2024 marked my thirteenth year doing Chalk It Up, which I’ve been doing since 2011 (I skipped one year while I was out of town on vacation). Chalk It Up is a local chalk art event in Sacramento where artists convene for Labor Day weekend to make chalk art and support grants for local artists and art programs.

Things got off to a slightly rocky start this year thanks to a loud, badly-placed food truck generator, but that got taken care of eventually, I got my art done quickly, and I had a lot of fun in the end!

This year, I chose an illustration from Februdoodle, an illustration project I’d done earlier in the year, as my Chalk It Up drawing. The drawing I picked was of a bicycle pump inflating a patchwork heart, which I’d done for Valentine’s Day. It’s a relatively simple piece, but it gave me a lot of opportunities to render different materials and make it look dimensional, so it was a good choice.

I took a quick lunch break before finishing. It was nice to sit, eat, and do some people watching before powering up for the end.

I finished so early this year, the mid-day sun was still shining through the trees overhead, and my final photo wound up with some bright spots/shadows on it.

It’s not a bad way to remember the day though, as it is almost always sunny – and hot – for Chalk It Up. And it’s a far cry from the day-long 6-8 hours I have spent working on my square in the past! 😅