Since there is very little in the way of "how to's" on the internet when it comes to sidewalk art (or "street painting" - as the cool kids call it), I thought I'd do a little overview of techniques and supplies. Here's the thing, though: I am super amateur. I know next to nothing about art and art supplies, so I feel like I'm the wrong person to be doing this. But someone should do it, right? So just know that this is what I've discovered in my experiences with chalk art, and it may or may not be quality information.
First let's talk supplies.
Traditional children's sidewalk chalk is always fun, but it's very limited in colors, and it isn't very vivid.
To expand your color palette, you can use soft pastels (not to be confused with oil pastels. Don't use oil pastels!) Soft pastels can be found in most craft or hobby stores or on Amazon. I recently found some very inexpensive sets at Ross.
This package of soft pastels was $3.99 at Ross
Fresh pastels give me that "new crayon" feeling from elementary school
I've purchased and tried several brands, and thus far, they’ve all seemed equal in quality. That might not be so if I were doing "real art," but with coloring on the ground, I haven't noticed much of a difference between brands. I've bought packages that come with very small pastels and some with larger sticks. There are pros and cons to both. Either way, they “spend” quickly.
My container of "scrap" chalk of various sizes
This gives me the "old crayon" feeling, but they are still useful
With the smaller pastels, I obviously run out of a single color faster. I've started blending multiple shades to make my colors last longer. For example, if I'm coloring something blue, I’ll usually color the outer edges with a darker shade of blue and then color the inside with a lighter shade of blue (Or vice versa) and then blend the blues together with foam.
I like to have a good supply of black chalk for outlining. I go through a lot of black chalk, and the multicolored sets usually only have one stick of black.
A package of black chalk
A package of "grayscale" chalk
I like to use inexpensive white chalkboard chalk or sidewalk chalk for my initial drawing (no reason to use the expensive stuff for this part).
Another supply I like to have is some type of foam for blending. Most packages of pastels come with a foam insert like this:
Foam insert from a package of soft pastels
This is perfect for breaking off a piece and using it to blend the chalk. I also bought this square of white foam to use for blending. I just tear off a piece when I need it. As you can see, we've touched it with our very messy hands, so it's taken on chalk dust color, but it still does the job! I use a fresh piece of foam for each color, otherwise they mix.
Break off pieces of foam to use for blending
Speaking of messy hands, I like to keep a package of baby wipes in my supply bucket so I can wipe the chalk off my fingers when I switch colors. My kids wander off with the wipes sometimes, so in that case, I rinse my fingers with the hose or wipe them on my pants. Just a note: don't dress nice while doing chalk art. In fact, if you can't handle "messy," this probably isn't a great pastime for you.
The mess is part of the experience
A cheap can of hairspray is handy for setting the color and helping it stay longer. With using hairspray as a fixative, I'm able to drive over my artwork with minimal damage - maybe just a minor tire streak or two. Prior to hairspraying, the drawings smear easily.
Tempera paint really ups your street art possibilities. When I wrote this post, I hadn't yet tried tempera paint. Within the next week, I purchased some and gave it a go. I really love using the paint for large areas. It's a lot easier than trying to fill it with chalk, and it gets much better coverage.
For example, Olaf's white base is paint, and then I used the soft pastels to do all of the details. It would have been a pain to color Olaf’s entire figure in white chalk. I used two coats of paint. It dries pretty fast in the heat.
Olaf is mostly made of paint
Mike Wazowski's green base is also paint. I then used chalk to add darker green shading and other details to Mike.
I originally bought a multi-pack of washable paint to experiment with (the brand was labeled "washable" and did not have the word "tempera" on it - either is fine. The goal is that it is washable/temporary). It worked fine. But then Daisy and I found tempera paint at Dollar Tree, which was pretty exciting!
Tempera paint from Dollar Tree
Obviously if you use paint, you're going to want to have some paint brushes, too! A small roller is great for covering large areas. I've found that small pieces of rock/cement get embedded in the rollers and won’t come out, but it hasn't been a problem. I've washed and reused my rollers with the tiny rocks in them, and they still work just fine. I'm painting on cement, after all.
Paint brushes
Here's a consolidated list of chalk art supplies:
- Soft pastels
- Cheap white chalkboard chalk
- Black pastels
- Foam for blending and smudging
- Baby wipes or a wet rag for wiping fingers clean
- Hairspray
- Tempera paint
- Paint brushes and rollers
Now let's talk about some techniques.
I have to have a visual to draw from, so I always search images on my phone for inspiration. I find that "clipart" is usually pretty easy to replicate as it's simplified.
I start by using my cheap chalkboard chalk (or a piece of "scrap chalk" that is light in color) to draw my picture. This allows for errors. As you can see here, I redraw my lines over and over to get them right.
Sketch of Baby Dory in white chalk
If I end up with too many extra white lines, I use some foam to blend the lines I won’t be using so they cover more easily when I start working with the color.
I usually fill in the "biggest" color first. I don't try get full coverage by coloring with the chalk (this will make the chalk run out very quickly). Instead, I just do a good scribble, and then I use a piece of foam to blend it - which spreads the color and fills it in.
Blue scribbles to start with
Blending the color with a piece of foam
Chalk dust
There will be some chalk dust that lingers. I used to try and blow it away or make it settle more into the cement, but it made things messy and sometimes ruined my pictures. I've found that the better option is to leave the dust alone and spray over it lightly with hairspray. Hold the hairspray kind of high so it doesn't over-saturate the chalk. If the colors lighten or fade from the hairspray, touch them up after the hairspray dries. They spray them again.
Dory's first spritz
I usually do my base color and give it a spray to set it. Then as I add additional layers of color, I spray again on top of each layer.
Starting the details of Dory's eyes
A quick note on smudging and blending:
Using my finger to blend the white of Dory's eye
In large areas I use foam to blend the chalk, but there are times when I prefer to use my finger, such as when there are fine lines or small areas. I use a very light touch because I have rubbed off the tip of my fingers before. It's painful and doesn't heal quickly. Make sure to wipe the colors off your fingers before you start using your fingers to blend. If you have magenta fingers, and you start rubbing the whites of an eyeball, you will quickly find yourself with a case of pink eye!
Once I've added all the details and blended the colors where needed, I usually outline my pictures in black.
The outline helps make the shapes more distinct, and it also helps cover up flaws. I trace my finger lightly over the black outline to help it blend a bit. Then I give everything one last spritz of hairspray!
Now we better talk about the worst part... clean-up. I mentioned this in a recent post, but I'll go over it again just so the information is in one place.
Everything washes off... eventually. Some colors, like red and black, linger for a long time. One way to speed up the cleaning process is to spray a little water on the painting and let it sit for a minute. Then put some Dawn dish soap on it and scrub it with a brush. Obviously this is more work than anyone wants to do, but if you need the pictures gone faster, this is one way to do it. Even with that effort, some of the color will likely linger. The longer the picture has been there, the harder it is to wash off. Another option is to use a pressure washer, but even with that, there will still be a little bit of lingering color. With time, it will come off.
I've really enjoyed making chalk art creations - it’s keeping me sane right now. Pretty soon, I'll retire for the season because it will be too hot, but in the meantime, I'm happy to have a hobby that brings me joy.
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