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Artist Brings the Sidewalk to Life With His Charming Chalk Art Characters

By Sara Barnes on July 31, 2021

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Artist David Zinn brings the sidewalk to life with his charming chalk drawings. For years, we’ve been enthralled by his sweet characters who interact with the surrounding environment. Zinn hasn’t slowed down since. He's prolific, creating artwork that utilizes overgrown grass and cracks in the sidewalk in optical illusions that reveal the likes of flying pigs, small rodents, and even aliens existing among passersby.

While many artists had to curtail their plans due to the pandemic, Zinn’s outdoor public art has allowed him to continue his work in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He has used his immediate neighborhood as a giant “canvas” for his art, finding places where his characters can sit and enjoy the view. But some of his most eye-catching pieces make use of the ground and another object. Leaves sticking up from in between bricks offers one of his recurring characters, a mouse named Nadine, wings so that she can fly.

“All in all, I’m feeling grateful that there are opportunities for cheerful nonsense even in the middle of this very weird time,” Zinn tells My Modern Met, “and lucky that my chalk art is something I can do (and other people can enjoy) safely and socially distanced.”

If you’d like to learn how to draw like Zinn, he has a new book out called Chalk Art Handbook that contains all of his “tricks and secrets.” It’s now available through Bookshop. To purchase more from Zinn, be sure to check out his online store.