Bob Zilla

Today I had a dental appointment, so I could not attend my usual lessons at uni, however an interesting thing happened to me today.

I encountered my first professional illustrator in the real world today, and I thought I would mention this as it is highly relevant to my module.

On the way to my orthodontist, I passed a shop front on Baker Street, Middlesborough.
I noticed a man working on a pair of large scale illustrations, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to ask him some questions about his work.

Bob Zilla's spray paint mural.

He never told me his real name, but he referred to himself as 'Bob Zilla'.
I quizzed him on the message behind his illustrations, and he told me that the illustrations are all about the theme of freedom, which I found quite interesting.
I love how the birds are wearing shoes, and I wish I asked him what the shop sold so I could see the connection, I regret this, but I will learn from this experience.

He told me that he was commissioned by Middlesborough council to add murals to several locations in the area, notably Baker Street, which is where this mural can be found.

A map showing Baker Street.

Above is another illustration that he produced as a separate commission, and this can be found further down the street, I found the image tucked in between two buildings in a small alleyway.

I love how these animals are wearing shoes, I remember him saying that this mural is connected to the one that he was working on when I met him.

I looked on the internet to find some more information on him, and came across this website, which is his.

http://www.tubbyphunk.com < image reference at this link.

I even found a link to a politician's twitter page through the site, which you can see below.

https://twitter.com/VoteForBoro/status/520631536799191041/photo/1 < image reference at this link.

He asked me if I ever shared his work on social media, to tag his name, so I will be doing so on instagram and on this blog.







Thomas.