As mentioned in Kulturcast episode 3 with LeithLate’s Morvern Cunningham – the collaboration with Elph has been a little while in the making. Leith Walk’s Lovella Beauty Shop was the place for the latest Mural Project, providing a gable-end space for illustrator, designer and painter Elph to make his unique mark.

As arguably one of Edinburgh’s foremost artists working in the street, it’s no surprise that when this project finally came together, it really came together. Elph’s inspiration from comics and Japanese culture can be seen in a lot of his work around town, and in this project takes centre stage.

Anyone following the artist’s Facebook page will see this theme crop up frequently, more recently among the really stunning three dimensional illustrations he has been putting out there, taking full control of the immersive panoramic view now part of the timeline.

The colour scheme helps the piece blend into the shop – a key part of the LeithLate project is not to just drop artwork onto the city, but pay keen attention to the surroundings – but also draws on that super cutesy Japanese pop culture vibe. The figure at the centre of the piece taking strong influence from the country’s comic book scene.

Check out more from Elph on his website, or track Elph’s progress and really interesting experimentation over on Facebook.

Steven
UKB