2018 MIDTOWN CROSSING CHALK FESTIVAL
At the time, I have not done a chalk mural for a while, and I had just recently “liked” the Midtown Crossing Facebook Page. I was super excited to see that they were looking for artists to participate in the 1st annual Midtown Crossing Omaha Chalk Festival. In June of 2018, I had entered my preliminary drawing with a description and a few examples of my previous work. I was thrilled to hear their reply because they invited me to participate in this chalk festival.
My work started by researching various ideas that inspire me. I thought it would be great to be able to create something where the viewer loses their perspective and takes them to another place or reality.
My son helped me come up with the idea. Once in a while, I would wear a t-shirt that had an orange octopus design on it. We began to build upon the concept together on a series of “what if’s?”.
What if the octopus was enormous?
What if it was attacking a ship?
What if it was a pirate ship?
What if there was a storm?
And, What if could see under the water with a flash of lightning?
So that is how it began. I drew the creative with my digital drawing tablet using my Adobe Photoshop program. I composited a few images, color corrected layers, and slowly removed and added parts until I came up with a good composition.
At the Event…
Masking 6’x6′ Drawing Area
Each artist was assigned a 6-foot by 6-foot square. I carefully measured out this space using a tape measure and marking the edges with painters tape. This tape creates a nice clean edge when peeled off after the mural has been completed. I use painters instead of regular masking tape because as the hot sun bonds masking tape to the cement.
After I mask out the area I mark each square foot and outlined my artwork to match my printed 1-inch by 1-inch grided preliminary drawing.
Outlining artwork for chalk drawing
Once the outline was created I started in with color blocking and defining the shapes with highlights and shadows.
