45 Times French Artist Cal Geniously Vandalized The Streets In The Form Of Art

By Aakash M

Cal is a French artist who’s gained an impressive reputation for himself. Cal is also a vandal, but not in a destructive and law-breaking way that you’re probably thinking of. The vandalism is more around the creative and joyful side. With that, it’s also something unique and inclusive. We don’t think you’d find street art of this quality anywhere else.

Based in Lyon, Cal goes around painting and working in urban places, making the areas look much more interactive. After studying his work, you’d be convinced that street art doesn’t only consist of simple-looking tags and graffiti. 

Cal’s work highlights how they use their surroundings to create something truly magical. So, let’s take a look at some amazing images of street art by Cal!

Quality wall-art

Although this is all a form of street art, we, for one, wouldn’t mind having such innovative paintings on the walls or in the small corners of our houses. These paintings are stunning, and they make a particular area look lively!

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

But again, we think that there’s only one genius like Cal. Not everybody can look at a crack in the wall and turn it into a decline for a person who’s skiing. So, the concept, the creativity, and everything else is on point here!

Practicing for the competition

This lady is practicing for the big swimming competition, but if we’d be sincere, she’s practicing in dirty waters. Maybe she should’ve found a better place to swim because we don’t know the adverse effects of swimming in such places!

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

Well, we love this piece of art. What’s unique about this one is that, unlike most of his other paintings, you need a keen eye to catch this one! Other images are out there in the open, but not this one. Keep your eyes peeled!

Full of cuteness

If this painting doesn’t make you all go, “Aww!” we seriously don’t know what will. That has to be one of the cutest paintings we have ever come across in a really long time. It is so cute that it is almost heart melting!

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

Now that you have seen this painting, you know you can easily make a single switch look like an elephant. All you need is some creativity and imagination. We’re pretty sure that many people will try something like this in their homes!

Castle

Although dragons are considered to be ferocious, and in most stories are the villains and monsters, we’d say that this one time, we adore them. That only applies to this particular situation because the little dragon looks so cute here!

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

This time, it looks like Cal didn’t have to do much painting to make something out of nothing. They only had to paste a few stickers on that thing to make it look meaningful. But we’re pretty sure that Cal had to have painted them.

Minimalistic

Cal has gone the minimalistic route this time. There’s not much to this particular street art, but it still looks adorable. All Cal had to do was paint a head and four little legs and stick it on a rock. Voila! The rock has now become a tortoise.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

The tortoise isn’t so ordinary as well. There is something different about it. For starters, it’s way more dorky-looking, which is quite funny! But, now that this tortoise has entered our world, he needs to manage to stay away from all those automobiles.

Dancing around

Cal is such a genius. We really wish he could do things like this in every neighborhood and not just in France. That’s quite the impractical thing, but again, we also wished that there were more people like Cal around to make our world that much more beautiful.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

If you look at the lady closely, she appears to be frowning. Also, let us tell you something interesting about those metal things. It turns out that these things are installed in certain corners to discourage men from urinating in those corners!

Yippee!

If there’s something better than Cal’s paintings, it’s Cal’s paintings of Scrooge McDuck! It doesn’t even look like a painting. That’s how good it looks. Watching Scrooge dive into a heap of leaves does bring back fond childhood memories!

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

Looks like Scrooge is diving into his pile of money, but somebody needs to tell him that’s not cash. Anyways, we hope nobody sweeps those leaves because if they do, the painting will make a little less sense, and Scrooge will have a bad fall!

The shock

This particular painting is so good in terms of the expressions that it could easily be used as a meme template. We, for one, would guarantee it would go viral if it were ever used that way. Look at the shock on that pebble!

Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

Only a true artist can convey the expressions with such beauty and intensity. Also, the hair on top of the pebble only makes things better by multifold. That’s how your hair gets when you dive into the pool without a cap or when you get into the bathtub!

Split personality

This image says many things. Instead, it tells us many things. These expressions can be interpreted as different moods or personalities of a person. It can also be interpreted as different kinds of people you’d come across throughout your life. It’s quite profound!

Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

These paintings are so realistic that it took us a while to figure out that those aren’t just faces. They’re parts of railings! It’s fine if you also thought of these railings as real-life emojis. Also, these look like Lego heads to some extent.

A happy scene

This photo will surely infuse a little happiness into our day if we’re sad. If you came across this painting while you were on the street, we’re sure that it would bring a massive smile to your face! We must say that Cal is really innovative!

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

Not everybody looks at the end of a sewage pipe and gets the idea of painting some fish on it. As we look deeper into this painting, we get the feeling that there is something fishy about the one that’s trying to go the other way.

Stop

When you’re in a car and see this sign, you need to slow down and let the pedestrians cross the road. But, when you see this modified version of the sign, you’ll surely stop and admire the creativity!

