. That includes Snub 23 and Sinna who are both quoted in the article. To view it big hit HERE.
True to our word, here are the pictures of the finished pieces from Don, Pinky, Mishfit and Foundry to launch the Brugal Brighton campaign. Urban art agency Wet Paint Productions would like to thank all of the artists for their vision and work. There will be more activity throughout June and we will update you on developments and plans so stay tuned. Now it’s time to celebrate with rum on the beach. Yeah man! Working with street artists WPP help blue chip clients to promote their company using a funky ‘street up’ approach. More pictures HERE.
