My submission for Lynker Technologies Swag Photo contest. $15 box of chalk, 6 hours, Lynker swag, and a whole lot of fun!

I've been wanting to attempt an anamorphic chalk drawing since seeing 3D chalk art by Julian Beever, and being absolutely floored by his work! If you've never heard of him, you're in for a treat. Follow the link to his site and check out his amazing work.

What I think a lot people don't understand is that large format drawing, although difficult, is only one dimension of doing a pavement chalk drawing. When you add anamorphic perspective to the mix, it becomes exponentially challenging. I remember in college being entranced by paintings like The Ambassadors, by Holbein the Younger.

Actually seeing the skull for the first time, made me I feel like I was being let in on a secret.

Here's my daughter jumping over a practice sketch, where I was figuring out how much distortion to add to get the perspective right.

I really struggled with this project. Every time I needed to do a proportion adjustment, I had to wet the pavement, scrub the problem areas clean, and then wait for it to dry before I could try again. The process revealed just how much I relied on ctrl-z(undo), and how it had bled into my normal workflow. I had moved away from taking my time, planning my lines, and taking pride in the draughtsmanship that's required to pulling clean meaningful lines. 

This project pushed me way outside my comfort zone as an artist, but it reminded me the importance of taking my time and enjoying the process. These are the types of projects I, fail at, but love the most, because I know that it's also where I grow the most.