街头粉笔画艺术家

蒋建平

Street artist

难词探意

1. charcoal /ɑkl/ n. 炭;（作画）木炭

2. turtle /ttl / n. 龟

3. commercial /kml/ adj. 商业的;商业化的

4. characteristic /krktrstk/ n. 特征;特点

Walk around the city of Ann Arbor， Michigan， and you may see a green animal named Sluggo and a flying pig named Philomena. You might even see street artist David Zinn drawing them using only sidewalk chalk and charcoal.

At the age of 12， David began working as an artist. His dad was writing a computer instruction and worried that it would be boring to read. So he asked David to draw pictures of turtles（the name of the computer program） to explain it. The publisher liked his drawings， and soon David had the job of drawing more turtles in action. “I learned a great lesson， which was that， to make money as an artist， I couldn？蒺t always draw what I wanted，” he says. “I had to figure out how to draw a turtle drinking tea and other things like that.”

David worked for 20 years as a commercial artist， but he often felt cooped up sitting at a computer for 10 hours a day. Then， on a sunny afternoon about ten years ago， he brought some chalk and started drawing on the sidewalk. That？s when Sluggo came to life.

“One of the reasons why I like to put art on the street is that I can take people by surprise，” he says. “I can have fun drawing， and knowing it will be washed away helps me not think too much. It frees me up.”

It takes David about two hours to complete one drawing. He uses a lot of sidewalk characteristics in his street art. It can be difficult to draw on surfaces that are not flat. He has to notice where shadows will land so they won？t destroy the 3D drawings he creates.

Today， more and more people are accepting and looking for his work. David？s artwork can also be found across the country and even throughout the world. Photos of his drawings have been shown at many universities and museums.

1. What did David learn from drawing turtles for his father？

A. To draw in a creative way.

B. To draw to make more money.

C. To live for 3D drawings.

D. To practice drawing perfectly.

2. How does David feel when knowing his drawing will be washed away？

A. Worried.

B. Relaxed.

C. Unhappy.

D. Surprised.

3. In what way is David？s art special？

A. It shows his real life.

B. It is drawn on the flat sidewalk.

C. It needs a very long time to finish a dra？wing.

D. It is 3D street art created by simple pain？ting tools.

4. What do we know about David？s drawings？

A. They are hardly accepted by adults.

B. They are too difficult to understand.

C. They are found mainly at museums.

D. They are becoming more and more pop？ular.

Useful expressions

in action 在活動中

figure out 想出;理解

coop sb/sth up 困住;禁锢

come to life 表现生动;变得活跃

take sb by surprise 让某人大吃一惊

街头粉笔画

街头粉笔画是意大利的传统艺术形式，于16、17世纪出现，至20世纪逐渐被淡忘。

街头粉笔画虽然漂亮但短暂、不易保存，花了无数心血去完成的作品，往往只存在一天便被擦掉。粉笔画就像人生，很多美丽的东西都很短暂，让人珍惜，所以艺术家完成作品之后都会拍照留念。

行走在美国密歇根州安娜堡的街道上，你会看见名叫斯拉格戈的绿色的动物和名叫菲洛梅娜的飞行的猪，这些都是街头艺术家大卫·津恩仅仅用涂鸦粉笔和炭笔创作的杰作。他用了非常开放和有趣的三维立体图绘制方式，讲述了沿途动物和精灵的生活故事。