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

This sign would surely make you stop and stare, irrespective of whether you’re in a car or on foot. It also feels as if it’s a pedestrian crossing, but every pedestrian is carrying a bouquet. So, it’s basically a group of people who will profess their feelings to the girl they love.

Loot

Well, we’d give 100 points for creativity, but we think this kind of street art is going to attract huge crowds to inspect the contents of those bags, that is, if things aren’t too noticeable. So, it could cause a lot of traffic problems.

Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

Cal didn’t have to do anything this time. None of the painting stuff was needed. Cal only used their creativity this time and ended up drawing the “$” sign on trash bags, making them look as if their bags are full of loot.

The classics

We’re sure that bibliophiles would love this set of paintings. Firstly, there are so many books made out of rocks! Secondly, we love how Cal is the author of every book, and every book has a pretty unique name. It just keeps getting better.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

We think that every painting and every title had been thought out properly by Cal, so we truly applaud the effort. The imagination is on a whole other level, and we’d say that you’d have to do some heavy reading to go through all those books!

Hanging

Well, that’s the difference between an ordinary person and an artist. An ordinary person would just look at something for what it is. But, when an artist looks at something, they see art in it. They see art in everything, no matter how unusual it is.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

For instance, this image above. It’s quite unusual, but now that we see the painting, we can’t think of anything more creative than that. We also love the detailing. The mouse looks like it knows that it has been trapped, and it can’t do much about it!

A silhouette

This time, we get to see some creativity, innovation, and humor from Cal’s end. We seriously cannot stop appreciating the creativity because making something beautiful out of the most unexpected things is a rare talent! Cal is a genius.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

What’s even better is that we are getting to witness Cal’s genius with every image on this thread. Making some great street art on a tree isn’t something you see every day. That bear art is “beary” cool! You could also call this bear art “beart” (We guess!).

Bee art

Previously, we gazed at some cool bear art. That was bear-T. This time, you have the pleasure of studying cool bee art! They both spell the same now, don’t they? For a cartoon, it’s pretty cute. However, we think those are giant but cute bees.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

So, although they look really good for a drawing, we’d freak out if we saw bees that large in reality. There has got to be something dangerous about them! On a serious note, Cal’s street art is way better than all these tags and graffiti you usually see!

Dead leaves

Nothing much here. It’s just a few dead leaves. These dead leaves are way different than the other ones, and of course, the main difference is that these dead leaves have been brought to life by Cal’s creativity. They look more alive than dead now.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

To be really honest, we don’t even know if we or anybody would consider this to be vandalism. It’s just a few leaves on the ground that are going to rot in a few days anyway! Instead, Cal made some good use of these leaves!

Gator crossing

If you’re scared of alligators and crocodiles, this won’t scare you because it’s actually kinda cute. We think something like this was bound to happen. If you remove the eyes, nose, and limbs, you’ll see that the gator’s body always existed.

Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

That is a bit weird, but it’s almost as if all of it had already been set up for somebody with a creative eye like Cal to spot it and then work their magic on it. No spoilers here because that’s exactly what happened.

Oh no!

We all love to see such paintings, but we know that nobody wants something like this to happen to them in real life. Ice cream doesn’t cost too much, but still, spilling your favorite cone is heartbreaking, especially when you were having such a lovely time eating it.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

In this painting, this cone has been permanently spilled, and that’s how it’s gonna stay for a really long time. There’s nothing we can do about it. We wonder what flavor that could be, though. Is it raspberry, strawberry, or red velvet?

There goes the jet

Sometimes, planes leave a trail in the sky, and watching those trails is amazing. It gets lighter and lighter as it moves away, but it’s beautiful. How Cal thought about this when he gazed upon this crack, we don’t know.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

This jet is a bit different because it has certainly left a trail, but that trail is more like a crack in the wall, that too, a huge one. This is a really simple painting but an intelligent work of art. It’s just a plane that’s soaring in the skies.

On duty

Have you ever seen such a cute and tiny cop on duty? This cop has a permanent smile going on as well. He’s on duty, so you better not tip off the speed limits in front of him, or else he might have to fine you for that.

Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

This cop has a cute little moped, a stark white helmet, and an amazing black suit. If not for a cop, he’d surely do really well as a cop in comic books or in a cartoon series. That face and that smile would be perfect for the screen.

Annoyed

For everybody having a bad day, here’s an image of a pillar blowing a raspberry. On top of that (technically below that), there’s also a pink butterfly that looks to be surprised by what the pillar is doing. Those seem to be unrelated things, but they aren’t.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

If we were to judge, we’d say that this is one rude but cute pillar. The eyes of the pillar match the eyes of the Angry Birds, don’t they? Maybe Cal took that as an inspiration for this particular street art. It’s still an amazing job.

