Thanks for your interest in 3d chalk art! I am often asked how I create these pieces and I am happy to demystify the process a bit. Below are some samples of completed chalk art pieces:

3d chalk art is an illusion. It's an image that has been stretched out on the ground so that the 3d effect is only visible from one specific spot. As you walk around the piece, it begins to distort.

How do you make the 3d effect? First, you decide what you want the image to look like. Then you "pinch" the bottom edges in to distort the image. The pinched image is what your chalk work looks like from above. This is why 3d artwork is best done in a rectangular space: You are pinching and elongating the image to give the 3d effect.

Interacting with a 3d chalk piece takes the work to a whole new level. It's fun to imagine scenarios where people can jump into the work and make it feel even more life-like.

I often mark where people should stand to take the photo. It is helpful to have something or someone there to tell people to use their cameras to best see the work. Sometimes I provide a lens for them to look through, so that they don't have to go through the motions of looking through their own cameras.

Some things to keep in mind if you're looking to commission a 3d chalk art piece:

• 3d works take weeks of planning, be sure to reach out as soon as possible.
• Rectangular shapes work best.
• Stanchions or barricades are usually a good idea for large pieces of chalk art.
• Not all surfaces are created equal. Some pieces may require the use of washable paint to help speed the process along. Think about what is allowed on the site that you want to chalk.
• Some places do not allow chalking on the ground. We can work around this by using loose canvas, laying it on top of the ground, and working on top of that instead.
• Will the piece be a performance during the event or do you want it done ahead of time?
• There are 2 different types of 3d chalk artworks: pieces that go into the ground and pieces that look like they are laying on the ground. Think about what it is that you are looking for.

You can view more examples of my 3d chalk art here.

Do you have an idea for a 3d chalk art? I'd love to hear about it!
Click here to contact me for a free quote!

Here's a collection of photos from the most interesting projects I did in 2017:
(click a photo to see it larger)

This was easily one of the most challenging and fun projects so far this year... a 3d lava pit for Chick-Fil-A's innovation headquarters- The Hatch! I met with some team members at The Hatch to hatch our plan... They wanted an interactive 3d piece created on their concrete floor inside of the building for their Art of Understanding-themed open house event. This is the sketch they drew for me on site:

So my job was to take this sketch- a squareish pit with a question mark path and to turn it into something epic. I made a few different drafts and sent over some concept art. We weren't sure if it was going to be a bottomless pit, a pit with water at the bottom, or lava. In the end, they decided on lava- After many many hours, this is the concept art sketch that we came up with:

The whole thing took a whopping 20 hours from start to finish, which is all chronicled in the following YouTube time lapse video:

It was a hit! Here are some photos of the piece being used during the event:

Special thanks to Chick-Fil-A for their continued support of my work and to CPG Agency!

One of the things I love most about the holidays is all of the custom chalkboards that I get to do! This is the time of year when fun projects of all sizes pop up on my calendar. Below are some of my favorite holiday projects from the past few years. If you're looking for a chalk artist in the Atlanta area for your holiday boards, give me a call!

The Chick-Fil-A kickoff game is coming up in just a few weeks, and the marketing team at the corporate headquarters reached out to me about doing an anamorphic piece to get employees excited about the upcoming event. The campus is verdant and exquisitely landscaped and has a college feel. The best part is that every employee seems to be so happy to work there and, collectively, make an enjoyable work environment.
For this project, they asked for it to be done in paint so that it could sit outside for a few weeks. There are tours that take employees and their families around the campus and this provided a photo op for everyone!
The weather was looking iffy on the day I was supposed to paint, so I started the day before in the parking lot at my apartment complex. You can watch the whole video of the process here:

And here are photos of the final piece:

And possibly the coolest thing about the entire experience of chalking at the Chick-Fil-A HQ... they have a REAL batmobile on the first floor!

We were so excited to have the opportunity to create and install a 21' chalk mural in the dining room of the W Kitchen, the restaurant at the W Atlanta Downtown hotel. They asked for us to create a cartoony mural that highlighted landmarks in Atlanta. Here's a scanned image of our concept art (incomplete) for the project:

The W Kitchen downtown has gone through some major renovations lately, and this chalkboard was just one of the phases. It took us four days to create on site, and some silly logistics regarding a telescoping ladder, but it's installed and looks great!

     Since I was born and raised in Atlanta, I was so excited to chalk for Delta Airlines. 2017 marked the tenth annual Delta Block Party- a company-wide party thanking employees, current and retired, for their service. I was asked to create a 3d chalk work for the occasion.
     The concept was to make it look like a Delta was coming out of the ground with the Atlanta skyline in the background. A few employees quizzed me as to whether the plane I was drawing was an Air Bus or a Boeing, and, to their delight, I knew just enough about planes to correctly identify it as a Boeing.
     I was scheduled to start on the Friday before the event, but the weather set me back. There were showers off and on all afternoon. Instead, I spent the day in my studio, working on a giant stencil for the 18-foot piece. I created the stencil in three strips, which you can see me lay out in the time lapse. This prep work took me well over 5 hours to do.
     On the morning of, I arrived at dawn, just before the sun came up. It was a little windy and cold, 46 degrees actually, so I layered up wearing thermals. I started laying out the strips and pouncing them so that I could start chalking the piece. The event started at 10 am, and I had a basic structure in place, and people were really excited to see it. The sun came out and it started heating up. Around noon, there was a huge crowd, and they kept coming throughout the afternoon. I'd say around 2pm, there were easily at least 10,000 people in attendance. I noticed that my camera battery had called it quits, probably because of the temperature fluctuation from cold to hot. Unfortunately, this meant that my time lapse video would be incomplete. Once I completed the plane and the sky, I started having spectators help with the Atlanta skyline. We finished around 3pm!

We chalked four new stores for Lolli and Pops in 2016: Two in Georgia and two in Missouri. Lolli and Pops is a chain of boutique candy stores that can be found inside of many major malls across the country. Their aesthetic is extremely tailored to perfection and they have an amazing palette of golds and robins egg blues that they work with. Each store we chalked at was a little bit different. Some had a "chocolate library", all of them had a giant golden gummy bear shrine. They also sell sodas from all over the world! Truly, if you get a chance to check this place out, please do! Photos below:

If you aren't familiar with Starbucks Reserve, they're an upscale Starbucks that have hired local artisans and craftsmen to accent the decor and bring a handmade touch to the feel of the store. There's only one in Atlanta, at the corner of Peachtree Street and 7th Street in the heart of the city.

Starbucks reached out to us about redesigning two chalkboards in the Atlanta Starbucks Reserve. Check them out here:

We traveled up to Knoxville, TN to chalk in a festival. The temperature was SO cold- around 40 degrees! Being used to chalking in Florida weather, we weren't prepared! Regardless, we knocked out this smaller but extremely detailed piece in about a day. The original artist is Ana Bagayan. Check it out: