David Zinn Made Us Smile Again (12 Photos)

David Zinn has been finding new friends underfoot

A flying pig rises through a square of blue sky, a dragon is mesmerized by a lava lamp and a mouse runs a ladybug retrieval service. David Zinn’s recent chalk creatures make the street feel briefly alive. Many begin with a crack, weed, stain or utility cover already waiting there.

More: Silly Art By David Zinn (20 Photos)

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🐱 Nadine and the Cumulus Kitten — By David Zinn in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA 🇺🇸

Nadine holds an umbrella while a white cat seems to float above the pavement on a thin leash. Zinn leaves most of the concrete untouched, making the tiny line between them carry the whole impossible encounter.

💡 Nerd Fact: Zinn’s official artist biography says these temporary street drawings are improvised on location with chalk, charcoal and found objects. The biography calls this process “ephemeral pareidolic anamorphosis.”

Original post: Nadine and the Cumulus Kitten

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🐞 Maude’s Lost Ladybug Retrieval Service — By David Zinn in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA 🇺🇸

Maude hides behind a real clump of weeds while wearing another clump of greenery on her head. A small net and one nearby ladybug complete a retrieval service built from almost nothing.

Original post: Maude’s Lost Ladybug Retrieval Service

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🐷 Philomena’s Expanded Horizons — By David Zinn in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA 🇺🇸

A square in the brick pavement becomes an opening into blue sky. Philomena rises through it with her wings spread, turning one small break in the street into a convincing escape route.

Original post: Philomena’s Expanded Horizons

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🌱 Fraser’s Serious Breakthrough — By David Zinn in Cross Village, Michigan, USA 🇺🇸

Fraser has made it almost all the way out of a real pavement crack, but one foot is still caught below. The broken concrete supplies both the obstacle and the punchline.

Original post: Fraser’s Serious Breakthrough

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🦖 Nadine and the Rear-Mounted Hamster — By David Zinn in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA 🇺🇸

A dinosaur walks carefully backward while a hamster stands on the dinosaur’s tail and beeps. Nadine watches from nearby, turning stains in the concrete into the world’s smallest parking lesson. Zinn’s official video records the temporary installation as chalk and charcoal drawn over concrete stains in Ann Arbor on July 27, 2026.

Original post: Nadine and the Rear-Mounted Hamster

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🐉 Astrid’s Sidewalk Hammock — By David Zinn in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA 🇺🇸

Two sidewalk weeds form the upper halves of Astrid’s hammock supports, with their lower halves continued in chalk. Zinn’s official video dates the temporary installation—made with chalk, charcoal and the two weeds—to July 12, 2026, in Ann Arbor.

Original post: Astrid’s Sidewalk Hammock

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🌋 The Dragon and the Lava Lamp — By David Zinn in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA 🇺🇸

Two water utility covers become the top and middle of a lava lamp while Ignatius stares, entranced. In Zinn’s caption, Ignatius has been watching for twenty minutes, and the artist does not have the heart to tell him that the lava is not real. The artist’s official video dates the chalk-and-charcoal installation to July 22, 2026, in Ann Arbor.

Original post: Ignatius and the Lava Lamp

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🌿 Nadine and the Bittersweet Disposition — By David Zinn in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA 🇺🇸

Nadine points authoritatively at spreading bittersweet vines. In Zinn’s official video, he describes her as a generally compassionate gardener with one exception: invasive bittersweet. The temporary installation was made with chalk, charcoal and the vines in Ann Arbor on July 11, 2026.

Original post: Nadine and the Bittersweet Disposition

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🐾 Martin Plays Possum — By David Zinn in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA 🇺🇸

Martin lies flat against the concrete with his front paws stretched forward and his pink tail curled behind him. Zinn turns the pose into a warm-up before “playing possum.”

Original post: Martin Plays Possum

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🥫 “Reduce, Reuse, Retreat” — By David Zinn in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA 🇺🇸

A gas utility cover becomes the lid of Norma’s tin-can hideout. The real metal circle and the drawn can line up so neatly that the hamster appears to have found an emergency shelter already built into the street.

💡 Nerd Fact: Zinn’s official shop lists this scene as “Reduce, Reuse, Retreat” and records it as a May 2026 chalk drawing made in Ann Arbor.

Original post: Norma’s Impenetrable Fortress

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🦁 Hetta the Hand-Puppet Lion Has a Taste for Ankles — By David Zinn in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA 🇺🇸

A small opening in the brick path becomes Hetta’s hiding place. Her round mane and tiny teeth make the warning in Zinn’s caption feel just serious enough: she cannot reach very far, but ankles are close.

Original post: Hetta the Hand-Puppet Lion

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🐉 Nadine and the Garlanded Flogdrake — By David Zinn at Central Library in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA 🇺🇸

Zinn created the scene on the front steps of Central Library for the Indianapolis Public Library’s Day of Play on June 27, 2026. A chalked square becomes an opening into blue sky, with real greenery garlanding the Flogdrake as Nadine rides its long tail.

Original post: Nadine and the Garlanded Flogdrake

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Which one is your favorite?