Star Wars fans praise new Mandalorian mural

Artist Demograffix created the images of Baby Yoda and the Mandalorian in a park on the outskirts of Norwich

Star Wars fans have praised a new mural which has appeared in a park featuring two cult figures.

Professional artist Mark Tanti, who works under the name Demograffix, was one of the seven people who created the mural at Thorpe Marriott, near Norwich.

He recently moved to Norwich from Luton and said it was "great" that there had been such an outpouring of praise.

Hundreds of people liked a social media post by Norwich Star Wars Club UK about the Mandalorian art work.

An artists' collective created the mural earlier this year

Mr Tanti, 40, said the sprawling mural at Thorpe Marriott park, off Pendlesham Rise, was completed in just a day as part of an Instagram challenge to showcase street art from across the world.

He said the group was set the Star Wars theme and a colour scheme, before he launched into creating the images of Baby Yoda and Mandalorian in spray paint.

Artists from a WhatsApp group created images and bold graffiti on the rest of the wall, which Mr Tanti said measures about 80ft (24m) long.

"It's nice to know people are seeing the artwork and appreciating it," he said.

"That's why I do it - to produce artwork that causes some sort of emotion or feeling within people.

"When they let you know they like it, it makes you feel good - it's encouraging - I do it to brighten up other people's lives."

Mark Tanti, aka Demograffix, has just taken over as a community centre chairman in Norwich and hopes to run children's street art workshops there

Mr Tanti said it had been important to choose an area where it was acceptable to create street art.

The father of one said he started doing graffiti when he was about 15 while growing up in Brixton, South London.

He said his love of art resulted in him achieving a top grade in the subject at school before he gained a community arts degree.

It led to him running children's art workshops and creating public art, including a project to celebrate the history of Milton Keynes.

Having spent the last 10 years living in Luton, he followed his mother and brother in relocating to Norwich last autumn.

Mr Tanti said the Mandalorian mural had inspired him to recreate more superhero figures for his appearance at the upcoming Luton's Comic Con.

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