When Cindy Chong started drawing chalk pictures on paths and at playgrounds around Point Cook, she had no idea her artwork would charm an entire suburb.
Chong said she started creating the art to build a portfolio, to help her get started as a children’s book illustrator.
She said she was inspired by US chalk artist David Zinn, of whom she is a fan.
As Chong’s images began appearing in Point Cook last month, passersby would take photos and upload them to social media.
A photograph of Chong’s third chalk artwork, featuring a mouse and a strawberry on a footpath in the Alamanda estate, was posted on the Point Cook Residents’ Facebook group.
It attracted more than 840 ‘likes’ and many comments from fans, such as “Very talented” and “This makes my heart sing”.
“When I started drawing in public areas, I thought that may be a few kids may stumble on it and enjoy it, but I couldn’t have predicted this kind of outcome,” Chong said.
She said she had worked as a designer but felt that she was now launching “round two” of her career, after spending the past few years helping her husband to launch his martial arts school.
At the moment, she is working on digital illustrations and commissions, plus a manuscript for a picture book.
Chong’s artist alias is “Brave Scribbler”.
“Even though it’s an art form that’s relatively new to me, I have absolutely fallen in love with chalk,” she said. “I also love how it takes me and my imagination outdoors and surprises me.”
See facebook.com/BraveScribbler for details.
