David Zinn Made Us Smile Again (12 Photos)

The pavement already had the cracks and weeds. David Zinn added the creatures.

A flying pig rises through a square of blue sky, a dragon stares at a lava lamp and a mouse runs a ladybug retrieval service. Many of these recent chalk drawings started with something already in the pavement: a crack, weed, stain or utility cover.

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 floats above the pavement on a thin leash. Zinn leaves almost all of the surrounding concrete untouched.

💡 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 on her head. She has brought a small net for the ladybug beside her.

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.

Original post: Philomena’s Expanded Horizons

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

Fraser is almost out of a real pavement crack, but one foot is still caught below.

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 its tail and beeps. Nadine watches nearby. 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 real sidewalk weeds hold up Astrid’s hammock, with chalk completing the lower halves of the supports. 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 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. In Zinn’s caption, he is warming 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 drawn tin can. Norma peeks out from underneath it.

💡 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 drawn opening in the brick path becomes Hetta’s hiding place. Her round mane and tiny teeth are visible above it. Zinn’s caption warns that 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. Plants—some of them real—wind around the Flogdrake’s tail as Nadine slides down its back.

Original post: Nadine and the Garlanded Flogdrake

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Which one is your favorite?