LUTZ, FLA. — A Hillsborough County father is using sidewalk chalk to draw classic Christmas characters outside his home in Lutz.
ABC Action News first met Brian Morris during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. He was drawing Disney characters on the sidewalk outside his home.
He discovered the new pastime during the pandemic after drawing outside with his two daughters.
"The first time I ever picked up chalk was back during COVID in the early parts of 2020. We actually did a Disney chalk walk out here and it was huge success, a huge hit. Everybody loved it and really got me into it and I fell in love with the art and started getting more involved with it," said Brian Morris.
Morris is now drawing classic Christmas Characters. Each sidewalk square features a different holiday movie like The Grinch, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, The Polar Express, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
"We started out with the Elf movie because that’s one of my daughter's favorite movies," said Morris.
"We have The Polar Express and of course, the iconic Chevy Chase in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and can't leave out Charlie Brown."
Morris uses chalk and a little bit of water. Some of the creations took two days, but most of them take about 4 to 5 hours. Some nights, he worked until 10 p.m.
"I am starting on one tonight which wasn't originally on my list, but the amount of people that told me I needed to have it on there is the iconic Die Hard," said Morris.
"Then we will have four more that are going on the driveway, but I will keep them hush, hush until they come out," he added.
Morris said his neighbors enjoy stopping by the house to see his artwork. He plans to keep the artwork on the sidewalk until the end of the month.
"The weather has been fantastic for us. I do coat these down with several coats of old school hairspray which acts a sealer on there so they actually hold up really well to the rain. They'll actually be here probably through the end of the year before I have to pressure wash them off of here," said Morris.
He hopes his creations create memories for families.
"I hope this just brightens up people's day, you know, brings back some of these memories from way back when even their childhood and can put smiles on their faces and give something for their children to see and look forward to. Some of these movies the kids have never even heard of, not all about the kids, some of these are adult iconic movies," said Morris.
"I think some families here in the neighborhood have told me as they see which piece goes up, they go home and they put the movie on and watch it with their families," he added.
You can check out more of Morris' artwork here: https://www.facebook.com/StudioMArtFL/
