February 2024 – Page 7 – Natural adventures

5807. St Mark’s Avenue (9)

Sako and Zake, St Mark’s Avenue, Bristol, January 2024

Photographing this piece in a narrow alley in Easton was never going to be easy. I had to remove (and replace) three heavy wheelie bins, just to get sight of the collaboration by Sako and Zake. There are other bits and bobs obscuring the piece, but I am an archivist, not a blooming street cleaner.

Sako and Zake, St Mark’s Avenue, Bristol, January 2024

I really enjoy Sako’s work, which has more than a hint of mystery and intrigue. Using his favoured blue and purple tints, he has created a gangway leading into a tunnel, with a giant hand emerging from the water and a tiny figure standing on a finger. Wistfully looking on is a profile portrait piece by Zake, which is quite unlike his more usual larger-than-life exaggerated cartoon portraits. A beautiful face and beautiful hair.

This is a fine collaboration from the pair of artists, and has left me wondering what it is all about. The sooner I get to meet Sako, the better.

5806. Greenbank (105)

Mr Crawls, Greenbank, Bristol, January 2024

Mr Crawls continues on his quest to delight Bristolians with his birds and monster birds all over the city. This smaller piece is on one of two that were presumably painted around the same time on the long hoarding at Greenbank.

The gull-like cartoon character looks rather charming with his sleepy eyes. I am guessing this was a quick one, as the white fill is a little on the thin side. The thick pink border does just enough to separate the bird from the busy background, without the need for buffing the wall. If Mr Crawls continues with his high volume of pieces, I might have to start grouping them into posts.

Routine drag

It doesn’t take long

to get sucked into routine

like you never left

by Scooj

5805. Dean Lane skate park (685)

Lee Roy, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2024

On one of my favourite walls is this slightly different piece by Lee Roy, spelling out VLAD. I am not sure if this is a one-off, or a new direction of travel, but I am guessing the former. This is a funny old wall really, sometimes a piece can last a month or two, and other times there may be half a dozen in a period of a few days. This one and its predecessor didn’t last long.

Lee Roy has worked this piece very nicely, set on a dramatic red background with yellow drops, his gold/grey/white fill is full of symbols and patterns that are commonly used in his and others’ work. Verging on anti-style, this is a great piece by Lee Roy.

5804. Cumberland Basin

Marckinetic, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2024

Marckinetic usually paints alongside his friend Kid Krishna, and so when the latter goes quiet, so does Marckinetic. Now that Kid Krishna has started firing on all cylinders again, Marckinetic has been out on at least two occasions recently.

This piece, painted in January, shows us just how original the artist’s style is. I believe that there is writing here, just not the way we are used to seeing it (there is a possibility the letters say MARC – CORRECTION – they spell out FFS (thank you Paul H)). The deep white shadows have a little bit of Acer One about them, but the ‘cosmic’ fills are all Marckinetic, and something of speciality. This is an unusual and very welcome piece in the vast spectrum of Bristol street/graffiti art.

5803. Greenbank (104)

Bnie, Pekoe and Evey, Greenbank, Bristol, January 2024

It is always a great pleasure to see any combination of RBF artists collaborating, and this is an early year beauty from Bnie, Pekoe and Evey. Unfortunately the photographs are a bit rubbish on account of tree shadows cast on the wall by a low winter sun. Fortunately, the girls declare that ‘2024 is going to be sexy AF’.

Bnie starts the triptych, writing her letters with a certain amount of expression, and looking wonderfully free. The clever drop shadow appears to surround the letters as well as giving them depth. Bnie has used a three shade fill which is topped off with some darker bubbly shapes. A very nice piece of writing indeed.

There is something very different from Pekoe in the middle of the collaboration, which features a smartly dressed woman with a fancy green and yellow scarf wrapped around her neck. It is quite unusual for Pekoe to paint full (or even half) body characters, and it will be interesting to see if this is something she continues with this year.

Rounding off on the right is some tidy bubble writing from Evey, with a rather saucy ‘V’. Her fills are very nicely worked and the flow of colours through the letters are most enjoyable. I am not too sure about the drop shadow, which doesn’t quite hit the mark for me. Certainly a great start to the year though. I am looking forward to a whole lot more from RBF in 2024.

5802. Dean Lane skate park (684)

I am back home now, after a lovely week away in the French Alps. I have just about managed to keep my posts going over the last week, with a few glitches along the way, however, things should start to return to normal, once I get back into a routine. This piece is by Bean who was back in Bristol over the Christmas break.

In my view, Bean has excelled with this piece which is both beautifully designed and executed, with a sharpness to it that shows off his can control skills. The character work, painted in duo-tone for each colour element, is fabulous, with some interesting 3D blocks in the facial hair. I expect to see more from bean around Easter time.

5801. St Werburghs tunnel (403)

Silent Hobo and Mr Riks, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2024

Flying out of Grenoble today, so no time to write much about this magnificent collaboration from Silent Hobo and Mr Riks. The former has been rather quiet on the streets of late, but the former a little more busy than usual. A classy collaborative effort, with some contemporary commentary thrown in for good measure.

5800. L Dub (51)

There are three or four artists who fairly regularly paint in L Dub, and one of them is Donz. His work is always original and often showcases the artist’s good eye for great colour combinations. This piece on the wall of the water company pumping station is a cracker.

Although I haven’t seen a huge number of Donz’ pieces, I consider this to be the best I have photographed. The letters spell DONZ, in a style that is verging on anamorphic, with a clever use of colour and shade to produce huge depth in the letters. This is a much more than decent piece from Donz.

Grenoble Airport

Mind boggling chaos

assistance invisible

not fit for purpose

by Scooj

	M. on 7400. St Werburghs tunnel…
	skat on Winter afternoon
	Cethru Cellophane on 7400. St Werburghs tunnel…
	paulh121 on Sands
	M. on 7398. Peel Street Green (…

	M. on 7400. St Werburghs tunnel…
	skat on Winter afternoon
	Cethru Cellophane on 7400. St Werburghs tunnel…
	paulh121 on Sands
	M. on 7398. Peel Street Green (…

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