A gallery of outstanding graffiti writing and street art from SkyHigh
all photographs by Scooj
SkyHigh
Month: September 2021
3919. Dean Lane skate park (426)
It is a very good thing indeed that Flava136 has decided to visit Bristol several times recently, and long may it last – perhaps he should move here, that would be nice. His work is some of the cleanest you could hope to see, and by that I mean that everything, from the Emulsion backdrop to all the elements in his work are left with clean lines. There are no border lines tidying up little blemishes. Everything is perfectly painted, and this takes a lot of skill and patience.
The customary monster, with big teeth, is joined by a green smiley and decorated with all sorts of shapes, lines and colour schemes. The truth being tyold, I don’t think I can get enough of his pieces, each one being turned out immaculately. I don’t think I have seen a scrappy piece from the artist, ever. Superb piece, and more to come.
3918. Upfest 2021 75×75 (55)
I think I am right in saying that Paul Monsters is the only artist at Upfest’s 75 walls in 75 days event to have painted more than one wall, although I still haven’t posted his first collaboration yet. This is his second collaboration, and this time he has combined delightfully with The Hass.
The collaboration is painted on two sides of a building on Ashton Road, not far away from the Ashton Gate football stadium. The portrait, which looks a little bit like a self-portrait, is by The Hass, but the way it blends into the geometric patterns of Paul Monsters is what makes this a proper collaboration in my eyes.
The Hass is a super-talented artist who writes under another name for his graffiti pieces. The portrait has such amazing depth, with perfect use of different tones and shading to bring out the features and highlight all the wrinkles and contours of the face. A masterful piece of wall art.
It is quite unusual to see this colour combination used in the geometric work of Paul Monsters. More often he works with yellows, greens, browns, oranges and purples, but here he has gone for a rather more subtle colour palette which works really well on this particular space.
I am not too sure about the significance of the owl, but The Hass has absolutely smashed it. The owl appears to be wearing a little red cap, shared by the self-portrait, and I wonder if The Hass is the owl. Who knows? I’ll have to ask him next time I see him.
All in all, another outstanding wall in this summer series. We citizens of Bristol are a lucky bunch really.
Swan song
.
For one day only
a reminder of summer
that we never had
.
by Scooj
3917. Wilder Street (42)
Words cannot really describe how wonderful this enormous mural makes me feel. Hazard, or Harriet Wood to give you her proper name, has produced a landmark piece that launches her onto the world-class stage. It is not only the scale of the piece, but its stature that is so special. Somehow Hazard has found a new level and it is all very exciting.
Wilder Street in St Paul’s has been at the heart of the Bristol street/graffiti art scene for many years, although recently, the amount of gentrification of the area has slowed things somewhat. This piece bucks that trend and makes a positive statement for beautiful public art in the area.
The piece was supported by The Arts Council through its Developing your Creative Practice (DYPC) fund, and thank goodness for initiatives like this one that bring so much joy to so many people while supporting the work of our most creative people.
Hazard, in going big, has not compromised on her ability to compose a piece fit for a particular space, and this colourful portrait, almost cubist in its presentation, has been worked perfectly into the fabric of the 20m high facade. With the magnificent colours bleeding off to the right, Hazard has created a shadow portrait just to the right of the main portrait adding emphasis and interest.
There have been so many extraordinary murals painted in Bristol this year, and the bar has been set very high. I feel however that Hazard, with this piece, has surpassed any other I have seen. I genuinely hope that this piece will launch Hazard onto the international stage that she clearly deserves. My favourite of the year so far.
3916. Cumberland Basin
It feels like I took this photograph an age ago, and in fact it was painted at the back end of July and photographed in early August. Where has this year gone? My life seems to have been travelling at light speed this year… probably a feature of getting older and trying to squeeze more into less time.
This wonderful piece by MoS was painted during Eman’s birthday paint jam at which so many good pieces were painted. It was an inspirational day.
I believe that MoS typically paints hands or portraits, so this ‘weird’ (his own words) piece is rather unusual even for the artist. I’m not entirely sure what it all means, but it is certainly very striking and the light tan glow around the piece gives it an interesting aura. Nice work from yet another new artist to Natural Adventures.
The gathering
.
Starlings in a row
waiting for something, for dusk
building momentum
.
by Scooj
3915. Upfest 2021 75×75 (54)
You can always expect the unexpected from Diff, and this imaginative piece for Upfest’s 75 walls in 75 days summer event, is definitely on the creative end of the spectrum of amazing pieces we have witnessed over the last few months. The Tobacco Factory is always a central venue for Upfest, and this piece is set behind one of the gates at the side entrance alongside the car parking bays.
Diff has cleverly painted that most iconic of items, namely Scrabble letters, and stacked them to spell out RACISM. The piece, set behind the gate, is chilling, powerful and impactful. It is funny how just the work can conjure up so many images, and when framed like this becomes a talking point. This commentary piece is one of the more thought-provoking from the event, but also one that might be hidden from the general passer-by. Excellent work from Diff, beautifully executed.
3914. Dean Lane skate park (425)
For the last year or so, there has been absolutely no stopping Dibz. I don’t know what happened (apart from the obvious pandemic impacts), but his occasional, sometimes rare, appearances turned into something approaching weekly. Of course this is simply great news for those of us who like his work.
There are several key hints that help to identify Dibz’ work and this piece illustrates them nicely. He usually preps his wall nicely so that everything is neat and tidy. The overall form of his writing is diamond shaped, starting and ending small with a fatter middle. His wildstyle letters usually spell out DIBZ but this can be tricky to make out sometimes. He usually adds depth to his letters with a well worked 3D shadow without a border.
So beautifully turned out, this piece is an archetypal Dibz work. Utterly brilliant.
3913. Brunel Way (120)
Aha! This is a brilliant piece from Daz Cat, with an awful lot more going on than the usual portrait of a cat that the artist usually serves up. Here we have a story ‘life’s not a race’ and it would seem that it was inspired by Daz Cat’s observations that some of the people around him are keen to grow up too quickly, or perhaps more quickly than he is. The tortoise is a common metaphor for such a commentary. Daz Cat considers this one of his best pieces to date, and I must say that I don’t disagree.
Larger than his more common portrait pieces, this story is framed nicely and contains an industrial (dark) backdrop, in front of which the cat (a self-portrait of sorts) sits contentedly and rather eccentrically on/in the back of a tortoise. The ski goggles are a nice touch and something Daz Cat has painted before. A classic piece from this young artist who recently has stepped up a level.
Natural adventures 