A First!

The above photo is from the first chalk art festival that I've participated in...and it was a great day for doing so!  The 4'x4' piece was my chalk 'take' of the Telemadera piece framed by a paper background that emulates a center 3D piece...recently finished.

Little did I know how challenging this process was going to be...drawing on concrete.  It is no easy substrate to work with.  The work is hard on the back and knees with all the stooping and kneeling...but I did it.  Thankfully, my neighboring artists didn't show up until mid-day, so I was able to walk around my square (using their spaces for my footfalls) to fill in areas more easily than if I'd had to lean over the piece to do so.  I was grateful for this not so small favor.

Would I do it again?  I don't know.  To do so, I'd like to practice technique.  As it was, I didn't use water to ground the chalk and/or help with blending, and I'd like to get better at shading and highlighting in the use of chalk.  As it was, my piece generated a lot of chalk dust, and it would occasionally blow over the areas I had already filled in.  Is there anything that can be done with it?  Not really...so I left it where it fell.  I wonder if others who've done this for a while have tips for dealing with this.

Glad I've had my first experience doing this, even if it's only this one time.  Plus, I loved seeing the works of others in which there were some really nice works!