Fourth of July 2020

Fourth of July 2020

I wanted to do some more chalk art in my driveway this year, seeing as all chalk art events have been canceled. I hadn't done any so far because it has been so rainy. I knew that I wanted to do something for the Fourth of July and the weather cleared so I did! I worked on it for two days. I started on July 1 and finished on July 2. It came out pretty good, if I don't say so myself! It was so nice working in my own driveway. If I forgot something, had to go to the bathroom, needed a drink, or to cool off, all I had to do was go into my own house!

 The finished product!

 Day #1 the start...I have a nice place picked out on my driveway. I don't even have to tape it off there is already a block that I can work in! I would usually work in the morning, because it is cooler, but I discovered that this spot in my driveway is shaded in the afternoon, so I had to work in the heat of the day. But it wasn't too bad, because it was well shaded! I didn't even have to use sunscreen!

 The Sketch

 Starting to fill in the sketch

 More color

 Finished the flag

 Wrote the words

 End of day one...hot and tired. But I got more than I though done today!

 Beginning of day #2

 Nice and shady today!

 Decided to add the stars at the last minute...like the addition!

 Didn't take too long to finish, since I had already started it the day before!

 Kind of shady for picks though!

 Shade is gone the next day and it still looks great!

Lasted all though the 4th of July. Got a lot of people coming by to look!

 This is after a week, still looking pretty good!

Finally a hard rain about two weeks later took it away!

Virtual Earth Day Chalk Festival

Virtual Earth Day Chalk Festival

April 22, 2020

In the middle of the shutdown for the pandemic, artists coordinated an online Chalk Art Festival for Earth Day. I watched over the weeks leading up to Earth Day as many of my artist friends did artwork in their driveways. I debated about getting out to do artwork in my driveway, because it had been so windy and rainy. Earth Day itself turned out to be just great! The day before had been very windy, but this day was just fine. I started about 10:30 in the morning and finished about 2:00pm with a break for lunch. About the time I finished it started to cloud up and I quickly covered up my artwork. But it didn't rain after all and I was able to uncover it later in the day.

 The Beginning!

 Step 1

 Step 2

 Step 3

 Step 4

 Step 5

 Almost finished, taking a break for lunch

 Decided to add a grassy baseline.

 All finished!

 

 Clouds were gathering so I had to cover it right away. 

Was able to uncover it later in the day. Recovered it that evening and it rained all day the next day!

 

Make it Dayton Festival

Make it Dayton Festival

Carillon Park, Dayton, Ohio

Oct. 5, 2019 

 

Here are both finished pictures for the day. 

 


There were three different events that I could have chosen from to do chalk art this particular Saturday. The biggest of which was Chalk the Block at Easton in Columbus, which would have been my 4th year. Long before the Chalk the Block date was announced I signed up for the "Makers Festival" at Carillon Park in Dayton. Chalk the Block was traditionally the following weekend so I thought I would be okay to do both. Unfortunately it turned out to be the same weekend. There was also a chalk event in Springfield the very same weekend. I wasn't sure which event to choose, but I decided to go with the "Makers Festival." 

I believe that this event turned out to be the best choice. I was the only person doing chalk art, it was close to home in Dayton, and it was a good way to get better known in my area. It turned out to be a beautiful day. It was a bit cool in the morning, but it warmed up nicely and ended up being hot in the afternoon. 

I chose to do a reproduction of photo of the Wright Brothers 1905 plane with the brothers. It was a photo that had never seen before of them on the Huffman prairie with their barn and plane casually leaning on the wing and chatting. Because I was positioned right under the NCR pool tower, I also decided to do a second picture of the NCR pool. 

I finished the larger one of the Wright Brothers first, by about 1pm and then went on to do the other picture of the NCR pool. I finished both pictures by 3pm with only on complication:
 I was just finishing up with my second picture and hadn't even taken a picture of it yet, when I turned around to find a child in the middle of it twisting and turning around. I yelled at him and his mother came to get him, she was so embarrassed. I was so mad, but tried not to show it. I hated to think what his pants looked like though! I proceeded to fix my picture and go on. That was a first, that's for sure. Later that afternoon my own grandson crawled right through my larger picture...Oh well...that's the way it goes!

It was a great day. I finished quickly and it wasn't too hot. It was a nice venue. It was unpaid, so I put a tip jar out and made a small amount of money to take us out to dinner. 

This is my last event for the season, happy to be finished in some ways, but disappointed in others. Looking forward to next season!

  

 Ready to begin!

Here is my spot. It's a nice one!

 All taped off and ready to go!

  This is the photo I worked from. Love how casual the brothers are!

 The sketch.

 Just getting started.

 First layer complete.

 After wetting the first layer to make the chalk adhere better.

 The view during my lunch break.

 Almost finished!

 All finished!

 Tape off...looks great!

 My second picutre: Old River Pool at NCR.

 This is right after the child decided to sit in the middle of my picture. Notice the sign I added?!

 Still came out pretty good even with the mishap! Notice how fuzzy the building is?

 Still looks pretty good though!

 Tired but happy with my work!

 This is to give you an idea of where my artwork was.

My grandson after crawling through my picture! Fixed it pretty easily though!

 So proud of both of these!

Too bad it had to rain the next day! I guess the pictures disappeared pretty quickly!