Search Results for: Darren Pearson

Are you F!@#ing kidding me, light painting in space now… Mr. Darren Pearson sent me a heads up to this story today and when I saw it I about fell out of my chair. The above image is a Tweet from Koichi Wakata, a JAXA Astronaut light painting on The International Space station! Yes I said LIGHT PAINTING ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION! The even crazier news is that this is not the first, or even second time light paintings have been created in SPACE its actually the third. JAXA, the Japanese version of NASA, has been conducting these light painting experiments since 2009 with the first project of its kind called “Spiral Top” developed by Dr.Takuro Osaka. Spiral Top was classified as an “Art Project” and it’s mission was “to produce light arts using a spinning top that has arms illuminating with LED point light sources” these first space light paintings were created April 30th, 2009. See Image Below.

The second of these light painting projects was called “Auroral Oval Spiral Top” it was performed on May 12, 2011 and its mission was to use long exposure photography and “a spinning top that has arms illuminating with LED linear light sources and point light sources”. The various movements of the spinning top floating in microgravity was used to show “aurora-like light traces”. See Below

All I can say is Japan, JAXA, and Mr. Koichi Wakata your awesome. Thank you for taking light painting out of this world!

The greatest light painting exhibition on earth is about to happen!

LPWA (Light Painting World Alliance) is putting on the 2ND World Light Painting Exhibition showcasing some of the greatest light painting talent from around the globe! The show will include 100 works of art from 60 different artists spanning 13 different countries!

Not only will the event display photographs it will also showcase light painting animations and live performances! This will be an event to see with light painting artist Jozef Sedlak, John Hesketh, and Brian Hart revealing never before seen works!

The show is being held in Paris at Espace Pierre Cardin December 13th-15th! All are welcome to attend and the event is free!

Below is the full list of amazing artist that you will be able to see and MANY you will be able to meet in person! If you can get to Paris and you don’t go to this event you are crazy!

AUSTRALIA
Rob Turney

BELGIUM
Jan Teunis

CANADA
Anton Julmy
Luc Pigeault
Patrick Rochon

CZECH REPUBLIC
Kamil Varga

IRELAND
Gareth Nathan

ITALY
Carlotta Bertelli

FINLAND
Janne Parviainen

FRANCE
Stephane Babatasi
Quentin Bischoff
Tubault Blanchet
Jul’s Boo
Julien Breton
Vincent Bruno
Césium LightGraff
Cisco
Dawn
Diliz
Frederic Ferreira
Jadikan
Konte Rast
Gildas Malassinet
Chanette Manso
Romain Millet
Marko
MASS
Nico Luz
Rezine
SWIT LightGraff

GERMANY
Cenci Goepel and Jens Warnecke
Jürgen Gnass
Gustavo Mercerat
Timo Rehpenning
JanLeonardo Wöllert
Heinz-Jörg Wurzbacher

NETHERLAND
Hugo Baptista

RUSSIA
Sergey Churkin

SLOVAKIA
Jozef Sedlák

SPAIN
Erasmo Daaz

SWITZERLAND
Pablo Pietri

UK
Alan Jaras
James De Luna
Gabby Vicente
Rosetta Whitehead
Daniel Whitaker

USA
Todd Blaisdell
Dennis Calvert
Alexander DeForest
Steven Erra
Brian Matthew Hart
John Hesketh
David Hull
Jeremy Jackson
Eric Mellinger
Michael Newcomer
Darren Pearson
David Schlaich
Eric Staller
Jamie Wyman

The Light Painting World Exhibition: A Personal Account by Eric Mellinger

About two years ago, I connected with a Russian light painter, Sergey Churkin, who goes by “Chukos” in the Flickr universe. We commented on each other’s work and became Flickr buddies and Facebook friends, as is normal in the social media outlets. Last year, Sergey planned a trip to New York City where I live, and we met along with David Schlaich and a few other willing light junkies for two nights of light painting madness around Central Park and Roosevelt Island. During this meet up, Sergey told me he had an idea for a light painting exhibition of some of the best light painters in the world, and that the exhibition should be on plasma screens instead of having works printed on paper. He told me he was thinking about starting a guild of sorts called the “Light Painting World Alliance” (LPWA) and asked me if I was interested in joining and if I could pitch the idea here in New York. I thought these were great ideas and gave an emphatic yes to everything!

I did not have much luck in my pitches as most New York exhibition spaces are very snobbish in their acceptance of new ideas, but Sergey persevered. In just one year, he managed to attract some of the biggest talents in light painting to join the alliance and post an amazing portfolio of images on the LPWA website www.lpwalliance.com. Most impressively, Sergey received sponsorship for a major exhibit in Russia. Getting sponsorship is challenging enough, but Sergey managed to get an exhibit in the Central House of Artists, the largest and most visited art exhibition space in Russia! With technical sponsor, Philips, Sergey’s vision of an exhibit on plasma screens was realized this past weekend, with 58 artists displaying 100 individual light painting photographs. There is no doubt that this was the biggest group show and most comprehensive collection of master light paintings displayed under one roof in history. I was fortunate enough to have two of my works displayed, as well as travel to this historic event.

