A WORKER painting a bus route sign on a British road has been hailed worldwide as an artist after his intricate work captivated viewers.
Online footage of the man carefully spelling out in yellow paint the word “BUS” became a sensation on Twitter – with admirers calling his careful attention to detail “mesmerising”.
The UK road painter winning acclaim online has been compared to street artist Banksy
Road painting professionals can use stencils to help ensure the right size and shape of the words they lay down – yet many already have the practice down to a fine art.
And the new footage winning international attention has been shared online by Enzo Cherici, from Italy, with the words “Io neanche con il normografo!” – that is, “Not even with the stencil!”
Among many people spreading the clip online was British-based Italian journalist Antonello Guerrera, who said: “Mesmerised by this.”
Other admiring comments included “Genius”, “An artist for sure!”, “Superb craftmanship” and “Now that’s what we should call skilled labour”.
Twitter user Nick Smith wryly remarked, “I can’t even carry a cup of coffee to the sofa without spilling”, while others said “I would 100% burn my feet and hands”, “I’d definitely misspell this” and “I can’t even freehand that good with pen to paper”.
More praise included “I can’t stop watching this”, “Love seeing craftsman at work” and “Take some time to appreciate the skill…!”
Fernando Ramos posted “God Save The Paint”, while journalist Neil Armstrong tweeted: “This artist’s ‘S’ is the Sistine Chapel ceiling of road lettering.”
The workman was also compared to the anonymous British street and graffiti artist Banksy.
And the bright paint reminded some of global chart-topping UK band Coldplay‘s 2000 breakthrough hit “Yellow” – in which frontman Chris Martin sings: “And it was all yellow.”
Yet not everyone gets road painting quite so right – as shown by previous highway mishaps.
Sometimes unusual designs are deliberate, however – though Worthing council in West Sussex provoked criticism when laying down consciously-wiggly road lines last year.
Yet in neighbouring Kent there was a warm welcome for a “mystery vigilante” who took it upon himself to paint double yellow lines to deter “reckless” parkers.