Year 2, Day 59

Year 2, Day 59: I woke up at 6:15, showered, gathered my materials, and headed down to the park to start on a piece to support Chalk It Up!  This is an annual charity event that I was fortunate enough to participate in during my very first year here in Sacramento, and it raises money for local arts programs for Sacramento students.  The system is pretty simple: local businesses and individuals sponsor squares for a fixed amount of money, and a local artist volunteers his time to do some truly rad art on that square.  The event also features local bands, food trucks, craftsmen, and a whole host of fun events for families, from face-painting to "kids alley", where the kids are allowed to bring their own creations to life on the diagonal sidewalks.

I had done three squares last year, each 6'x6', and it took most of the three day weekend to finish all three squares.  This year, I resolved to only do one, but I did manage to score one of the shady spots with one of the largest squares, at 6'x8'. 

I was on my hands and knees and doodling away by 8 a.m., and had basically finished by 4:30, with a few breaks here and there for food and whatnot.  Some of my peeps came by to offer their emotional support, and also to bring me food, so special thanks to:

Kris (who was AMAZINGLY supportive during the nutty period that led up to the event, during which I was kind of insane and not really sleeping.  Love you lots, baby!!)
Emily and Chris (who brought me a BLT from Pronto, as well as running up to the apartment to refill the water cooler.  Thanks, peeps!)
Lila and Megan (who brought me unsolicited bacon, and were awesomely supportive of a weird artist guy that neither really knew very well!!)

I also got to catch up with some lovely peeps I had met a year ago, and there was some truly amazing art on hand.  I'm sure it will all be up on the CIU website soon (though, having said that, they still don't have the images up from last year...)

In any event, this is what eight hours, loads and loads of chalk, quite a few blistered fingertips, and 48 square feet of concrete canvas gets you:

Now, I know what you're thinking: "Who the heck is Bob Dreizler??"  Bob is a local businessman who has sponsored a square at the event EVERY YEAR since the inception of Chalk It Up, 22 years ago!  Bob came by on Saturday morning (he and I had had no previous discussions) and introduced himself:

Bob: Hi!  I'm Bob!
Jim:  Hi!  (nervously, gesturing to rough drawing) Um... I'm doing a dragon.  I hope that's okay.
Bob: Cool!

He was AMAZINGLY laid back about the whole thing, and seemed happy with the attribution at the bottom, which I was also happy with.  The drop shadows and highlights worked out just great (though they are a little hard to see in the photo, the highlights really popped in real life).

After a bit of thinking, I decided to do a little bit of a "meta" piece, and have my own hands actually drawing on parchment.  This allowed me to do some of the realism that the judges seem to prefer, while also allowing me to do the majority of the piece in my own super-cartoony style (which, frankly, I prefer).  Also, while the dragon's head looks weirdly proportioned here, it looks more normal when viewed at the angle that most people saw it at, to wit:

All in all, it was a super-fun experience, and though I'm still deciding between doing this again next year and, instead, heading to Dragon*Con (why, oh, WHY do these have to be on the same weekend???), I really do look forward to participating again one day, and hope that you, my faithful penguinians, have enjoyed it!

Tomorrow, ADVENTURE!!  :)

EDIT: To give you a sense of scale, here's a shot of me roughing in the colors before I did the hard line work.  It's a BIG canvas!!

Also, please note that while I had the foresight to bring a cushion to sit on, I quite often simply forgot about it, so it's lounging leisurely in the foreground while I kneel on the concrete like an idiot...  :)