5741. Dean Lane skate park (674)

Ryder, Inkie and Mr Riks, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2023
Ryder, Inkie and Mr Riks, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2023

When Inkie is in town, he will often get together with friends and paint a collaborative wall, and often it is this one in Dean Lane. On this occasion he got together with Ryder and Mr Riks, which is not a trio of artists that would ordinarily spring to mind, but the street art scene is always full of surprises.

Ryder, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2023
Ryder, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2023

Ryder doesn’t paint at Dean Lane all that often, but he has smashed it with this rather condensed burner painted in orange and grey. The RYDER letters are nicely worked, with the orange bleeding out into the background at the top of some of them. The colour palette which includes a dark blue and black isn’t one that I would instinctively chose, but works incredibly well in this striking piece of graffiti writing.

Inkie, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2023
Inkie, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2023

Most of the time, you pretty much know what you are going to get from Inkie, and this chrome piece delivers in bucket-loads. Great design and precision are trademarks from the gentle giant, who is probably one of Bristol’s most famous street artists after Banksy, alongside Nick Walker and Cheo. Inkie has such a distinctive style, that I reckon he could write any combination of letters and it would be easy to identify.

Mr Riks, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2023
Mr Riks, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2023

To the right, another artist with a distinctive style, Mr Riks, has gone for this colourful piece, which is full of energy and joy. Although, not the focal point of the piece, the cartoon eyes are irresistible and draw attention. Great fills and a wonderful drop shadow, this is a fine piece of graffiti writing from Mr Riks.

This collaborative wall brings together three graffiti writers, each with very strong and distinctive styles, opting to paint in colours of their choice, making it a loose collaboration – more like three friends painting a wall together, without a theme or agenda. Great stuff.

Snow report

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Obsessive checking

snow reports for Alpe d’Huez

unbearable wait

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by Scooj

5740. Cumberland Basin

Laic217, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2023
Laic217, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2023

All in all, 2023 was a very good year for Laic217, with 18 pieces featured in Natural Adventures, some of which I would rate as his best pieces to date. This piece features a skull character wearing a devil mask, I mean why not? I also got lucky that I photographed it on an overcast day, as this wall can be very tricky to capture when the sun is out.

Laic217, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2023
Laic217, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2023

Everything you’d expect to find from a classy Laic217 piece is here… the skull, something of the grotesque and threatening, the devil mask which is suspended by a gold chain, a bucket hat and of course outstanding folds in the fabric of the characters’ clothes. You can see a large gallery of Laic217’s magnificent work here.

5739. St Werburghs tunnel (395)

Sako, Face 1st and Zake, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2023
Sako, Face 1st and Zake, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2023

This PWA collaboration as taken me an eternity to post, mainly because it was sited in the middle of the tunnel and the conditions for photography there are atrocious. These pictures were my third attempt to capture the wonderful work by Sako, Face 1st and Zake.

Sako, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2023
Sako, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2023

On the left is a wonderful piece by Sako, who is beginning to make a bit of a name for himself. This piece is telling a wonderful story which seems to represent a made-up mythology of higher beings and the communities around them. The central character (a God?) is collecting poppy heads, which appear to be represented in the landscape behind him. There is a lot to interpret here, thanks to the quality of artwork, and I hope one day to meet Sako to get some insight to what this all might mean.

Face 1st, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2023
Face 1st, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2023

In the middle, Face 1st has some interesting faces that are in different stages of decomposition, or so it would seem, with the two on the right dipping with brains and blood. I don’t know what this tells us about the inner workings of the artist’s mind, but it surely tells us something. There is a nice shout-out to Soap, Chill and Sikoh, PWA members unable to paint on the day.

Zake, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2023
Zake, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2023

On the right is a striking portrait by Zake, which, although eye-catching, doesn’t quite work for me. I am not really understanding the shading around the eyes and into the hair. The character is obviously top-lit, highlighted by the orange shading on the ears, nose and eyebrows, but I can’t unsee a mask around the eyes. Nonetheless, as I said before, the piece is striking and interesting.

Beard

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It’s a control thing

powerless and impotent

the beard, it’s all mine

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by Scooj

5738. River Avon (56)

Mena, River Avon, Bristol, December 2023
Mena, River Avon, Bristol, December 2023

It has been a while since I last posted a piece by Mena, and in fact, I think that she is rather underrepresented on Natural Adventures overall. I am sure that I have several photographs of her pieces in my archives that I never posted, which feels kind of wrong really and I am minded to do something about it when I find the time.

Mena, River Avon, Bristol, December 2023
Mena, River Avon, Bristol, December 2023

It would be quite easy to walk past this piece and dismiss it, but that would be quite wrong. This is classy writing of the highest level. Great letters, with a nicely worked drop shadow and a brilliant and intricate fill pattern that runs throughout. The icing on the cake is the brilliant white accents to the right of the letters helping the piece to pop from the wall. This is great stuff from Mena.

5737. Dean Lane skate park (673)

Mr Crawls and Mote, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2023
Mr Crawls and Mote, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2023

Well, they’ve been at it again, and I love it. Mote and Mr Crawls seem to be enjoying their collaborative outings, and not content with picking a single spot, they have been painting together all over the city. This piece in Dean Lane is tucked away between the railings and the swimming pool, and not the easiest to photograph.

Mr Crawls and Mote, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2023
Mr Crawls and Mote, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2023

The collaboration has a slightly gory story to it, with an axe embedded in each of the characters and blood spurting from the wounds. Mr Crawls’ bird character has a slightly sinister look to it, I think it might be the eyes, and has a beak that looks like it might belong to a seabird like an albatross or something. Mote has reverted to one of his happy-go-lucky monster characters, although the axe would looks particularly nasty piercing one of his eyes. All a little bit weird. Plenty more from these two to come.

5736. St Werburghs tunnel (394)

Mr Devas, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2023
Mr Devas, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2023

While I know of Mr Devas, the artist who painted this graffiti writing in the tunnel, I have a feeling that this is the first time I have ever posted a piece by him on Natural Adventures. This tells me that he is an occasional visitor to Bristol and not a regular.

Mr Devas, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2023
Mr Devas, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2023

The writing spells out DEVAS and reminds me a little of Javiceus’ writing style and colours. The interlocking letters in blue and pink (the memorable colours of 2023) are nicely thought out and beautifully painted, supported by a classy 3D drop shadow in black. Nice work – I’ll have to see if I have other pieces by Mr Devas in my archive.

5735. M32 roundabout J3 (540)

Pekoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2023
Pekoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2023

Happy New Year. I am thrilled to start the year with this magnificent portrait piece that Pekoe painted during an RBF paint jam organised to celebrate her birthday. I can only say that she smashed it with this outstanding portrait painted in her own unique style.

Pekoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2023
Pekoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2023

As with so many of Pekoe’s portraits there are three key elements that combine so well in her work, and they are the face, the hair and the decoration. In this piece, the face is beautiful, with eyes glancing left, a delicate nose, a mouth with gold markings and an ear with plenty of piercings. The hair is brilliant, tied up in bunches and the decoration in gold surrounds the portrait with leaves and peace symbols. A truly wonderful piece from Pekoe.

Beach walk

West Wittering, West Sussex, 1 January 2024
West Wittering, West Sussex, 1 January 2024

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A New Year’s Day stroll

a sense of optimism

while dogs simply play

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by Scooj

Happy dog, West Wittering, West Sussex, 1 January 2024
Happy dog, West Wittering, West Sussex, 1 January 2024