When you can't really draw, but you desperately need to draw something, anyhow, to match style and idea, you have to think. To think is a funny and unpredictable thing and even results in the first article.

So, the idea was as follows: I wanted a street cafe atmosphere in my tiny kitchen, preferably in European or Parisian style. Since a European cafe is associated with the concept of "chalk lettering" in my head, I decided to draw something primitive and authentic with chalk, but right on the walls (for chalk, there is nothing invariably annoying :-)).

Fortunately, the wall was ready for this. More precisely, two-thirds of the wall by the time were carefully painted with a thick grey colours and a thin layer of acrylic lacquer. The wall was perfect to draw on, children enthusiastically used that opportunity to draw everything from touchingly clumsy flowers to the Moon in a sailor suit, and Thor with the hammer.

While I was thinking about the picture and composition, a bunch of chalk markers came from a famous Chinese place. You couldn't trust much. However, the markers painted perfectly, but they were difficult to erase from the walls. After various failed experiments with the contents of household chemical laboratory, an ordinary melamine sponge came to rescue. The conclusion was immediate and comforting: those sponges would scour away everything from your wall, including suspicious chalk markers and paint, if the latest is fresh and defenceless, that is not protected.

Finally, I chose a suitable "cafe" drawing and taking into account the fact that it was for a smaller part of the wall and didn't have many buildings. Setting the height limit, I printed the picture — the program automatically broke it page by page. To control the process I printed the sketch of the future "masterpiece" as well.

Starting from the upper right corner, focusing on the sketch, I began to transfer it with the help of copy paper sheet by sheet, marking the corners of the pages with a pencil. The most difficult thing there was to determine where, in fact, those pages ended: the printer made its own frames that I needed to cut correctly. I could decrease brightness (the picture would not be white, and frames would come up automatically), but for the sake of dubious toner save Lena did not go for it. Lena, in general, is a weird woman — don't be like Lena :).

Though the grey wall was deeply grey, it was not grey enough to hide black stripes. Therefore, I chose black copy paper. If I had worked with more noir surface, then I would have chosen a different colour, e.g. yellow (from the Soviet times I keep a set of colour and copy paper).

Having transferred completely, I began to work with colour. Not really with colour... Graphics is everything, so choosing white and pink markers from the package, with a ruler, where it was necessary and not, I began to draw along the lines. Spaces between the lines were "tinted" with ordinary chalk, or markers, or a combination of both, all depending on the desired saturation. If I did not have enough graphics, then next to the marker line I would draw a line with a thick black pencil and "shaded" it with a wet cotton bud. Shadow effect. Yes.

In general, it's not much work if you do not criticize your own creativity, and this as many here understand, is almost impossible. Therefore, at some point, I finally admitted that I can not draw and hoping for artistic tolerance of others, I quickly finished the lower right corner. Then I thought and left it as it was. Then I thought again and decided to write about this for those who do not know how to draw either, but drawing on the walls, with chalk, has always been a dream :).

Yes, sorry for the photo. Dark room, grey wall, old iPhone and ham hands are not the best combination possible. However, I think the experience will be useful, so something like this :-)).

That's all. Thank you for your attention. Inspiration is everywhere, on the walls as well! :-))