Chalk

If you go down to the Quay today, you’re in for a big surprise . . . cos today is the last day of the fourth Urban Chalk Art Festival in Sydney. There are a lot of Festival activities including numerous chalk art works on the footpaths and bitumen, but the main feature is a giant chalk mural on the forecourt of Customs House. The mural has been created over the last week and you can now have your photo taken with it or on it.

The mural is called Wasting Time and is the biggest 3D artwork created in Australia. It is a collaboration between two celebrated chalk artists:

· Melbourne-based Jenny McCracken, who began her 3D career 25 years ago, starting with a small piece on a pavement near St James Station in Sydney. The response from the public was so enthusiastic she was hooked, and now travels the world creating her award-winning, ephemeral works. 

· Netherlands born and based Leon Keer, who was making a living out of creating large-scale commercial murals, mainly using acrylic paint, when he came across anamorphic street art. Since picking up chalk in 2008, his fame has spread, via the internet and social media, for his inventive designs including some extraordinary work for Legoland in Germany. 

Some comments:

· A team of eight artists, including McCracken and Keer, have worked on the mural.

· A special sealer was put down first to make it easier to apply the chalk and to remove it later. 

· The design was sketched on in charcoal, then the chalk applied in liquid form.

· The festival began in 2005 decorating the Pyrmont Bridge.

· Previous editions of the Chalk Urban Art Festival have been held on Pyrmont Bridge, at Darling Harbour and in Parramatta. 

Some images:

Some of the other chalk art

Starting the big one

Some other Jenny McCracken works:

To obtain this effect with perspective, it must be created as ...

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