Downtown Burbank gets creative during annual arts festival

With several major animation studios having set up shop in the city, Burbank is no stranger to the art world, and this past weekend, the talent of more than 100 artists poured into the streets for the annual Downtown Burbank Art Festival.

San Fernando Road was closed to make room for makeshift galleries and exhibits, while John Tucker made an art display out of himself in a pirate costume.

PHOTOS: Downtown Burbank plays hosts to annual arts festival

Standing on a small stage, he held a pose for several minutes before moving into another, as dozens of artists sketched him on their drawing pads.

Tucker is a retired Disney animator who’s been modeling with friend Daniella Traub for three years at the festival and said he enjoys the transition into giving life to characters in the real world.

“It’s really fun because instead of drawing your actions on paper, you’re actually doing them with your body and facial expressions, and every costume brings out a different character in you,” he said.

Just about every medium ranging from paintings of oils or acrylics to sculptures were on display along San Fernando and, naturally, most of the artists requested that none of their works be touched.

However, for kaleidoscope maker Pete Eller, he’s all about welcoming people to pick up one of his creations to view colorful pattern displays.

Eller said he’s been making kaleidoscopes of all sizes for nearly 25 years and added that what his skills churn out is something kids as well as adults enjoy.

“I think our brains like the synchronicity in a kaleidoscope, so you feel good looking into a kaleidoscope,” he said.

Eller said it takes roughly an hour to make the smaller variations of his devices and he stuffs them with different colored beads that make up the visuals. However, the most important part is the triangle of mirrors that result in the hypnotic imagery of a kaleidoscope.

Some of that is attributed to his math skills from his school days.

“I was pretty good, but I didn’t know these involved geometry until I started making them,” Eller said.

Aside from painters and sculptors, there were dozens of cartoonists and comic-book artists at the event, showcasing their sketches and collections. One of them was animator Paul Wee, whose won an Emmy for his work on the “The Simpsons.”

He gets paid to draw Bart Simpson over and over again, but when he’s off the clock, he’s creating characters that fit within his personal style of “cartoony realism.”

It was his first time at the local art walk and one of the few times he’s exhibited his work in public. Though just making his debut just down the road from where he works, Wee said he’d like to be back again to mingle with people on the street.

“To have an individual art show on the street, it helps the general public gain a better appreciation of what we do,” he said.