Q: What inspired you to chalk?
A: For me, chalk drawing happened a couple years ago in the summer of 2015. We bought our little one some Crayola Chalk (48 Pack). I was sitting with her outside in our driveway watching her doodle with her chalk. My wife and daughter decided to our local Starbucks for a refreshing treat, and as they left, Ally asked me if I can draw her Cinderella. I suspected all she really wanted was perhaps a stick figure of some kind representing Cinderella. Knowing that they'd be gone for at least an hour, I decided to attempt to surprise them. I grabbed my mobile phone and Googled "Cinderella" and came across a basic black-and-white coloring page of the princess.
Using it as a guide, I started to draw what I saw in this picture and nearly an hour later came up with this ...
(Also pictured here is a Bubble Guppie named "Molly" and a "Pinkie Pie" from My Little Pony; these were drawn the next day.)
When I stood up and saw what I had drawn, I was stunned, and so were my wife and Ally when they came home shortly thereafter.
Q: How long have you been creating Chalk Art?
A: I've been doing this since the Summer of 2015. I was always pretty good at doodling art, especially in study hall while in high school. Up until then I have never taken up chalk art. The Cinderella was my 1st attempt. Most of my drawings can be completed in about 1.5 to 2 hours a character.
Q: Do you have an art background?
A: As far as art and my art instruction, I really have none. If you count the elementary school art classes and my one ceramics class in high school, that was pretty much the extent of my art training. For my regular 9 to 5 job I work in IT as a "Network/Voice Engineer".
Q: What has been the reaction to your work?
A: I've only very recently been posting my work on the Facebook "Snoqualmie Ridge" page. Where the reactions have been very positive. Before then only my neighbors have been appreciative of my work and, of course, my two biggest fans, my wife and Ally.
Q: How do you decide what to draw?
A: My little girl Ally requests something, usually a person (Disney Princess or a character from a show, etc.) From there the secret to all my drawings is the internet. I typically Google "Coloring Pages" because it is in black and white and the lines are shown in a way that is easy to copy from. Then I'll do a little research on the character(s) to see what colors are being used. Of the colors that are most valuable to me in the chalk box are White and Black, without those, a drawing usually doesn't happen.
