David Zinn is an American graffiti artist, illustrator and writer whose favorite hobby is covering sidewalks and public spaces with humorous chalk drawings. Zinn’s art works aren’t permanent, as the chalk is easily degraded by wind, rain and pedestrians. if you’re fortunate enough to see one of his funny graffiti pieces, it means that Zinn was there within the last few days. An artist since childhood, Zinn says that he is “always looking for new opportunities to use art as a problem-solving tool, whether the problem is a complicated global concern or a sad-looking crack in the sidewalk.” [source] This has led him to explore a number of artistic mediums such as paint, pencil and chalk. He is also an avid fan of words, calling himself a “shameless word nerd”.
David Zinn’s funny graffiti often focuses on an alienish, slug-like character that Zinn designed, called Sluggo. This little guy is depicted performing a number of activities such as fishing, sleeping, drawing and watering plants. Other characters that pop up in Zinn’s sidewalk art include pigs, dragons and rabbits. Some of these chalk drawings have a message behind them, such as “save water” or “occupy your imagination or someone else will”. Like all street artists and graffiti artists, David Zinn feels he has a message to impart and has discovered that urban streets are an excellent canvas for him to express his opinions on.
Many of Zinn’s graffiti art works have an interesting use of perspective. Zinn draws his characters so that they appear to be standing on the pavement, instead of simply drawn onto the pavement’s surface. This technique adds life to the character, creating the illusion that the cartoon figure exists in 3-dimensional space. For more graffiti art and illustrations by David Zinn, take a look at his website.
