pavement artist (UK)—
1. (also: flagstone artist) an artist who draws on paving stones with colored chalks, hoping to be given money by passers-by:
- No one but the pavement artist can have any notion of how great the amount of dust is in London’s streets.
2. (sl.) an espionage agent engaged in street surveillance on a suspect, etc.:
- His specialty was hitting the streets and finding out information. In the vernacular of his profession he became known as a top-notch “pavement artist.”
pavement artist (U.S.)—an artist who displays paintings for sale on a pavement:
- Outside the station a small crowd were watching with interest as a pavement artist copied and enlarged a painting from a postcard.