Here’s one from Soker that nearly got away. Tucked away at one end of the hoardings in Raleigh Road, hoardings I might add that have now gone as the development reaches completion, this is a piece that could easily have been missed.
This stretch has been a productive one, particularly for members of ASK, but no more, they’ll have to find other walls to keep them busy. I rather like this cheerful and colourful piece, which is completely on point as always.
.
Magnolia buds
magnificent, glorious
colour to the drab.
.
by Scooj
Set out with purpose
found what I was looking for
and much more besides.
by Scooj
When these two get together, it is always a recipe for something interesting, rarely missing the mark. Sled One and Smak have collaborated on this wall before at least once and possibly many times, but this is an absolute peach.
The two have used a McDonald’s theme for this collaboration, using the corporate colours of the food giant. I confess that I find it a slightly curious brand to celebrate, but that is my snobby bias coming into play, which I am not particularly proud of. Sled One has incorporated some fries and bubbling cheese into his writing which is utterly sharp and brilliant.
Smak takes the fun a little further with a little slogan ‘the big Smak and cheese’… very droll. Again, this is a supreme piece of writing, so sharp and clean. A great coming together of ASK and RAW. I rather like the bicycle, which I had to keep moving out of the way, but it kind of goes well with the yellow of the piece. So good.
There is no question about it, Soap seems to have found a new lease of life and appears to be a happy artist. His recent pieces have been an expansion of his basic form and have a sense of joy about them. This one in St Werburghs tunnel is a real beauty.
As well as adding a body to the cheerful mouths, Soap has also adorned the character with hair, cleverly crafted from multi coloured tags – the white one on the left shows clearly what it looks like. He has incorporated further white motifs in the ‘hair’ which look good too. His work is really coming to life and building in sophistication and I really like it. I think other observers are similarly enjoying this journey. Keep it going.
Recently Face 1st has been teaming up with an artist I have not been aware of before who likes to paint elephants, Junk. I don’t yet know much about the artist, but I like his simple style which goes so well with a very similar style used by Face 1st.
I have actually posted a collaboration by these two before fairly recently, but thought that the whole thing was by Face 1st and that he had branched out into doing elephants…he corrected me via Instagram.
I hope to see more of this pairing…there is something rather calming and meditative about this collaboration… maybe it is an elephant thing.
I haven’t seen too much of Nevla’s work lately, so it was great to come across a whole pile of pieces in the tunnels of the Lawrence Hill roundabout a couple of weeks back. This is a rather cute (a word I rarely use) piece of a character spraying the name Nevla book-ended by a couple of bears.
I have a feeling that the tunnels on this roundabout will become more of a playground for street/graffiti artists over the summer. It is interesting to observe the shifting sands of street art spots, especially as so many great walls in Stokes Croft have disappeared (gentrification).
The wisdom of age
does not compensate for lost
capabilities.
by Scooj
Zake is an artist who is really coming out of the shadows and making a bit of a name for himself. I first became aware of him last Summer but I don’t know if that was because he was reasonably new to the Bristol scene or whether I just hadn’t spotted any of his work before.
This piece is a little bit different and has some similarities with artwork by Laic217…which can only be a good thing. A skull leaving its host through the mouth is surely an odd concept, but one which allows Zake to experiment beyond his faces. Skulls are difficult to get right, but this is not too bad at all. I love it that Zake is more mobile and seems to have teamed up with some of the PWA artists and friends. A lovely surprise piece in the tunnel.
There is something about Cheo’s work that oozes class. I think it stems from his great compositions and characters, but most of all his incredibly clean lines. The whole thing looks like it has been painted with fat felt tips rather than spray cans.
I love the smoking cat character with his gold chain in the centre of the piece, and I’m not too sure what the white creature on the left is, but he is clearly animated about something.
I struggle to read Cheo’s writing, mainly because he doesn’t simply write ‘CHEO’ which would of course make things much easier. Crazy that I’ve only just posted this one.
Natural adventures 