Hire a Chalk Artist – Available for Street Fairs and Signage

It was so great working as a chalk artist for the City of Eatonton‘s Magnolia Market last weekend! I thought maybe some of you might hire a chalk artist, so I thought I’d share some info about all that.

Chalk art is basically another type of a mural (here’s where you can take a look at my mural portfolio). It’s created with water-based chalks and pastels, and when it rains, it washes away. It’s a really fun way to add ambiance to a street fair, local event, food truck meetup, or carnival!

What’s in my trusty backpack when I draw at an event?

• My art plan – The day of an event, I show up with my plan for my art all ready to go. It super speeds up the artmaking process if all the big decisions, including colors and what goes where, are already figured out beforehand!
• Chalk – I’ve used these Prang chalks for ages and I love how bright they are. I tried out SoHo chalk pastels for the first time last weekend, and I dug them. Another chalk artist recommended trying out Eternity Arts chalk, and I’m looking forward to that soon. It is on the spendier side, though, so not sure if that’s in the cards at the moment.
• A rag – cheapest item in the bag! Grab an old towel, and use that to blend.
• A sealed plastic container with some water in it. Letting a stick of chalk sit in water (like you’d put a paintbrush in a cup of water, with the end poking out) makes it take on this really smooth texture when you’re drawing. I have tried crushing up chalk into a cup with water and painting it on, but I feel like you may get more mileage from your chalk drawing traditionally on the pavement.
• Rock climbing chalk – I tried this for the first time last weekend and it’s a game changer! Using the little bag of chalk, you plop that around where you’re drawing, and kind of smooth it over the surface. It’s a bit like using primer, and because you’re putting down some chalk before you color, you end up using a little less chalk.
• Aqua Net aerosol hair spray – It sounds weird, but it’s basically a cheap alternative to spray fixative for pastels to help the art last juuuuuuuust a tad longer. It washes off just like the chalk does, so nothing is permanent.

There’s a couple of different options if you’re interested in having me work on chalkboard signage for your restaurant, cafe, or other business. The big question is: will the art need to be changeable, or does it need to be more permanent?

For my “What’s For Dinner” menu board, I created the hand lettering at the top and the flowers and “and in the garden” text using paint pens. They last so much better that way, especially on a board that has some elements that need to stay put with some text needing to be changed on a weekly basis.

My “Faith Cafe” sandwich board for Living Faith Church in Guyton, GA was created with some pens, some real chalk, and lots of clear coat spray. The texture of real chalk gave it authenticity, but the clear coat made sure it wasn’t going anywhere.

One of the projects I worked on with Henry Arts Alliance during COVID times was participating in their chalk art encouragement in front of Piedmont Hospital. I really love how the colors and the lettering turned out for this one!

Ready to Hire a Chalk Artist?

Pop on over to my contact page and let me know what you’ve got coming up. I’d love to work together!