‘A Cracking Day Out In Bristol’ - shopping district, city centre mural. Cabot Circus, Bristol
This 11.5m x 16m mural on Quakers Lane, in central Bristol, was commissioned by animation studio, Aardman and Cabot Circus. Production support was from Bristol’s street art festival, Upfest.
The mural celebrates the creativity of Bristol and features many of Aardman’s most beloved characters as well as local Bristol landmarks, such as Clifton Suspension Bridge, its colourful houses, hot air balloons and harbourside boats. There’s also a nod to The Grand Appeal charity by including the iconic children’s hospital ‘Lollipop Be-Bop’ sculpture.
Aardman illustrator, Lorna Harrington created an initial compositional artwork, which I was invited to base my design on, bringing my own style to these characters - watch a behind-the-scenes video here. I’ve grown up with watching Wallace and Gromit on television, so to paint them, along with Shaun the Sheep, Morph and Feathers McGraw was such an honour. And, it was such a joy to also include Chicken Run’s Babs and Ginger, Piella Bakewell - with her dog Fluffles, Robin Robin and the Very Small Creatures.
Read the BBC news report on this project and watch making-of videos here and here.
“We like creative challenges at Aardman – and the brief for this mural was just that! We weren’t actually sure it could be achieved until we started working with Dave. His vision captured our imaginations from the moment we started working with him and the results speak for themselves. Watching the joy and engagement of the public as they experience the mural is the ultimate success of this great creative partnership.”
Additional thanks to Tom Habben for fabricating the ‘Made In’ letters to go above the ‘BRISTOL’ sign and to my mural painting team, which included David McMillan, Jess Knights, Sarah Dowling and Tanith Gould.
photo: James Koch