A gallery of fabulous toothy characters by CD.TC
Instagram: @cd.tc
All photographs by Scooj
CD.TC
Month: October 2023
5546. Eugene Street
It doesn’t really matter how many times you walk or drive around the city, there are always surprises lurking around the corner in unexplored pockets. I have skirted around Eugene Street many times before, but simply never noticed this little spot at the top end, where this piece by Merny is one of two or three by various artists occupying a short stretch of wall.
Merny has dated the piece, showing me up a little… it has only taken me two years to find it! He has painted a man clutching his phone with the words ‘it’s free to be nice – it’s nice to be free’. In writing this, Merny has knowingly or otherwise adopted a linguistic mechanism called a Chiasmus, which is one of my favourite constructions and wordplays. I have written about this before in Natural Adventures because it arises from time to time. An example I made up (as a potential for marketing The Times newspaper) was: ‘There’s no time like the present and no present like The Times’. Geddit?
There is extra fun when Merny’s philosophy is accompanied by his fabulous naive style. I have always admired and probably will always admire his work.
5545. M32 roundabout J3 (514)
I have spent the morning thus far cleaning up the moderate mess left behind after Miss Scooj’s 19th birthday party – a few friends over before clubbing. As any parent will be heard to say many times in their lives ‘where did all the time go?’. Feeling very old today.
Helping to keep me as young as I can be is the love I have for street/graffiti art, and far from being a bind, writing this blog keeps me inspired, invigorated and happy.
Benjimagnetic is keeping his work ticking over with the occasional piece here and there and this recent one on the M32 roundabout is a fairly calm and modest piece. Sometimes his work is busy and frenetic, but he has gone back to basics with this one. The letters spell out BEN, although perhaps somewhat disguised, with green fills and a skilfully worked yellow border/drop shadow. The vertical lines in purple and pinks add interest, without which the piece might be unexceptional. A lovely sober piece from Benjimagnetic.
5544. Dean Lane skate park (645)
Kosc seems to have slowed the pace right down recently, which probably reflects a busy time in his real life away from painting walls. It is great to see that there isn’t even the slightest drop in quality on his return, although in fairness, once an artist has reached a certain level, there is rarely a drop in quality unless constrained by time or paint.
The letters KOSC have an industrial, metallic sheet look, common to the artist’s pieces over the last couple of years, with occasional ‘rivets’ holding the sheet in place. Kosc has chosen some nice fills for the letters, some of which have spilled beyond the confines of the letters, giving the writing a slightly ethereal feel. Classy writing.
5543. Brunel Way (236)
It seems that every time I go down to Brunel Way, I will find Dibz and Fade happily redecorating the long south-facing wall under the main road. They were at it again this week with yet another imaginative co-production. This particular piece was painted a couple of weeks ago, and I caught up with them as they were nearing completion. Both artists, and Fade in particular (who has definitely bonded with my dog) are so generous with their time and happy for a chat.
I am pretty certain that the Yosemite Sam character was painted by Fade (he was putting on finishing touches). More obviously, the piece on the left is by Dibz and the one on the right by Fade.
When you look at the work of the two artists side-by-side, I feel that Dibz’ pieces are always a little more intricate and sharper, while Fade’s pieces have a slightly softer and gentle appearance. To me, it is baffling how each artist is able to create a style and tone that is replicable from piece to piece – these guys are amazing.
On the right is Fade’s contribution. Fade has really captured the colours of cartoons, and all of his pieces have that exciting glow about them, in this case created by a gorgeous golden 3D drop shadow. Yosemite Sam is a popular character with street artists and in this instance Fade has more than done it justice. Yet more to come from this pair.
5542. Purdown (61)
Certain artists have a little ‘je ne sais quoi’ that makes their work exciting and interesting and compelling for me, and one of them is Hiccup (Bloem). Her work is highly original and eye-catching. She is working hard to improve and tries out new ideas with each piece she paints. If what she has produced so far is anything to go by, she will be a leading light in the city.
The Purdown walls tend to be square and reasonably small, perfect for honing your skills. In this piece Hiccup (Bloem) has painted a torso with interlocked hands bearing shiny bright red nails. Notable is the texture and depth that she has managed to achieve in the garment. Her style is still a little crude, but at the same time quite sophisticated too, as her technique improves, so will her finishing. A final touch… the rings on the fingers spell out ACAB – (All Cops Are Bastards).
5541. Dean Lane skate park (664)
I am posting this piece by Andy Council out of sequence, having posted a piece he painted after this one, a week ago. You didn’t necessarily need to know that, but I feel better for being transparent and accurate.
I am not going to try and guess what kind of bird this is because I will probably get it wrong – I’ll leave you to decide for yourself. Andy Council’s ‘thing’ for gratings (or radiators) has come to the fore in this piece, with the upper part of the birds wings being made up of them. There is a strong mechanical/metallic look to the bird almost as if it is clockwork – you might expect to see a wind up key embedded somewhere. This is a clever way to occupy this low wall and expertly done in my view.
National Poetry Day
.
No pressure there then
when words are hard to come by
forced, inauthentic
.
by Scooj
Thursday doors – 5 October 2023
Doors 237 – Lincoln City doors (Part IX) – Leftovers (A)
Thank you for putting up with such a prolonged series of posts on Lincoln doors. This is the penultimate selection of doors from a trip to Lincoln in July this year and is a bit of a wash up. This set of doors are from different parts of the city and there is no central theme, they are simply doors that I liked and photographed. Nothing quirky, nothing particularly exciting, but I hope there is something for you to enjoy.
Next time will be the final post from Lincoln (I promise) and then on to doors from five locations in Italy, some doors from Cornwall, Cleethorpes and Exeter to follow. That’ll keep me going until Easter I would think. Have a great end of week and weekend.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
by Scooj
5540. Brunel Way (235)
I might have to do a round up of Klashwhensober’s work soon to mop up several unpublished pieces by the artist from the summer. He is so prolific, I would struggle to post each of his pieces separately. This one under Brunel Way is deserving of an individual post though.
The colour selection for each of the letters might indicate that this is a dregs piece, using up half-empty cans, something you see quite a lot of. Each letter from the word SOBER has an element of depth, created by shading either side of a ridge line. The ‘O’ in particular has an anamorphic quality to it. This is a nicely worked piece from Klashwhensober. He might have left the spot a little tidier after painting though.
Natural adventures 