The Pasadena Chalk Festival - Day 1 - National Park Emblem and Splash Mountain

Today is the first day of the Pasadena Chalk Festival, and like I said before, we've got a few new artists joining us! You must be at least 16 years old to sign up, but... if the lead artist is over 16 anyone can help them! I was trying to think of a good mural for them to do and when I mentioned doing the National Park Emblem Theresa was all for it! The kids were excited too! They'd get to wear their Junior Ranger vests and tell everyone about the National Parks they've visited and encourage people to get outside and explore. 

And I had a totally different mural in mind up until 2 weeks ago. For reasons, I changed it last minute to the poster for Splash Mountain! It's my year to pick the mural and I have to say it was a bit ambitious. We usually like solid colors with not a lot of detail. This has a TON of detail. 

Coming back from the night before, we hadn't covered our murals. There's not a whole lot that go wrong with them overnight yet.

A stray footprint is taken care of by a quick swipe of tempera paint. 

Ruston and I got an early start at 7am, getting our stencil taped together. 

A quick stop at the new artists checkin, picking up lanyards, chalk, tshirts, and snacks. 

When we got back, we worked to cover the entire back of our stencil with black chalk dust. 

There's so much detail in here. It literally took over an hour of tracing to get all the edges transferred. 

And here's a subtle nod to the new attraction taking over Splash Mountain, and a good way to show our technique. By rubbing the back with chalk dust, we've created our own carbon paper. We draw over all the lines with a ballpoint pen and... 

Voila! It transfers to the ground that we've already painted white! 

That's a whole lot of things to go back and fill in. It's going to be a long day. 

Well look who are here. 

Getting checked in as New Artists!

When I told the kids they would get to participate as artists one of the first questions was "Do we get snacks?" 

Yes, yes you do get snacks. 

Ah, our buddy who always does turtle drawings! This year he brought his turtle!

Hi buddy!

Theresa getting her stencil prepped. 

Ready for tracing. We've also got a few "props". A map of all the National Parks, a Bison and Raccoon stuffie, plus maps of some of our favorite spots, and places we're traveling to later this year. 

The kids loved talking to anyone walking by. 

Ian would open with "Do you like National Parks?" (Is anyone going to say no to that one?) Then "What's been your favorite?" (Because most people have been to at least 1.) Then he's talk with them for as long as they're willing about the parks, his badges, and anything else. He's a natural. 

Friends! Eliza was my officemate at work for years! 

It was great seeing her and her family! Everyone is getting so big! 

The National Park Service is something that Theresa and the kids are really passionate about. There's so many amazing places to see in the United States, and for just $85 you can get a year pass for the entire family! Theresa is showing places on the map to people who have questions. 

The kids loved having other kids come up. 

And we also bought a few hundred National Park stickers to give away to people who wanted them. These are the nice ones that stick to water bottles and don't come off in the dishwasher. 

And when they weren't busy, which wasn't all that often, they'd help Theresa on the mural. 

But as soon as someone got close, Ian's right back up again. I love that about him. He's not shy and can befriend anyone. 

Meanwhile, Ruston and I are hard at work getting our mural completed. The characters are in the center and should be done first. That way people will know what we're working on. In the beginning we heard "Bugs Bunny" a lot and even "Tasmanian Devil"! Not quite. 

Soon enough though we had completed things to where people could tell what it was. 

So many people were impressed with their collection of badges they'd earned. Each one represents a Junior Ranger program that was completed. It's a lot of work to earn that many badges! 

Let's take a break buddy! It's 1:30pm and we're all hungry!

Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill has satisfied our lunch hungers for many chalk festivals now. Always a good choice and we're happy they have unlimited fountain drinks. We were parched! 

Bellies full and refreshed from the AC, we're ready to get back at it. 

Ruston is working the top half, while I take the bottom. No water at the bottom of the splash...

Water appears! 

More friends! It's Roger! We first met when Ruston invited both of us to the Dream Suite in Disneyland! What a fun trip! It's great hearing what everyone is up to after so many years! Roger, looking forward to hearing more about your travels! 

Looking good Theresa and Alli!

Quicking checking in with one of our nearby neighbors, Bianca. We've been so busy today that we haven't had time to mingle like usual. On Sunday we'll get out and see all the other artists and murals. 

Ooh, moving on to greens. Where's Ian? 

Chatting with someone, of course. 

When I first thought of doing this poster, I knew it would be challenging, but I wasn't thinking it would be this challenging. I thought to myself, we only need to get the characters right. The rest can be whatever.

Well there happens to be a whole lot of detail in that "whatever". I can see good progress though. 

About to finish off another color!

Looking great! 

All those vines and water. So much to do! 

That bright red at the top is really popping!

Small mistakes along the way. A little bit of brown in the areas that are supposed to be white. That's okay though. We can clean everything up tomorrow. 

For today, you've done an awesome job for your very first time! 

Well done!

Ruston and I are going to put a stop to it here. There's plenty more work to be done tomorrow, then a bit of shading and highlights to add, but I'm liking what I'm seeing. 

I'm really excited to see the blue SPLASH MOUNTAIN filled in at the top. That's going to look amazing. 

We've had a whole lot of friendly people stop by today, commenting on the artwork. It's been fun chatting with them all, mourning the loss of a beloved ride, and wishing for Tiana's to be a worthy replacement. 

For tonight, we're covering things with plastic, barricading it with umbrellas, and hoping that tomorrow morning there's no surprises that await us!