Art / Artist of the Month
Artist of the month: Andy Council
Andy Council didn’t have to look far for the inspiration for his most famous mural – the Bristol Dinosaur. He used the architectural landmarks of the city to build up the beast and it was so popular he’s been asked to create similar murals around the world.
Born in Bath, he moved to Bristol after graduating in an animation course at Bournemouth Art College.
is needed now More than ever
Before long found himself immersed in the Bristol graffiti scene and learning his trade with spray paints while working as an illustrator. The inspiration for his city beast creations came after he was commissioned to build a monster made out of rubbish. He took the principles of constructing a creature made out of different elements to the city of Bristol and came up with the Bristol Dinosaur.
Since then he’s recreated the dinosaur in cities across the world and has created other monsters using the same principles.
He’s created Longma (£50 plus £5 p&p) exclusively for Bristol 24/7 – it was inspired by Bristol and the “golden colours of autumn, which was when I painted the piece”.
“The shape of the creature happened to turn out like a sort of dragon horse, similar to a creature from Chinese mythology, the Longma.
“I built the piece up in layers starting with a background of clouds and then moving onto hills, foreground and the creature itself. Each stage starts off being pretty loosely painted using spray paint before more detail is added using acrylic paint. Depth and shadow is achieved in areas with transparent spray paints.”
Andy has chosen homeless charity Julian Trust to receive the profits from the sale of Longma. “Much of my work features the houses and buildings of Bristol but for many people in the city the streets are where they live.
“Everyone should have a roof over their head, especially in the current cold weather.”
Frame your art
Bristol 24/7 have teamed up with Seb from The Little Framing Company to offer you a framed copy of Longma. “For Andy’s print we have decided to use a distressed pine moulding that brings out the warm tones in the image,” says Seb. “A double mount with a sliver of grey on the inside helps to frame the print and creates a strong boarder around it.”
Visit our online shop here: b247.staging.proword.press/andycouncil