The secrets of street art: Artist reveals how he made Lego Terracota Army leap out of pavement

By ALEX GORE

Hard graft: It took a crew of four street artists working over six full days to create their masterpiece

Street painting might be all the rage but the intricate process that goes into making the giant masterpieces is rarely shown.
These revealing pictures show how the amazing artists make the enormous pictures leap out of the pavement.
Dutchman Peter Westerink and his team are behind that and several other of the astonishing 3D creations, holding a Guinness World Record.

Terracotta Lego Army: The 3-D street art has dazzled the crowds at the Sarasota Chalk Festival in Florida

In a few days an ordinary street is transformed into an archaeological dig with a twist - the underground statues are Lego - as part of the Sarasota Chalk Festival 2011.
To make the giant picture, first a grid is laid out on the street using string after the basic design has been finalised on paper.

Work in progress: Festivalgoers catch a rare glimpse of the intricate detail behind 3-D street painting

This grid is used to map out an outline of the painting in chalk, this takes several hours to complete. That chalk outline is then painted over with white paint to leave a more lasting mark inside which the final paint can be applied.
Finally the grid is removed and the long task of filling in the paintwork begins. The colours are filled in using dry pastels pigments, mixed with water and an acrylic binder and applied with brushes.

Nearing completion: The finished painting measures a whopping 100m2 and has to washed off two days later

Founder and co-director of Planet Streetpainting, the company behind the massive artwork, Peter Westerink has been involed in street art since 2003.
'Quite a bit of planning goes into it,' he said. 'Much needs to be done in preparation. Almost always we are being commissioned to create an art work.
'That sort of put us on the map in 3D land, and now over 90% of the projects we do are 3D requests. But we really like to do 2D projects as well. They both have their appeal. 'All projects we do have their own story. But the Lego project was extra special. We got a fabulous response from the crowd there and after completion it went viral.'

source :dailymail