On the Back of a Dirty Van (11 Photos)

Nobody added paint. They took the dirt away.

Every picture here was made by removing grime, not adding color: with fingers and brushes on dusty vans and car windows, and with water on walls and dams. The dirt does the shading. Rain, a car wash or new grime will take it all back.

More: Dirty Van Art (8 Photos)

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🐶 A Dog on the Back Window — Artist Unknown

Someone skipped “wash me” and drew a puppy instead. The characters beside it read “保持车距” (keep your distance) and “恶犬勿近” (fierce dog, keep away). The dog does not look fierce.

More: This car can not be washed again (reverse graffiti)

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🐟 “Light” — By Nikita Golubev in Moscow, Russia 🇷🇺

Fish and a diver drift through beams of light on the back of a delivery truck. In his post, Golubev thanked the owner: the truck had kept its dirt since April, and when the owner repainted its sides, he left the drawing alone.

More: “Light” by ProBoyNick

🔗 Follow Nikita Golubev on Instagram

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🌲 The Forest on the Vouglans Dam — By Klaus Dauven in Jura, France 🇫🇷

Same idea, much bigger. Klaus Dauven’s forest covers about 40,000 square meters of the Vouglans Dam. In September and October 2021, climbers with cold-water pressure washers took the moss and lichen off where the trees should be, using reservoir water and no cleaning agents.

💡 Place Fact: The Vouglans Dam went into service in 1968, after seven years of studies and five years of construction. Its reservoir holds about 600 million cubic meters of water, the third-largest reservoir in France. For Dauven, from Kreuzau in North Rhine-Westphalia, the forest is his largest work so far.

📷 Photo: Thilo Parg / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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🦌 “Wild-Wechsel” on the Olef Dam — By Klaus Dauven in Hellenthal, Germany 🇩🇪

Deer, fish and birds run across the arches of the Olef Dam near Hellenthal in the Eifel. Dauven made it in 2007 and called it “Wild-Wechsel”, the German word for a path where wild animals cross: about 8,000 square meters, cleaned in roughly two weeks after more than a year of planning.

📷 Photo: DAK6666 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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🛶 A Boat Full of Animals — By Philippe Chevrinais in Oloron-Sainte-Marie, France 🇫🇷

A goat, a rooster and a crowd of other animals row through a jungle of grime, with birds overhead. Philippe Chevrinais cleaned it into the wall in 2019 for Urban’Ival, a small urban culture festival in the town.

📷 Photo: Rimajan Narbé / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

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🐴 “The Head” — By Nikita Golubev in Moscow, Russia 🇷🇺

Snow on the roof, a dark truck, a crowned figure and a horse. Golubev posted it with the title “Глава / The Head”. The light on the figure is just the paint of the truck showing through.

💡 Film Fact: Golubev’s dust drawing “Praying Hands” inspired Korean director Kim Na-kyung’s debut feature Dust-Man (2020). In the winter of 2018, he traveled to Korea to make dust works for the film.

More: “The Head” by Nikita Golubev

🔗 Follow Nikita Golubev on Instagram

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🏰 The Dusty Castle — Via Dirty Van Art

Towers, flags and birds, with the road to the castle running straight down to the door handle. Someone had a lot of patience and a very dirty van.

🔗 Find more on Dirty Van Art on Facebook

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🃏 Joker Behind Bars — By James Gibson in England 🇬🇧

Clean stripes make the bars, and the van door does the rest. Look for the “JG” signed in the dirt under his hand. Gibson is from Harwich in Essex, and the Daily Gazette has covered his dirty van drawings.

🔗 Find more on Dirty Van Art on Facebook

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🧠 Einstein and Hawking — By Ruddy Muddy in Norfolk, England 🇬🇧

“Born today” under Einstein, “Died today” under Hawking, and “π Day” under Einstein’s date. Stephen Hawking died on March 14, 2018, Albert Einstein’s birthday, which is also Pi Day.

💡 Artist Fact: Ruddy Muddy is Rick Minns, a Norfolk flower delivery driver who calls his technique “graffilthy”. He drew this on his van the same day Hawking’s death was announced.

🔗 Follow Ruddy Muddy on Instagram

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🎤 Dolores O’Riordan Tribute — By Ruddy Muddy and Damsel Dragonfly Art in West Norfolk, England 🇬🇧

A portrait of the Cranberries singer, eyes closed at the microphone, with her dates: 6/9/71–15/1/18. Dolores O’Riordan died in London in January 2018, aged 46. A Dirty Van Art post from the time credits Damsel Dragonfly Art and Ruddy Muddy Art, whose signatures are on the doors.

🔗 Follow Ruddy Muddy on Instagram and Damsel Dragonfly Art on Facebook

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🎩 Lincoln Memorial — By Scott Wade

Lincoln sits in one window, and his other hand and the arm of the chair carry on into the next. Wade lives in Texas and draws in the dust on car windows with paintbrushes; more of his work is on his Dirty Car Art website.

💡 Technique Fact: For live events, Wade does not wait for real dirt. He coats the glass with a thin layer of oil and blows pulverized limestone onto it with a hair dryer.

🔗 Follow Scott Wade’s Dirty Car Artist page on Facebook