4717. Upfest 2022 (48)

Octofly Art, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Octofly Art, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

You get to meet an awful lot of colourful characters at Upfest, both participating artist as well as other visitors. One of my favourite people to meet is Octofly, a wonderful character artist from Italy. Octofly is always up for a chat and has an infectious cheerful disposition.

Octofly Art, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Octofly Art, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

This is a witty piece featuring a dinosaur sipping on a cup of tea, entitled Tea Rex. To be witty is one thing, to be witty in a foreign language is next level. The whole piece on a rather slender board is delightfully well composed and sharp as anything. A really great piece from Octofly.

4716. Upfest 2022 (47)

J. Sharples, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
J. Sharples, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

I thoroughly enjoyed this year’s Upfest, which was made even better by my daughter accompanying me on one of the days. It is the first time that any family member has shown any real enthusiasm for my passion and I felt very supported. Fortunately there was a really good mix of works in progress and completed pieces for my daughter to enjoy.

J. Sharples, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
J. Sharples, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

This gorilla piece from Jay Sharples is a classic piece of character street art. The background is in complete harmony with the portraits which are perfectly clean and crisp. It is always a pleasure to see his work when he visits Bristol for Upfest.

Rui-nation

.

The decline and fall

is spectacular and fast

Tory disaster

.

by Scooj

  • I don’t even have the energy to rant about the utterly disgraceful Liz Truss and her disgusting cabinet. The damage they have done and continue to do fills me with a resentment that I simply don’t want to have. When I see what revolting surprises they hit us with each and every day, I am filled with despair and depression. What have they done to our nation? My poor children.

4715. Upfest 2022 (46)

Korp, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Korp, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

It will take me all year to post everything I want to post from Upfest, so you will have to be patient. I have to intersperse the Upfest pieces with the contemporary work that appears on the streets of Bristol every day. This is a wonderful piece from Koop, an artist I have seen a fair bit on the Festival circuit.

Korp, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Korp, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

Korp creates these rather endearing creature characters – I think that they are worms – and this is quite the best one I have seen to date. There is something about the colours in this one that work so well. The feathers are beautifully worked and the whole piece is very neat and tidy with crisp, sharp lines. Look out for more from Korp, coming soon.

4714. Chatterton Square (5)

Acer One and Andy Council, Chatterton Square, Bristol, September 2022
Acer One and Andy Council, Chatterton Square, Bristol, September 2022

One of the great joys of the long hot summer has been the frequency of pieces and collaborations from Acer One and Andy Council, two of Bristol’s best established and well know artists. Their sharply contrasting styles seem to work so well together, and this piece is one of the best examples of a truly collaborative effort.

Acer One and Andy Council, Chatterton Square, Bristol, September 2022
Acer One and Andy Council, Chatterton Square, Bristol, September 2022

Acer One is responsible for the incredible geometric background and the rainbow curve (with all the right colours in the right order), creating a perfect backdrop for Andy Council’s prehistoric creatures. Andy Council has been painting these ammonites an awful lot recently, but these ones are absolute beauties. I love the way the tentacles of the ammonites interact with Acer’s rainbow line. A very classy piece indeed.

4713. St Werburghs tunnel (310)

Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2022
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2022

I am pretty sure that when I last posted a Hypo piece I said that his work was somewhat underrepresented on Natural Adventures, so I hope this post is in some small way addressing this.

Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2022
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2022

Painted in the tunnel alongside his friends, this piece is a real beauty and pretty much on point. The letters spell Hypo, and have four tones of red making up the fills. There are some nice details and accent flashes, and a 3D drop-shadow with a disappearing point in the middle of the piece, something that Hypo certainly seems to favour. This is a really decent piece of writing from the artist.

4712. Spake Evans Park (56)

Evey, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, August 2022
Evey, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, August 2022

Evey has been out and about much more this summer, or at least that is how it feels, and with each outing her work is improving. Her letters are large and obvious, spelling out EVEN, with a focus on the variation of fills.

Evey, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, August 2022
Evey, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, August 2022

This one was painted as part of a collaborative wall and is notable for its horizontal fills of at least six colours. There is something not quite consistent with the drop-shadow on the stars, but that is a small detail, all in all this is a bright, fun piece from Evey.

4711. M32 roundabout J3 (430)

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2022
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2022

This Face 1st piece on the M32 roundabout is a little bit hidden away, and doesn’t appear to have done the rounds on Instagram as much as some of his other recent pieces, it is however an absolute beauty.

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2022
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2022

Face 1st usually paints in three basic formats; writing the word FACE with a face in one of the letters, painting a girl figure (usually smiling) or painting a girl’s face with the work FACE appearing in the hair. This piece is in the latter format. The happy face is splashed with wonderfully complementary colours and lots of dripping gloop. Another fun piece from Face 1st.

4710. M32 roundabout J3 (429)

Corupt, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2022
Corupt, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2022

I think that over the time that I have been photographing street art in Bristol, there are two kings of the M32 roundabout, Face 1st and Corupt, and both feature in today’s posts. This is a fine recent piece by Corupt on the north east wall of the roundabout.

Corupt, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2022
Corupt, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2022

This is a striking and commanding piece from Corupt spelling Stick, set on a sumptuous red background. This is a tight piece from the artist, where every element is beautifully done and the whole thing comes together exceptionally well. I fully expect this one to be here for a while.