Looking at pictures of some brightly-colored, amazingly realistic chalk drawings got me to thinking — not just about the enormous amount of talent shown by the artist, but also about the medium itself. I can remember a couple of ‘chalky’ experiences in my past, and one of them even involved colored chalk — blue — although I didn’t draw with it. 
I’ve written before about my pool hustling days, but what I didn’t mention was how the application of that little cube of blue chalk to the tip of the cue stick could be a sign of a player’s skill level. Experienced players would use the chalk frequently, but with a light touch. Wannabe pool sharks would vigorously and forcefully grind that chalk onto the tip, making it squeak like a rabid mouse.
Of course, the art of hustling sometimes included pretending to be less experienced than you actually were, so chalking methodology wasn’t a sure sign of the outcome. Eventually, that would be settled by the exchange of money — and I seemed to usually lose. I could talk the talk with chalk, but I couldn’t walk the walk with my cue stick.
(By the way, if you find the picture interesting you can see more of the artist’s amazing drawings HERE.)
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