The SF public art scene never disappoints!
These parking posts are tucked away on a street in the Mission District, painted to look like Ticonderoga, Staedtler, and other classic brands of pencils. The designs carefully recreate the classic look of their real-life counterparts, complete with gold and silver leaf for the metal and meticulously painted logos.
PPPaP: Parking posts painted as pencils. from r/sanfrancisco
Local artist Anthony R. Brown started painting these pencils with Manny Fabregas and Bruce Aguirre. They aptly titled the pencil series, “I Did A No. 2 On The Street.” Brown has since continued the series on his own for subsequent rounds of pencils.
Of the parking posts, Brown told us they’re located right on his street, which makes for easy restorations and additions. “I stared at them wondering what could be done to them based on proportions,” he said. “I didn’t want to do crayons since that’s already been done and being an artist pencils meant more to me. Plus, there are so many cool pencils that I didn’t even know existed that’ll be fun to paint. ‘Creative exercises’ is what I see these being for me.”
“The various materials I use are acrylics, spray paint, dry pigments, oil pens and imitation gold/silver leaf for the ferrules. To make the erasers look like they’ve been used I actually use lead sticks to smudge onto the pink ‘erasers,'” said Brown.
The pencils are quite realistic, and the texture on the top of the parking posts even contributes to that realistic soft eraser look. Whether the pencil has a wooden, rough, glossy, or metallic texture, Brown painstakingly recreates it to be as realistic as possible.
The “I Did A No. 2 On The Street” pencil series currently consists of 7 pencils, with 7 blank parking posts left to cover. The Ticonderoga and PG&E pencils are the only original pencils remaining in the series, and Brown recently retouched them so they look brand new. All other pencil posts have gone through some changes. They range from Futura to Staedtler, Dixon, and Berol brands.
[Image: @genex via Instagram]]
Brown has plans for even more public art around the City. “The next art project is a series of photos ripped out of photography magazines from the 1960’s,” he told us. “I’ve added color and applied different techniques to each piece and will hang them throughout the city.”
In addition to these beautiful public art pieces, Brown’s eye for detail is also the basis of his restoration business. During the work week, he completes faux finishing, touch ups, and more for high end clients, contractors and interior designers.
You can follow Brown on Instagram at @fligga_, or follow his new page profiling the pencil series at @ididano2onthestreet. His work with magazine cutouts can be seen at @tecniqcoloured.
Find these awesome pencil posts at the corner of 19th and Lexington in the Mission!
[Featured Image: @genex via Instagram