David Zinn’s chalk art appears three-dimensional because he blends his drawings with grass, manhole covers and cracks in sidewalks.
CBS News’ Zinn said that this type of art began with a simple intent. “The honest answer is that I was looking for an excuse to be outside on a nice day,”He elaborated.
For over 20 years, he worked as a freelance artist in commercial art. Then one day, a box of chalk called.
“We all seem to have chalk in our house,”He said. “It’s just very easy to come by, which is one of the things that I think makes it a good thing to make art with because it’s not precious.”
Zinn’s whimsical drawings are worth seeing close up because of the rain, footsteps and sweeping. Zinn says that anyone who comes across one in any of the many cities where he works should consider himself unique.
“Famous works of art hang in museums, get seen by thousands of people every day. But this, you could be in among the dozens of people who get to see this while it exists. That’s pretty special.”
Zinn claims that art helps him be present.
“I think that’s part of what this is meant to do,”He said. “To celebrate the fact that we walk through spaces on our way to somewhere else all the time and don’t really take the time to notice where we are.”
“And it’s helped me a lot to actually appreciate every single place that I am for what it can do.”