Blown away

This is the first time we’re seeing a wall that seems to be surprised after looking at a bus that just passed by. Maybe it saw something inside the bus that appeared to be so surprising. Perhaps the people inside the bus weren’t wearing masks.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

The fact that people inside the bus weren’t wearing masks shouldn’t faze it, because the wall doesn’t have a mask on as well! It does have a huge mouth, though. Anyways, when you take a closer look, you’ll notice that Cal painted the hands wrong this time!

Meh

That’s also close to the sound sheep make, and that’s also the current mood that this sheep is in! If you look at this box from the front, you’d never really know that Cal has actually made a sheep out of it.

Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

You’ll only realize what’s going on over here when you get a good side view of the whole thing. The sheep’s face is on the side. Also, it feels like this sheep doesn’t like the fact that people are photographing it. Camera shy, maybe?

Enter passcode

This doctor is a poor guy. Unlike everybody who has a typical face, this doctor doesn’t. He has a keypad instead of a face. How weird is that? Also, he’s stationary. You must enter the passcode on this guy’s face to get in.

Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

This is one of Cal’s more random paintings, considering that Cal literally drew a person below a keypad. We don’t know how that idea must have come to mind. Also, if those brown metal parts are the doctor’s legs, then he certainly needs new pants.

Odd brick out

For this one, you need to come and get a closer look. It could look like something else from a distance, but you’ll only know what Cal has indeed painted when you look a bit closer. All in all, this painting is quite an illusion.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

When you look at it from a distance, you might think that it’s a painting of some UFOs in the sky, and in that case, we don’t know what those red and white lines are. But, when you lean in, you’ll see it’s a swimming pool! The UFOs are swimmers, and those lines are the lane ropes!

Trapped

This street art is among the more meaningful ones. It shows how a bird is trapped in a cage, and you don’t need to tell by looking at its face that it wants to be free. That’s pretty obvious. Cal has conveyed a beautiful message here.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

Therefore, it’s high time that somebody opens the cage and lets the little bird free. This one has been painted amazingly, and we’re pretty sure it would put a smile across your face if you saw this art on the street.

Woof woof!

Now isn’t that adorable? Look how happy that dog is! More than that, look at the hair and how handsome the dog looks! The bone in its mouth is like the icing on the cake for this painting. We surely can’t take our eyes off of this one.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

The hairdo is certainly the giveaway here. We’re also sure about the fact that a whole cartoon series could be created with that dog. What’s scary is that all it takes is one strong wind. It takes one gush for the beautiful hairdo to fly away.

Droppings

There’s undoubtedly one thing to notice here, and we’re not talking about what appears to be bird poop. We’re talking about how Cal has mentioned their name on the bird! That’s for people to learn who is the genius behind all this beautiful art.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

Although that’s a funny piece of art, it does a pretty good job. With this painting, people will at least notice the bird, which will make them notice the droppings so they can watch out and not end up getting in contact with it accidentally.

Drying clothes

We certainly can’t get over how cute this painting is. Also, we can’t imagine how he thought of this in the first place. It must be so random! Cal saw a wire, and a voice told him to paint a few clothes under it, making it look like they were being dried.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

By the way, this image isn’t exactly what you think it is. These are all little bits of paper art. Cal painted these little pieces of clothing items on small pieces of paper and then stuck them under the wire!

10/10 for aesthetics

We’d basically see statues like this somewhere in Rome or, if not there, then in those historical museums. Either way, we’re glad that we’re getting to see this art from the comfort of our homes, and the people who come across this on the streets would also be glad.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

Although this painting is on the streets, and it looks as if it’s straight out of the museum, we think this painting in itself is museum material. It should definitely be in a museum! With this painting, we can say that Cal is one of the most talented street artists we have ever come across.

The Illusionist

This painting is genius. A real pigeon is looking at three other fake pigeons. We think it has made things a bit confusing for the fourth pigeon, which is the real one. That guy isn’t part of the painting, and it looks like he has no clue what’s happening here.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

Maybe this pigeon sees the bread crumbs on the ground, but he’s wondering why the other three pigeons aren’t bothered the least bit by it. In that case, there could be something wrong with the crumbs or something wrong with those pigeons!

Safe journey

Earlier, we saw a painting where little clothes were being dried on a wire. There’s a wire this time as well, but it is being used as a cable for cable cars! You can also see people in those cars, and they look like they’re really happy!

Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

Well, these cable cars are so cute that we wish we could get a ride in one of those as well! If only it were possible. Anyways, that’s some amazing creativity, and we’d certainly love to see where these cable cars go in the painting!

Shell for sale

Home for sale looks pretty innovative as well, but a shell for sale rhymes quite well, doesn’t it? Anyways, we can’t match Cal’s level of creativity! According to that painting, that shell is for sale. Is anybody interested in purchasing that?

