Ross chalks up a super Mario

Budding street artist Ross Le Brun drew the famous video game character on tarmac near the cafe on Saturday, attracting a steady stream of admirers.

It was Mr Le Brun’s second attempt at street art at the park – last week he drew an equally-impressive picture of Popeye.

He has become more interested in art over the past year and was inspired by festivals of street art in other parts of the world.

‘I could see nothing like that over here. I thought it would be something nice to do,’ said Mr Le Brun.

‘Doing it here on the tarmac is ideal. I’m not in anyone’s way and people can stop and enjoy it if they want to.’

Mr Le Brun uses chalk and pastels to draw what is known as anamorphic art, which gives a distorted image when seen from the usual viewpoint but removes the distortion when viewed from a particular angle.

‘It provides a difference perspective, which I like. I’m still trying to perfect it. Popeye took me two hours, but today Mario has taken me about four hours,’ he said.

Mr Le Brun was grateful when the weather improved for the weekend.

‘I came to prepare last night but it was wet. So I came back this morning as soon as I woke up. The weather today is perfect for it.’

He asked the States for permission before starting. He said he did not know how frequently he would be back, but he has been invited to apply for an arts grant to extend his drawings at the park.

‘I have also asked businesses if they would like something like this outside their premises. People would stop and it could be good for business,’ he said.

Mr Le Brun regularly posts images of his art on the Dad Makes Stuff Facebook page.