17,500sq metre painting by british artist Ben Eine unveiled in London

British artist Ben Eine has revealed a 17,500sq metre artwork in east London bearing the word ‘CREATE’.

The piece, which would fit four Boeing 747s or 700 double-decker buses, took over 500 hours to complete with 2,850 litres of recycled paint which was mixed in a 200-litre bathtub.

Eine had the support of 30 volunteers and six artists armed with 18-inch wide rollers, and could only check the progress of the artwork with the use of drone footage.

The painting, made in collaboration with Zippo, can only be properly viewed from the sky, where it would seem to encourage flyers to put pen to paper or paintbrush to canvas.

Ben had his work gifted to Barack Obama by David Cameron in 2012, and recently created a mural honouring the victims and survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire.

“I love to paint and beautify the most unexpected of places – I’ve painted everything from doorways to trains but have always wanted to do something really huge and different,” he commented. 

“Painting on the ground was a cool challenge because you can’t just stand back and see what you’re doing. We used drones, string and all sorts to make sure it looked how I imagined, and check that it was spelt right! Seeing the final satellite footage was amazing, I got to create a unique stamp on my home town – a pretty awesome achievement.”

The artwork will live for an indefinite time, designed to serve as a stark reminder of the transient nature of street art.