Street Art Awareness/ ChalkMaster-Dave by Daniel Pereira

One-on-one with the master himself.
By: Daniel Pereira


At 3:30pm on july 14 2011, I was fortunate enough to run into Chalkmaster-Dave across from Dundas Square in front of the Eaton Centre. He was painting a picture of The Justice League Heroes; Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman on the sidewalk for a client.

I was quickly rushing by on the streets of Downtown Toronto to meet my father on Queen Street, when I walked right by Chalkmaster-Dave. I don't normally pay attention to the street performers while I'm walking so when I walked past him, I had to double-take to notice Chalkmaster-Dave. I recognized him because of a project I am completing with my fellow YIPI students/employees: Graffiti Management Project.

As a shy person, I normally keep to myself so I watched him work for fifteen minutes. Taking many pictures while I watched people donate money, I felt like this guy deserved it. Only having a few dollars on me, I decided to give it to him out of respect. I couldn't help myself from staring at his very detailed painting of classic comic book characters. Being a super hero fan myself, his artwork captivated me as he brought the picture to life.

Finally, I worked up the nerve to talk to him. Not knowing how this man would react to me, I was very shy and I didn't want to disturb him from his art. I introduced myself as a YIPI student working with the Toronto Police and I praised him for his painting. We talked for a long time about how he helped the Toronto Police during the G20 by designing a logo of a bulldog ripping through the Police crest, and how he hates working at night because people would try and steal his money. Throughout the conversation, I started to open up and abandon the shy person I was. Chalkmaster-Dave may look like a really mean guy from afar, but instead he was one of the nicest, down-to-earth people I've ever met.

Before rushing off to meet my father, I requested a quick interview from him. Without hesitation, he gladly agreed. Only having a short time to think of questions to ask, the interview was not long. Because of the project I was working on, I asked him questions on how he felt about graffiti vandalism around the city. "If someone is defacing another person's property without their permission, it's a disgrace to the community and the city," said Chalkmaster-Dave "the vandals should clean it up, pay the fine, and do the time because, after all, it is a crime."

I was disappointed that I had to leave and I wish I could have had more time to ask more questions and see the finished product of his painting, but I am very thankful that I was lucky enough to meet him because he is a very talented man. Being downtown for the summer, I know that I will meet him again and maybe stay a bit longer to enjoy his art. I am curious and eager to see what he will create next.

Video Uploaded by Scott Mills, Social Media Officer @ TPS
For more info email scotmills@gmail.com

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Art
• ChalkMaster-Dave
• graffiti
• dundas
• square
• toronto
• vandalism
• chalk
• superman
• daniel
• pereira
• Toronto
• Police
• YIPI
• saturation
• public
• rob
• ford
• david
• miller
• Pope
• John
• Paul
• Scarborough
• scott
• mills

[LegalGraffitiArt]

Amazzzing!!!!!!!!!!!