Art is meant to make us think about ourselves and the spaces we occupy – and these 3D street art (also known as pavement art) paintings really make us stop and look – largely because we’d be worried to fall into an abyss on a solid sidewalk! Featuring renowned 3D pavement artists such as Edgar Müller and Julian Beever, among others, this list shows some of the coolest 3D images artists make with just chalk (except #10 and #3, which are painted on). If you see an image like these on the street, you’ll have to look at the image through a camera or at an angle as our eyes can’t process the 3D aspect of it directly. Though beautiful, the art is impermanent, washing away when the next big rain comes. If you’re lucky enough to catch one while it’s still visible, snap a pic (but watch out that the alligators in #6 don’t snap back at you while you do). Dig out that old case of sidewalk chalk from your childhood and try imitating these 25 pieces of 3D street art that turn cities into incredible illusions.
"The Crevasse" by Edgar Müller
Image: Nguyen Tan Tin via Flickr Doctor Who chalk drawing in Australia
Image: moggs oceanlane via Flickr Half-way finished 3D street art painting in Stuttgart, Germany
Image: Wikipedia "That hemmed in feeling…" by Julian Beever
Image: Nguyen Tan Tin via Flickr "Lava Burst" by Edgar Müller
Image: Nguyen Tan Tin via Flickr "Duality" by Edgar Müller
Image: Nguyen Tan Tin via Flickr Iskandar, the last king of Singapore in the fourteenth century, by Kurt Wenner at the National Museum of Singapore
Image: Wikipedia "Making Mr. Snowman" by Julian Beever
Image: Nguyen Tan Tin via Flickr "Mysterious Caves in Europe" by Edgar Müller
Image: Nguyen Tan Tin via Flickr A 3D Lego army, modeled after the Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, by artists Leon Keer, Ruben Poncia, Remko van Schaik and Peter Westerink
Image: Nguyen Tan Tin via Flickr "DHL Boy" by Julian Beever
Image: Wikipedia "The Narrator" by Vera Bugatti
Image: Wikipedia So do Transformers "Do the Dew"?
David Shankbone via Flickr A piece by Ulla Taylor from the Fremantle Street Arts Festival
Image: azza-bazoo via Flickr 3D chalk art painting of Jesus in Lima, Peru
Image: Dtarazona via Wikimedia The Hotstepper in Manila, the Philippines
Image: Strellevik via Flickr A believable cave waterfall drawn only with chalk on the pavement
Image: Nguyen Tan Tin via Flickr An artist painting Jesus on the cross on the street
Image: Pixabay "Oh, crumbs!" by Julian Beever
Image: Nguyen Tan Tin via Flickr A promotional 3D street art piece for Zebit by artists Dave and Nick in Liverpool, England
Image: Bill Hunt via Flickr "Waterfall" by Edgar Müller
Image: Nguyen Tan Tin via Flickr "White water rafting" by Julian Beever
Image: Nguyen Tan Tin via Flickr A 3D street art image by Markus Müller in Munich, Germany
Image: Oliver Raupach via Wikimedia "Everything has already been sold, Now all I own is my pot of gold" on steps in Berlin, Germany
Image: Sivi Steys via Flickr Chalk painting of a giant by Kurt Wenner
Image: Nguyen Tan Tin via Flickr 
