The surface is always changing...

"What is the surface that I will be chalking on today?"  It seems like a fairly simple and minor question, but to a street painter, it is very important.  I have been chalking for years, and have completed many street paintings.  I enjoy the challenge that each new piece of art and each new surface presents.  It's part of what keeps it fresh and different.

Sometimes the surface is rough asphalt.  A common practice in Florida is to mix in pieces of shell, which makes it even harder to chalk on, since the chalk doesn't like to stick to shell or large chunks of rock.

This is a typical asphalt road in Florida with shells mixed in.

And sometimes it is just bumpy.  Sealing it (albeit temporarily) with a wash of tempera & water, helps the chalk stick.  It makes the colors brighter, also.

This was one of the roughest, bumpiest surfaces I have chalked on.  The picture was taken at the end of the day, and you can see how the low sun shows all the bumps in shadow.

Smooth concrete is nice to work on, but it to can present some challenges too.  It can have a sharp "tooth" to it, that can rip your fingers or gloves to shreds.  Usually, it is a better canvas because it is white or light gray, so you don't have to put down the tempera paint as a base.  Occasionally it can be too smooth, which the paint would then be needed.

And sometimes you end up with a line or crack right down the middle of your art.  The best thing to do with this is either make it part of the art, or try to fill it with chalk so it "disappears".

Bricks or paver bricks are a challenge because of all the cracks that have to be filled with chalk.  When I worked on the pavers in Curacao, I broke a lot of sticks of chalk, trying to get it to cover.  The other problem with pavers, is that many times they will be different colors.  This may be pleasing to look at, but it can be a bear to work on.  The bricks are fabricated of different substances and they all take the chalk a bit differently, so you have to constantly adjust the pressure and amount of chalk applied. One thing to remember is the more porous the surface, the more chalk you will use.

Here you can see how rough the pavers were in Curacao.

The other end of the spectrum is a super smooth surface, like a polished granite or marble.  Even unfinished granite can be very difficult to work on.  Chalk just does not like to stick to it, and the tempera base is almost imperative.  The large pavers in Ireland were granite (below), and we were glad that we had brought paint to prime the area first.

You can see the outline of the large squares of granite in this overhead shot.

And lastly, when you get bored, start chalking your body!

Mercedes and Carmen start experimenting on themselves in Naples, Florida.  I think the heat got to them.

How Did I Get Started Street Painting?

 This was my first attempt at street painting in 2005 at the Lake Worth Street Painting Festival.  

 I have a degree in Design from UCLA, and many years of painting and drawing experience, but this was something I was not familiar with.  The medium, soft pastels, and the huge scale, were totally new to me.

My older daughter, Mercedes, and I thought it would be fun to try.  We had been the to see the festival the previous two years, and kept saying to ourselves, "We could do that".  So we did!

Unfortunately, these pictures aren't very good.  For some reason the color is a bit off.  It wasn't large, I think we started with the smallest size (4' x 6').   We were hooked, especially me.  The next year we were put in the featured artists section on Lucerne Ave., away from the craziness on Lake Blvd., and have participated each year since.

Mercedes, age 15, hard at work.

Carmen, age 9, shows off her first street painting.

And Carmen, my younger daughter, wanted to join in so badly.  I set her up next to us on a blank area of asphalt, gave her some chalk, and let her go.  Little did I know how amazing an artist she would turn out to be.

Chalking in Dalkey

While chalking at the Chalk Festival in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland last weekend, I was approached by a woman who wanted to know if I could chalk a board for a restaurant in nearby Dalkey.  I said sure, that we had two days after the festival, and we were planning on going to Dalkey anyway.  We found the restaurant, the Dalkey Dispensary, which is a very nice tapas and wine restaurant, with 2 floors and lots of black walls.  They wanted us to chalk a large table upstairs, and three areas on the walls.  We quickly made some sketches and Mercedes and I got to work.  Craig took the train back to the hotel to get the rest of our chalks, since I had only brought enough for a small board. 

It took about 5 hours for the two of us to complete the table and walls.  Chalking in the dark was a bit of a challenge.  At one point, the restaurant was so busy, that we had a couple of tables of patrons eating nearby (Dinner and a Show!).  They are going to try spray coat it and we took pictures, but short of putting a glass top over it, it will probably be only temporary.  Jackie, the manager, wanted to use it on their website, but also wanted to use it as a table.  We also sampled some of their great tapas and wine while working.  Everything was great!

Click here to see the video.

Lake Worth Street Painting Festival

Jennifer, Mercedes & Carmen Chaparro with their finished street painting on Lucerne Avenue at the Lake Worth Street Painting Festival, Florida, in February 2007.

The street art, done completely in pastel chalks, is a reproduction of a painting called "The Calmady Children" by Thomas Lawrence .

We started by making a large paper template for the 10' x 10' area. We poked holes in the paper, and laid it down over the roadway, and transfered chalk dust to the surface. We then started applying the chalk around 9:30 am on Saturday and worked until about 4pm. Luckily we didn't have any rain that night, and began again at 9am on Sunday morning. We finished about 2pm on Sunday.