The Central House of Artists looks like a massive U.S.A. convention hall! The enormous space contains a permanent gallery of 20th century master Russian painters, including three enormous Kandinsky originals that I had only seen in books. The building is surrounded by sculptures of all sizes and styles and is located across the street from Gorky Park in the center of Moscow. LPWA’s exhibition was part of Moscow’s “Circle of Light” festival, which included laser light shows in Gorky Park, the Central House of Artists and in Red Square, along with a who’s who of innovative professional lighting organizations from around the world.

After an unusually warm and sunny afternoon on Friday, clouds rolled in and a downpour ensued just as the light show began last Friday night. I spent most of the event protecting my gear from wayward umbrellas and the driving rain while also trying to snap a few shots. I managed to get in a fairly decent shot of the finale. The enormous fabric globe was illuminated by computerized projections. For all the “orbers” out there, this was the orb of all orbs! At about 15 meters high, the ball was the centerpiece of the Red Square light show, with the surrounding buildings and laser and pyrotechnic show being used to draw more attention to the globe.

While I was off getting drenched at the light show (and afterwards being initiated into how Russians drink vodka), the light painting exhibition opened at the Central House of Artists. The crowds were large! The exhibition space attracted approximately 5,000 to 7,000 visitors each day, and there was never a time when LPWA’s exhibit wasn’t packed with visitors taking snapshots on their iPhones and admiring the works. In fact, there is no question that LPWA’s show was the most popular attraction of all!

While the admirers were asking Sergey questions about how light painting was done, LPWA had a photo booth set up where the St. Petersburg artist known as Light Graffiti took portraits of visitors who wanted to experience light painting first-hand. People waited over two hours just to have their portraits taken!

The exhibition included works from light painting legends, Eric Staller, Jozef Sedlak, Vicki DaSilva, Kamil Varga and John Hesketh. Legends using film! This website’s very own Jason Page had two works shown, as well as well-known light painters, many of them recognized on this site! The complete list of artists is as follows:

Agentina:
Santiago Di Lorenzo
Armenia:
David Galstyan
Canada: 
Charles Landriault, 
Patrick Rochon
Czech Republic: 
Kamil Varga
Finland:
Hannu Huhtamo, 
Janne Parviainen
France:
Julien Breton, 
Diliz, 
Jadikan, 
MASS Lighter, 
Rezine,
 Swit LightGraff
Germany: 
Nicolas Chibac, 
Alexandr Gnezdilov, 
Lightmark, 
Kunstiergeneinschaft Licht & Form
, Miedza Lightart Photograph, Lichtfaktor, Chris Noelie, 
JanLeonardo Wollert
Japan:
Trevor Williams
Netherlands: 
Hugo Baptista
Russia:
Hory Ma
, Alex Krivstov
, Vladimir Mihailutsa, 
Zahar Nazarenko
, Elena Nosova, 
Marina Nikitina (a.k.a. Onil) 
Victor Ribas
Solvakia:
Jozef Sedlak
Spain:
Alfredo Alvarez
Switzerland:
Anton Julmy, 
Versi
United Kingdom:
Christophe Allirot, 
Diana Goss
, Alan Jaras, 
Neale Smithies, 
Jon Steele, 
Dan Whitaker, 
Rosetta Whitehead
United States:
Dennis Calvert, 
Aurora Crowley, 
Vicki DaSilva
, Steven Erra, 
Brian Matthew Hart
, John Hesketh, 
David Hall
, Jeremy Jackson, 
Jahdakine
, Eric Mellinger, 
Mike Newcomer
, Jason D. Page, 
Darren Pearson
, David Schlaich
, Eric Staller
Uzbekistan:
Natalia Demasova

During the exhibition I was able to meet the Russian light painting couple, Hory Ma, who were absolutely delightful in person as much as their portraits were a delight to see visually. Also, Dan Whitaker (aka quornflake) from the United Kingdom was there. Dan and I got the opportunity to do an evening of collaborative light painting on Saturday night with Sergey Churkin, who was doing the driving and getting lost on our way to the University of Moscow and the new skyscraper district under lots of construction.

Unfortunately, all things come to an end. The exhibition concluded on Sunday evening with dozens of disappointed people still waiting in line to have their light painting portraits taken. Despite running out of time for the fans, LPWA’s exhibition was an absolute success. Sergey and the LPWA Advisory Board will be looking for new venues in which light painting and LPWA member artists’ works can be promoted, as well as collaborative projects and sources of revenue. Given the success of this first event, there is no doubt in my mind that LPWA and its artists will have much to contribute to the art form in the future and big things will happen!

