No Entrance

("Turn the vehicle around, sir.")

My first, admittedly sloppy and simplistic, solo-go at 3d chalk art. This was a spur of the moment idea inspired by a large group of intruders who came striding brazenly onto my property earlier in the day. Some people call them "family." The tire tracks in the photos evidence both the trespassers' departure and the ineffectiveness of my makeshift barricade.

(The reveal.)

My greatest difficulty here was the unevenness of the blacktop. The dips and bulges, and especially the hump down the middle of the driveway forced me to warp the shape of everything by constant, minor corrections that sent me back and forth, to and from the viewing angle, more often than I'd have liked. I'll be careful to choose flatter, more consistent surfaces from now on.

(Lumpy, ain't she?)


(Look'it them gams.)

Next time I'll also try to choose something with more potential for the kind of shading my dad accomplished in our mailbox masterpiece. This is pretty flat color-wise, and I must admit a lot less visually interesting. But I think I made up for it in staging...

(Sorry ladies, I'm... single.)


(Twenty-eight inches of muscle and fury!)

Incidentally, we got about five minutes' rainfall no more than an hour after I took the last of these photos, so it's likely my little sawhorse is already kaput. Que cera... I certainly learned a number of lessons here for next time and I did enjoy the work. It's a victory in and of itself that I finally broke into the fifty sticks of K-Mart chalk I bought. I used all of five, maybe.

Next time: Flatter surface; more detail; more shading.

("Move along, sir.")

3d Chalk Art

While camping at the Whitmore Lake campgrounds in Brighton we realized our campsite was lacking something: A mailbox. Luckily my dad managed to chase the kids away from the sidewalk chalk long enough for the two of us to amaze and confound everyone.

(Click photos to see larger versions.)

I'd say we put somewhere around two hours - including a run to town for more chalk - into the drawr'ing of this visual illusion. Even we couldn't fully appreciate it's coolness until we saw these photos. The larger versions are quite impressive, I think.

(As Viewed from the intended angle.)


(As viewed from not the intended angle.)

My dad measured it roughly ten feet long, simulating about a three foot height. We were continually awed at how small the mailbox lid needed to be in comparison to the box; Even moreso when we saw these pictures and found, small though the lid be on the ground, it still proved slightly over-scale in the illusion.

(A medieval cooking device?)


(Street-cred.)

It came out so surprisingly well, especially for such an off the cuff attempt, that both my dad and I are planning future 3d chalk-work projects. Next up for me: A giant, red stop sign erected in the K-Mart parking lot near my house.

Inspired by the stunning 3d illusions of Julian Beever.

(Return to sender. Address unknown.)