Those of us who remember Changing Rooms will be familiar with the trompe-l'oeil technique, an art and design trick that means “trick the eye”.  Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen was a big fan of the technique to create feature walls that looked like windows onto stunning landscapes, but it can also be used to great effect for outdoor murals.  One such trompe-l'oeil mural that has sprung up recently is a man on a ladder in Stourbridge.

The mural, painted on the side of Katie Fitzgerald's pub, features one of the bar owners, Eddy, up a ladder. Trina and Eddy, the owners of the bar, called local artist Dj to discuss having a mural painted on the otherwise blank side wall of the building, and during these chats Trina mentioned another Midlands ladder mural landmark that disappeared a few years ago.

Trina grew up in Erdington, where a sign making business had their own man on a ladder mural on the side of their business.  The hand-painted piece moved with the business when they upgraded to a bigger premises in 2016, and it has been sorely missed by locals ever since.  Eddy, Trina's co-owner, was often seen up a ladder carrying out DIY repairs and maintenance, and with the convergence of these two ideas the artwork was born.

The mural uses trompe-l'oeil techniques to make it look like the ladder is casting a shadow, making it pop out of the wall.  Eddy is wearing his signature shorts and red socks with black boots, so the mural really works as a visual trick because the locals are so used to seeing that in real life.  The mural took over six hours to hand-sketch using a pencil, a small ruler and a ladder.  It was then painted in over the course of two days using masonry paints mixed with acrylics.

If you're artistically inclined why not have a go at painting your own ladder mural at home?  You can get as creative as you like and paint your pet, favourite superhero or film character climbing a ladder.  Beware of painting anything that looks like a burglar breaking and entering, as if you're very good at painting you might end up having the police round every time someone catches sight of your visual trickery.