My Life with street artist Shane Sutton: 'Art is about practice, not talent'

'I don’t know if I’ve ever finished a painting - I reach a point where I feel like it’s enough'

Street artist Shane Sutton with his street art in the background at the Travelodge Plus on Townsend Street, Dublin Picture: Gareth Chaney

Almost every kid has a passion for some kind of art form, whether it’s writing, music, or art. Many of us stop, however, once we reach a certain age.

As a child, we moved around a lot but art was a constant and something that I was very comfortable with.

This was probably the reason that my mum always encouraged me so much. I can’t put my skills down to talent. I wasn’t born this way. Instead, painting was something I developed over time. A lot of adults claim they can’t draw but, if they tried it and put in the practice, they will more than likely find that the opposite is true.

Art takes a lot of patience. I don’t know if I’ve ever finished a painting but I do reach a point where I feel like it’s enough. It’s probably similar to the feeling experienced by any musician listening to their latest track or an author reading the final draft of their novel. No matter what art form you are dealing with, there is always something you feel that you could have done differently.

The canvas for my first mural was a friend’s bedroom. It had a Judge Dredd theme, a nod to my love of comic books. My friend was happy with how it all turned out but I was more grateful to him for letting me paint on his bedroom wall.

Cityscapes are something I love to do but they take a long time. I have to do a few of them and build up a body of work that looks consistent. The street art pieces, in contrast, are just one-offs. These images are large and impactful. Artwork makes far more of an impact on the street than it could on the wall of any home. Once my work is done, I can go home and think about the next project.

One of my favourite pieces is a nine-metre mural depicting a 19th-century diver which represents the maritime history of Dublin’s Docklands. Created three years ago, the mural at Travelodge Plus in Dublin’s city centre is titled Deep Dive Tea Break.

I need to have the artwork done in a day, so it’s vital to ensure everything is planned out before I arrive. A painting of this scale is not something you can do from your head. Visual references are very helpful in this regard. I always mark the walls to keep the proportions. The higher you get, the more challenging it becomes. This applies to even the most simple of shapes.

Street artist Shane Sutton with his street art in the background at the Travelodge Plus on Townsend Street, Dublin Picture: Gareth Chaney

It’s important to first figure out how you’re going to keep a circle looking like a circle at nine metres high. Climbing up and down a ladder can be very time-consuming. If it’s a commercial job, we normally hire a lift. 

You have to secure working-from-height insurance and public liability if it’s outdoors. You also need permission from the council, as larger paintings require planning permission. This might be the reason why you don’t see a lot of artwork around the city.

Logistically, it can be challenging because one needs to be able to park a machine in front of it safely. Painting on the street is a lot different to creating artwork at home. If you are low on the ground, people talk to you all the time, which is obviously not something you are going to encounter while working from home.

Like with anything in life, street art has its downsides, namely vandalism. There was one guy who constantly wrote on my stuff. He was just a tagger and his words were barely legible. I repaired the work once or twice. When it kept happening, I applied a layer of protective paint over it. He was furious to see that his letters had been washed away, so he started sending me nasty messages online. It was quite a funny situation, to be honest.

It’s very seldom that I come up against hostility but there was one experience I had while creating artwork of two urban foxes on Dorset St that left me very shocked. While Dublin City Council, who commissioned the piece, were amazing and very helpful to deal with, there were some passers-by who seemed intent on wreaking havoc. It was awkward because, in order to complete the piece, we had to block the laneway. 

I had two Brazilian friends assisting me on the day to prevent people from walking under the machine. It was for my safety and the public’s too. However, certain people just could not seem to understand that. My Brazilian friends ended up getting racially abused for the entire day, because they wouldn’t let people under the machine.

Normally, you don’t have to bother with anyone if you are working at height. That day, however, I made an exception and came down from the machine. One guy pulled out his phone and tried to tell me that I didn’t have permission to do what I was doing.

Luckily, incidents like this are rare and the majority of people are very respectful and understanding.