Artist Paul Curtis puts himself in the picture in new city centre mural

People may have been wondering who’s in the picture in Paul Curtis’s new huge city centre mural …

Until the artist revealed that one of the characters featured is based on himself.

The naval themed image completed yesterday on the side of the YHA Liverpool Albert Dock building behind the Baltic Fleet pub off the Strand features a merchant seaman on lookout with a ship’s captain.

And the beanie-clad seafarer gazing seriously out to sea is actually a cheeky self-portrait.

He said:

“It’s based on an old poster from World War II and rather than just copy it, I changed the faces and background”.

“I was looking for pictures on the internet that would fit in with the composition but couldn’t find the right face at the right angle, so then thought I might as well use a photo of myself.

“I did wonder if people would realise it was me – the only time I’ve ever painted myself before was on a mural at Birkdale Station which is much smaller – but I suspect it’s obvious to people who know me, but won’t really matter to those who don’t (in terms of the finished mural).”

“I thought it was just a bit of fun putting myself in the mural, but as the image got bigger I did start to wonder if I should have done it … not least because the captain bloke to me is quite a handsome fella, so it doesn’t do me any favours.”

Paul says he was commissioned to paint the mural by the YHA in Tabley Street in May this year, to make the building more visible and to invite people to go inside.

“You can go in, you don’t have to be staying there,” says Paul, “but not everyone realises this. There is a bar and a cafe inside that the public are welcome to use.

“It was the perfect wall for a mural, being flat with no windows and no drainpipes.

“Because of where it is we wanted to do something around the Baltic and a naval theme, with a historic link and a brooding atmosphere. We looked at old Cunard posters and WWII ones and the like, before settling on this final design. We wanted something that reflected the city’s historical maritime links (the city was Britain’s main transatlantic convoy port during the war, which was crucial for keeping the country supplied with essential imports).”

The 49 sq metre mural took the artist five days to complete and takes his total number of murals to around 270 across Merseyside and the rest of the UK, and within the region of 50 in central Liverpool.

He does a walking tour around the murals once a year – there’s a map on his website – and reckons his top 10 in the city centre are the YHA one – ‘it’s the newest’ – and the Katarina Johnson-Thompson one next to The Excelsior Pub in Dale Street; the baby in Harrington Street; the Liver Bird Wings, Abbey Road and poet Levi Tafari, all around Jamaica Street; the Transalpino Wade Smith mural in Slater Street; Ken Dodd at the Royal Court; the giant octopus in Liverpool ONE, and Peace and Love at the University of Liverpool.

There’s not long now left to see the giant octopus in Liverpool ONE as it’s due to go soon.

“I used to get a tad upset when murals were painted over now but I realise now that that’s part and parcel of what I do, and companies change and they might not be appropriate.

“The biggest one I ever created – and the biggest mural in Britain – is the one on Toad Hall in Ainsdale and that’s due to come down in Spring next year, but I always knew that was going to be a temporary solution.

“I have asked for a few bricks from that one – I’d love to push the button when they demolish it, but I don’t think they do things like that anymore.

“But it will be nice to get a few souvenirs.”

Next on the agenda for Paul is a mural at Spice City Indian restaurant in Stanley Street – ‘I like working there because they feed me!’ – and perhaps another near Wrexham Football Club where he has recently completed a painting of the late ex-Liverpool, Wrexham and Wales defender Joey Jones who died in July this year.

“It’s nice to do different things,” says Paul. “I get asked to do The Beatles, the Liver Birds and the skyline quite a lot, and that’s great, but Liverpool is more than those things.

“The good thing about the new one on the YHA building is that it will make people ask questions and learn more about the city’s history, and I like that.”