Polar bears, orcas, lions and puppies stick their heads out of holes in the pavement so convincingly, you feel like you could actually pet them. What was once no more than a dull expanse of concrete or asphalt becomes the setting for a vivid scene that appears to jump right out of the ground when viewed from a certain angle. Originally working in chalk, Russian-born artist Nikolaj Arndt now uses a blend of pigments, water and sugar to keep his drawings from blowing away in the wind as he works.

After spending one summer attending sidewalk art festivals in his new home of Germany purely as a spectator, Arndt returned to try his hand at the craft, blowing passersby away with each 3D illusion. In an interview with pxleyes, the artist explains that some works might only last a couple days before they’re scrubbed away, while authorities in other cities actually attempt to preserve the sidewalk drawings as long as possible using varnish.

Arndt occasionally uses oil paints on canvas cut into custom shapes to produce a trompe l’oeil effect indoors, as well. “For me, the main thing in art is to give positive emotions to the audience. When people are smiling looking at my pictures, I’m happy.”

Just knowing that these tiny urban art installations exist – ranging from tiny figures dangling from ATM machines to utility boxes painted to look like miniature skyscrapers – might just inspire you to look at the city around you in a new, more observant way. That’s the hope of the artists behind these 27 subtle works of street art, which are often so small and simple that they’re typically overlooked.

Beautiful Trompe L’oeil Windows in Istanbul

A tiny intriguing window framed by oversized shutters draws you in for a closer look, until you realize that what you’re seeing isn’t in three dimensions at all – it’s an expertly painted illusion on a wall. Spanish artist Pejac brightened up blank surfaces throughout Instanbul with a series entitled ‘Lock, Poster and Shutters,‘ representing the “perception and illusion of freedom.”

The Little People Project

Only the most observant passersby take notice of the miniature figures living out their lives in the big city, meticulously created and arranged by a street artist calling himself ‘Slinkachu.’ The Little People Project is an ongoing series of incredibly small installations placing human figures in humorous contexts, interacting with real-world objects like trash, dead insects and sidewalk weeds. The figures are left there to be observed or ignored, with the vast majority of people never even realizing they’re there.

Miniature Cities Within Cities by EVOL

What looks like an image of a gritty, run-down urban neighborhood is actually a collection of electric power boxes on an urban rooftop. Berlin-based artist EVOL creates cities within cities, typically transforming urban surfaces with stencils. Any rectangular or square object can become a miniature skyscraper. But when the artist has a little more time and privacy to work, the illusion is uncanny.

Yarn-Bombing Sidewalk Cracks

‘Project Pothole’ by artist Juliana Santacruz Herrera called attention to potholes in the streets of Paris, softening these trouble spots with installations of yarn. Filling the cracks with color, Herrera engages in a passive sort of protest while simultaneously brightening the urban landscape.

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Subtle Street Art 27 Easy To Overlook Urban Enhancements

If you can’t get to China to see the astonishing terracotta warriors in their pits, seeing this whimsical tribute to them might be almost as good. It was part of a street art festival in Sarasota, Florida and depicted the warriors as an army of LEGO characters.

(all images via: Toxel)

The 2011 Sarasota Chalk Festival featured this amazing chalk recreation of the iconic terracotta army of Qin Shi Huang, China’s first emperor. With the soldiers recast as LEGO figures, the huge 3D piece was an incredible show of the artists’ talents.

Created by Planet Streetart (which consists of artists Leon Keer, Ruben Poncia, Remko van Schaik and Peter Westerink), the large piece of pavement art is stunningly realistic – but you have to stand in just the right place to see it.

There are knights, construction workers, cowboys and a number of other LEGO men standing proudly just as the real terracotta soldiers do, half a world away. The swapping of the actual soldiers for LEGO figures is meant to make the art piece more accessible, recognizable and fun to a younger generation of viewers – and we’d say the piece is extremely successful in that venture.

Chalk is frequently used as a medium in street art, but it’s never been quite this sophisticated and downright stunning before. Graphic designer Dana Tanamachi does unique custom chalkboard lettering that’s so precise and so gorgeous it will take your breath away.

By day Dana Tanamachi is a designer with Louise Fili Ltd, a well-known lettering studio that creates some of the most memorable typography work in the world. But by night she freelances as a chalk artist, turning sticks of chalk and boring blackboards into amazing works of lettering art.

The intricate details and beautiful flourishes bring to mind the lost art of classic sign painting. Some of the letters seem to almost jump off of the page, giving these temporary works of art an added dimension that makes them all the more appealing.

Even though she doesn’t use any kind of stencil, pattern or transparency to create her works of typography art, Dana’s creations are always precise and sharp. The fact that most of us can’t write in a straight line on a chalkboard, let alone create gorgeous letter pictures, makes her art all the more impressive.

As beautiful and memorable as these pieces are, they are also entirely temporary. Chalk doesn’t last forever, after all, and chances are that the chalkboard owners will need to reuse that space for something else eventually. Knowing that the lovely letters will soon be wiped into oblivion makes us feel almost as though we’re looking at a frozen moment in time, gazing at art that is here today but will be gone tomorrow.

In an urban environment, it seems that nearly everything is fleeting. Nothing – not even the tall buildings or long-standing sidewalks – is immune to change. Urban art that aims to make the most fleeting parts of the urban landscape inspires us to grab onto the instant and enjoy the momentary beauty found in the temporary parts of our urban life.

(images via: ArtMostFierce)

Shadow art has been a mainstay of the urban artist for many years. Although there are different takes on the idea, the most common way to catch the shadows seems to be to outline them on the sidewalk. When the light hits the shadow-casting object from precisely the right angle, observers see the shadow line up perfectly with the outline.

(images via: Sweet Station, Ellis Gallagher)

Most urban shadow art is just as transient as the shadows themselves. Chalk makes a big visual impression but quickly fades with rain or with time. Brooklyn artist Ellis Gallagher‘s work usually consists of chalk silhouettes drawn with child-like enthusiasm on New York sidewalks.

(images via: Roadsworth)

Other artists, however, choose to play with shadows in a different way. Canadian artist/activist Roadsworth uses night shadows as props for sidewalk paintings: a telephone pole shadow becomes an ivy stalk or a branch upon which birds perch. The shadow of a fence becomes a cage for wild animals. Overhead power lines are transformed into a tightrope for a brave shadowy man.

(images via: Michael Neff)

For artists like Michael Neff, the art is both in the moment and more permanent through photography. Neff traces shadows on the ground with chalk, then photographs his urban interventions. While both parts of the work – the impermanent drawing and the longer-lasting digital record of it – are important to the creative process, it is hearing that someone has seen one of his drawings in the wild that really thrills Neff.