Yesterday, students in Advanced and Intermediate Art participated in the annual chalk-drawing competition. Over fifty artists worked through the morning to create movie posters using chalk. Themes ranged from “Gone With the Wind” to “Avatar.” Students from all divisions enjoyed looking at the creations and voting on their favorites.

No longer is a chalk drawing synonymous with simple sketches using with sidewalk chalk. Berkeley’s artists used a wide variety of artistic chalks and advanced techniques to create vivid illustrations.

          This opportunity was a time to shine for many student artists.. “The theatre department has its plays, the music has its many performances and the visual arts department has the chalk drawing contest! It’s one of the few times during the school year that Berkeley’s talented artists get to display their awesome abilities,” said Avery Heyck, a junior in Advanced Art.

           “It was just a fantastic experience,” Heyck added, surveying his chalk masterpiece.

           Junior Sydney Corey, whose chalk rendition of “Avatar” was a crowd favorite, used brightly colored chalks and water to make vibrant paint. Although she improvised the technique, it proved to be effective. “I chose avatar because the colors were interesting. I did the chalk drawing contest last year, so I knew that chalk looks great with lots of colors. I really enjoyed doing it, the best part was drawing the eyes because of the vibrant colors,” said Corey.

           Sophomores, juniors and seniors worked tirelessly from 8:00 A.M. to 11:30 A.M. to convert our drab sidewalks into dazzling and spectacular covers from our favorite movies. . .

           The chalk drawing proved to be more than an art requirement– it gave students and teachers a reason to smile and interrupted the artists’ hectic daily schedules with a fun activity. “My favorite part of the whole day was spending time drawing with my friends. It was so fun to just spend the morning drawing and laughing together,” said junior Mary Stephen Straske, an Intermediate Art student.

Jacob Safee ‘17 and Tomi Kis ‘16 placed third for their depiction of “Scooby-Doo,” Renee Zhang ‘16 placed second for her drawing of “The Hobbit” and Corey won first place for her “Avatar” illustration. Congratulations to the winners of the contest, and great job to all of the participating artists!