This year’s trail has a movie theme and features over 50 large-scale sculptures based on well-loved Aardman Animations characters – there’s a mix of Wallace, Gromit, Feathers McGraw and Norbot, all re-imagined by artists, designers and some famous names and studios. The sculptures are located in and around Bristol and surrounding areas for the duration of the trail, June 30 – August 31, 2025, before being auctioned off at the end.
I was asked to create a design inspired by 1950’s-style American diners, as seen in films such as Grease, Rebel With a Cause and Back to the Future. Meet ‘Hot Dog’!
It was really fun bringing a bold, graphic style to the theme, and incorporating some hand painted lettering. Plus, I love the fact it was possible to have him wearing rollerskates! 🛼🌭
Hot Dog was kindly sponsored by Touts Food in Cleeve, he’ll be spending the summer with them if you’d like to search him out.
If you’re out sculpture spotting, Hot Dog is part of a mini trail ‘ A Grand Day Out South’ on the Gromit Unleashed 3 trail map.
The Painting Process
Some photos taken at the painting space to show my process and how the design evolved over time.
He took about 10 days to paint, over the space of about 6 weeks. I’ve learnt from experience these sculptures always take longer than you think!
A particularly cheeky angle featured on the front of Bristol’s independent culture mag Bristol 24/7…
And rounding off Gromit Unleashed 3, here’s Hot Dog at ‘The Greatest Dog Show on Earth’! The exhibition took place for 2 weeks in September 2025, bringing together all 54 sculptures from the the trail, before they’re auctioned to raise vital funds for Bristol Children’s Hospital.
Interested to do the trail or find out more? Take a look at Gromit Unleashed on The Grand Appeal website or Download the Gromit Unleashed 3 App
Initial Designs
These were my initial designs for Hot Dog. I’m a fan of retro signage and enjoyed combining elements of this with the diner-inspired colour palette.
You’ll notice in my original design his whole body section was a giant hot dog – I opted to change this once I started painting, and so the designe evolved a little. I felt that what had worked on the flat design would just have looked weird when viewed from different angles, and wouldn’t have photographed quite so well side on.
Previous Trails
Hot Dog is the latest sculpture I’ve painted for The Grand Appeal, following from a number I’ve painted for previous trails over the years…
Gromit Unleashed, 2013 – Grrrrromit & Blazing Saddles
Shaun in the City, 2015 – Fab-ewe-lous & Flock’n Roll
Gromit Unleashed 2, 2018 – The Bowie inspired, Space Oddi-tea
Gromit Unleashed, ‘The Grand Adventure’ mini trail, 2020 – Valentina & Yodeleyheehoo
These are obviously quite different from my usual projects but I love taking time out from my desk and getting into painting mode! It’s always a real joy to be involved in such a fun project, and to be able to help The Grand Appeal with their epic fundraising.
