There isn’t an awful lot more that I can say about the work of Soker that I haven’t already said in multiple previous posts. This one is uncomplicated but so utterly on point.
This is a fantastic piece of writing, with well proportioned letter shapes, fabulously subtle shade progressions in the fills and a nice mauve bubble background. Perfection from Soker.
Here are a couple more small stencils from John D’oh over in the St George skate park, which is a spot that he likes to paint on a reasonably regular basis. The first piece leans very heavily on a famous Banksy ‘sandwich-board chimp’, with a different message – ‘Monkey pox… not laughing now are you’, picking up on the increasing number of cases of the virus in the UK. As always, topical and on the ball.
The second stencil is a visual/verbal pun in which John D’oh conflates a Rocky quote and image, with an image of a chicken from the film Chicken Run. The quote is – ‘One run can change your day, many runs can change your life’. All a bit of fun.
Liz Truss – our new (fourth horseman of the apocalypse) Prime Minister has gifted John D’oh with years worth of satirical material by appointing one of the least moderate, most right wing, inexperienced, ideological Cabinets ever. She will break this country, but at least her mates will have top jobs supporting her with her destruction.
I could go on for hours about just how bad things are, but I think I will keep my powder dry for when things start to unravel. Unfortunately, by then it might be too late for the poorest in our society.
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Cabinet of chums
experience not required
favours and kickbacks
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by Scooj
Correction: I have since found out, from Zed in the Clouds, that this character was actually painted by his friend Morph. The writing by Zed was actually to the left of the character. We all make mistakes.
I am utterly baffled that this is only the second piece by Zed in the Clouds that I have published on Natural Adventures, which is in no way representative of the number of pictures I have taken of his work, nor the quality of it. I can’t think why he has been squeezed out, and I will definitely have to do something about the situation.
This is a nice clean cartoon character piece featuring a young man in a relaxed meditation pose, wearing what looks like a helmet with a pink visor. I like the simplicity of the piece, but also the attention to detail, such as the creases on his t-shirt accompanied by subtle darker shading. Watch this space for more from Zed in the Clouds.
There are few things more tempting for graffiti and street artists than a newly buffed wall, and this one from a week or two back was an open invitation. The tragedy is that the walls are buffed by people as part of a community service order, as punishment for crimes not serious enough to warrant custody. Their work is pointless, and frankly a waste of paint, but nice prep for artists.
Quick to take advantage of the backdrop was Merny with this portrait piece including his trademark dot labels. The colours are rather striking and as such the piece grabs your attention. I rather like it, but from conversations with Merny, it would seem he isn’t that impressed with it. In case you missed it, I published a gallery of Merny’s work yesterday, and you can see it here.
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Back to the hard grind
my mind drifts to holidays
and a dragonfly
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by Scooj
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Sauron #ThickLizzie
unleashes hoards from Mordor
prepare for battle
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by Scooj
The writing says MOTEL, don’t ask me why, but it is an interesting word to choose – perhaps it gives options for some good letter shapes. The artist has one of the best names on the scene – Dog Bless the Band – again don’t ask me where that comes from, sometimes it is better not to know these things as it takes away the mystery.
One of the things that is consistent with all the Dog Bless the Band pieces that I have seen is the complex fills in muted tones. These subtle patterns are a refreshing change from the often brash shapes and colours that most fills are made of. I like to think of these fills by Dog Bless the Band as ‘muddy’ but in a good way, if that makes sense. I always love finding his special and unique work.
I have not posted many pieces from The Paintworks wall, which is a bit of a shame really, so I will try to change that if I can. This is a very nice abstract piece from Billy, full of colour and character, as you would expect from the artist. The wall is a little bit grubby, which suggests that the piece has been here for some while.
Billy always manages to create uplifting work, and the combinations of shapes and colours carefully slung together in this piece work well for me. The other thing I like about this piece is that it is nicely framed with a black border that helps us to focus on the art within it.
A gallery of brilliant work from Bristol street artist and illustrator Merny (Morny)
Instagram: @mernywernz
all photographs by Scooj
Natural adventures 