It's Really Just a Chalk Drawing?!

Every single one of us as people has used chalk at one time in our lives. As students before white boards and dry erase markers, there was the chalk board, as children we drew on the pavements and made hopscotch squares and doodled little drawings that could easily be washed away by water. Artist have used this in the past as a way to get money just like street performers. This was only the beginning for British chalk artist: Julian Beever. 

Beever drew with chalk as one of his mediums just to receive change from passers by so that he could work on his artwork at home in his studio. It seemed to work out fine, having ideas here and there about three dimensional art from chalk. It was not until he saw the perfect bit of pavement left over by an old abandoned Garden that he decided to test out an idea.   

He had the idea to draw a woman swimming in a pool drinking coca-cola. He commented in an interview by CBS news that he messed up on the leg because it was not symmetric and stated that "I [Beever] didn't really have the experience at that time to realize exactly how to do that leg in relation to the camera" ever since that he has been improving making more and more amazing chalk drawings. 

What is his secret? Well for starters, being a skilled artist. However, the real secret in his 3D chalk drawings, is in the position in which one views the drawing. He starts out with a paper sketch of his idea. Then he finds the perfect spot for his drawing and places a rope barrier around the area. He then sets up a camera as his view finder (the top rim of the camera is the top rim of the paper) exactly where he wants the angle to be, then using the camera he places ropes down and chalks around them to be his starting point. The whole process takes about three days but it is well worth it. He just fills in the blanks from there, referencing the camera as often as he needs to. Once the process is done, people standing at the same angle as the camera, can see the drawing as if it is really there even though it is really just chalk on the pavement. And thus his illusion is complete. 

When stepping away from the angle that sets the illusion, one does not grasp what the picture is supposed to be. Take for instance this photo done on the side of the drawing. What does it look like? A surf board? Guess again.

It is actually a globe that is supposed to like this:

With Julian Beever actually standing on the "top" of the world, holding up a sign that says "Make Poverty History" in bold letters. Both pictures are of the same drawing, just at different angles. Amazing right? 

Julian Beever's Web Page