I would be remiss if I didn’t make some shameless plugs. First, if there are interested experienced light painters that wish to join LPWA, please head to the website and register. Registration is free right now! Also, if anyone has more specific questions about LPWA or is interested in pitching the concept of an international exhibition at a major venue in your area, please get in touch with me at ericmellinger4@gmail.com.

Keep the torches burning bright!

Do you have a light painter who is a friend of family member, maybe a brother….and your like S#*! I dont know what to get this idiot. I don’t even like him, but mom is gonna be pissed if I don’t get him a gift again this year. Well have no fear here are a few killer ideas…

Any of lights from Coast would make for a great new addition to any light painters arsenal. The HP 21 is the baddest light around if your looking to light up a city block or the moon.

Got a few less bucks to spend this year the HP line with the finger tip focus (so easy even the idiot can’t screw it up) are great light painting brushes! Looking for a stocking stuffer how about the TX10 a great light for light writing or light calligraphy. The TX10 has four colors, white, red, green and blue – each controlled by a separate switch. The G5 and G10 lights are awesome lights for making stars or “fairy dust”… One more great idea that is often overlooked is a HEADLAMP for finding your way in the dark.

WHEN YOU BUY FROM LIGHTSANDKNIVES.COM USE THE PROMO CODE LPP AT CHECK OUT TO GET 15% OFF ON ANY COAST PRODUCT THRU DECEMBER!!!

Light painting artist Darren Pearson, a.k.a. Darius Twin, makes some rad stuff. If you haven’t seen Darren’s work your computer must have been broke for the last few months. Darren has been “Blowing Minds with Light Lines” with his light painting images of dinosaurs and other creatures. He has a store where you can buy prints as well as some super cool T-shirts with his imagery on them.  A shirt with a light painted dinosaur on it, that is the perfect gift for your idiot brother? CLICK HERE FOR THE STORE.

Light painting photography supporter Adorama has every piece of photo gear you could possibly need. Cameras, lenses, tripods, gels, shutter releases, and flashes!

A good tripod has got to be one of the most important things used to create a nice light painting image. Is your idiot brother holding his tripod together with duct tape then get him a Slik 500 HD Tripod and make his life. Just make sure the weight of his camera system doesn’t exceed the max of 11 pounds. Which it shouldn’t unless he has been feeding his camera doughnuts.

So the idiot has a good tripod how about getting him a Gorillapod. With this little monster you can get any angle imaginable. Get way down low to the ground or wrap it around a tree, you can literally put this thing anywhere. Again make sure the weight of the camera rig doesn’t exceed the 6.6 lb limit of this tripod.

Are you sick of holding the button down while your idiot brother dances around with glow sticks in front of the camera. I know its makes no sense to you and when girls walk by its super hard to strike up a conversation with your idiot brother dancing around like a fairy. If you get him a shutter release like the RS-80N3 or the more advanced TC-80N3 you will never have to push the button again. Both of these shutter releases are for Canon camera’s if your idiot brother has another kind of camera then click HERE.

Want to speed up the process of your idiot brother taking pictures so you don’t have to stand around with him for hours and hours? One way to do that is to get him a flash that has a fast recycle time. The Canon Speedlite 580ex is extremely fast. Not only is it fast it gives you complete control of the amount of flash you shoot into you image.  Don’t have the loot to spend and why would you, what has he ever done for you anyway, well then check out these other still great but less expensive flashes.

Ok just admit it you love the idiot. I mean maybe he let your dog go and maybe he accidentally slept with your girlfriend, twice. But he is your brother and you guys are blood. Just because he stole your identity and ran up your credit cards is no reason not to get him a fantastic holiday gift. He did apologize for putting that kilo of cocaine in your car and calling the cops to let them know you had a little too much to drink when you were driving home from the bar . He’s your brother go ahead and get him what he really wants the Canon 5D Mark II, or if you love him a little less the Canon 7D, or even less the Canon Rebel T3i.

Another light painter who has been creating some cool products is Nocturne. He has just released the Noctography Gel System that he designed with Rosco Gels. He also has some rad hats and T-shirts with his light painting imagery on them. Check out Noctune’s online store HERE.

 Still not feeling inspired. Why not buy a print from one of the amazing light painting photographers listed HERE and HERE. You will not only be getting your idiot brother an amazing gift but you will also be supporting the artist that inspire him and art form that he loves so much. Buying a print from one of these visionaries allows them to continue to make history.

P.S. If you don’t have an idiot brother please insert sister, cousin, uncle, niece, nephew, boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, or wife. We all have and idiot.

P.S.S. If you are a Featured Artist and/or Bright Talent Artist and have a product link you would like added into this post please e-mail ASAP.