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

If we can, we’d surely take it. We’re only worried about one thing, which is that by the time we get there and close the deal, that shell is gonna be somewhere else. It’s a delicate thing! Somebody could kick it away or just take it with them!

Sunny side up!

That’s one fine sunny side-up egg. What’s great is that it directly faces the sun, just like its name! If you love fried eggs, you’d surely love this painting. But we don’t know about those who love their eggs scrambled or boiled.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

It might not have taken much from Cal’s end, except the fact that they had to come up with this incredible idea. Other than that, all that would’ve been needed was a bit of coloring. Even with the colors, there are just three, so it could’ve been quite simple.

Time to fight

Let us give you a spoiler about this guy. No matter how cute he looks or how little he is, don’t judge him based on that. The reality is that you don’t wanna mess with this guy. He has a pretty dangerous expression going on, and it’s legit.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

You could tell by his looks, physique, appearance, and clothing that he could easily sumo wrestle you if you messed with him, and we know nobody wants that to happen. He’s cute, though! There’s also a lot of rage bottled up in there.

Skilled goat

The moment we saw this painting, we were reminded of those mountain goats that can climb on cliffs and walk on almost vertical surfaces. Man, watching that kind of stuff makes us nervous. Feeling scared for those goats is almost inevitable, but that’s not the case for this goat.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

We definitely don’t feel scared for this goat. Also, he looks really content. He has a smile on his face, so maybe it’s wonderful with his plan for the day. We also don’t doubt this goat’s skills at all. Lastly, did you notice Cal’s name on the goat’s chest?

Zzz…

You need to be more cautious about this one. If you see this painting from a distance, chances are that you won’t even think of it as a painting. If you saw the little boulder with the image from far away, we feel it would cause some panic.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

However, it is only when you come closer that you realize that it’s just a painting, and it’s not somebody who’s stuck under a boulder. That would be disturbing. Cal made it look as if somebody with a “boulderous” head was sleeping. Genius!

*Insert smirk emoji*

This tree weirdly smirking at us is perhaps one of the things we didn’t know we needed to see to make a sad day flip upside down. From another angle, this smirk could also creep people out because, honestly, it’s a tad bit creepy.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

Cal used that ridge as a nose, so he just had to paint the eyes and the mouth. That’s what you call being minimalistic and innovative at the same time. This tree looks like it just caught you doing something that’s wrong.

Dog? Pig?

When we first looked at this image, we thought that it was a pig. After we had a closer look, we were convinced that it was a dog. If we’d have to take a guess at the breed of the dog, we’d say that it’s a bull terrier.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

This is more like a 3D painting. From the front, you don’t see the nose protruding, but when you visit the painting from the side, you realize that the nose is painted on a whole different unit! This piece of art is a fan favorite.

They’re here

We think it’s finally time. It’s time that we had contact with creatures from outer space. That could be the reason why this alien is here. Also, this alien is just like the ones we see in comics and movies! That’s a bit strange now, isn’t it?

Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

We love how Cal chose this particular place. There’s a light source which makes it 100 times better and more interactive. There’s a lot of detailing in here as well, from the antenna to the fingers, shoes, and of course, the logo on the uniform.

Traffic signals

That’s a traffic signal for stopping, but the unique part is that Santa is peeking from the top of it. Well, you know that he sees you when you’re sleeping and that he knows when you’re awake. This time, he sees you while you drive.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

Considering that, it’s in your best interest to obey the traffic rules and stop when you see the signal. Always know that Santa’s watching, and you don’t want to be on the other side of the list! He’ll know if you obeyed the sign or not.

King of the jungle

From the face, it’s a ferocious lion. But apart from the face, it’s a cartoon. If we heard something like that before looking at the image, we’d conjure up a bizarre image in our heads. But now that we’ve seen the painting, we have a different opinion.

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

Honestly, it looks pretty cute and funny. The lion has a pretty shocked expression on its face, and we know that Cal’s not responsible for that. It’s just how it is. Drawing a cartoon body makes it look as if the lion is shocked by his physique!

Swoosh!

That’s the cutest rocket ever. We can see how small it is because of the stairs adjacent to it. Cal literally made good use of a stain mark by drawing a rocket next to it. Well, that’s something that only Cal could think of and do.

Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

On a serious note, if all graffiti and street art looked like the ones we have seen up until now, we think that the world would be a much more beautiful place. But, there have been gradual developments because of people like Cal!

Best out of waste

This painting has the caliber of winning a best of waste competition if there was ever a contest like this. All the things that have been used here had no purpose for anything earlier. Now, they all form a cohesive face!

Image credits: Instagram/ cal_dessins_and_co

Obviously, the seaweed is the highlight here. We love how Cal used it to make two tiny eyebrows and one thick and untamed goatee. It’s realistic as well because we have seen many people with that kind of beard!