5929. Dean Lane skate park (701)

Kid Crayon and SPZero76, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
Kid Crayon and SPZero76, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024

What an absolute pleasure to see SPZero76 and Kid Crayon teaming up this spring to bring us some more EAT Crew joy. This is a fabulous collaboration celebrating the Terminator film franchise, painted in the styles of the two artists, but remaining reasonably honest to the film’s characters. The middle ‘liquid metal’ section spells out EAT.

Kid Crayon, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
Kid Crayon, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024

On the left, is a brilliant rendition of a terminator robot by Kid Crayon, complete with smoking gun. The dystopian future character is menacing enough, although Kid Crayon’s soft edge style takes some of the heat out of the menace. There is some great detail in the mechanical workings of the robot, and the whole thing is finished really nicely.

SPZero76, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
SPZero76, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024

To the right, SPZero76 adds his own twist to the motorcycle-riding Schwarzenegger character, with the inclusion of a couple of racoons that tend to frequent his pieces. There is movement and drama in the piece, which is clean and sharp, just as you’d expect to see from SPZero76.

Kid Crayon and SPZero76, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
Kid Crayon and SPZero76, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024

All in all, it is just to see these two collaborating again, and I sincerely hope that they manage to do so more frequently this year than last. I’ll be back!

5928. Cumberland Basin

Laic217, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2024
Laic217, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2024

Once again, Laic217 seems to be pushing the envelope with his work, most recently with this unusual piece in the little tunnel at Cumberland Basin. Although the fingers of thee character are a little bony, there isn’t a skull or skeleton in sight.

Laic217, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2024
Laic217, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2024

The way that this piece has been painted, it almost loos like oils on a canvass, slapped on in layers. Laic217 has worked cleverly to achieve depth in perspective, but also depth in textures through his use of dark and shade. I don’t know what the arrow represents, but it looks great. It is a nice touch to with the letters LAIC tattooed onto the fingers. Classy stuff.

5927. St Werburghs tunnel (416)

Mr Draws, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2024
Mr Draws, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2024

I haven’t been posting nearly enough pieces by Mr Draws as I ought to have done, especially as I consider him to be one of a small band of artists who represent the beating heart of the Bristol street art scene. My archive is full of unposted work by Mr Draws, and I might have to do a trawl and put them all into one post.

Mr Draws, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2024
Mr Draws, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2024

This recent piece from the tunnel is really typical of his work. Some nice big letters, filled with a camouflage pattern and colour palette bounded by a thin yellow border. There are some nice white highlights with drips for good measure. A cracking piece from an artist who just keeps on plugging away.

5926. M32 Cycle path (257)

Sepr, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, March 2024
Sepr, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, March 2024

I haven’t managed to catch up with Sepr for an eternity, so it was so good to be in the right place at the right time and find not only Sepr but also Inkie and Haka painting this spot together a week or two back. I was surprised to see them painting on this wall behind the Black Swan because, Haka aside, this is not a spot that you’d expect to find their work.

Sepr, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, March 2024
Sepr, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, March 2024

I asked Sepr if he works to a drawing or comes up with his designs in his head and freestyles them. He immediately pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and showed me his design for this piece – he said he keeps all his designs, which is amazing. I guess he may use some of them for tattoos. In this piece a fox or cat is juggling batons with his tongue while a from looks on from the safety of his trilby. A crazy scene perfectly presented with incredible sharpness and style. This piece is sheer class from my favourite character artist. Wonderful.

5925. Manchester, Northern Quarter

LostHills, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024
LostHills, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024

I wanted to make sure I posted a few more pieces from Manchester before moving on and losing them in my archive. As I have said many times before, I would think that 60% or so of all the street art I find and photograph never gets published on Natural Adventures, and my backlog now spans almost ten years. I try to find ways to upload as much as I can, but it is difficult, especially as I like to write a little about each piece.

I am going to break from tradition a little with this post, and present it as a gallery of wonderful paste ups from LostHills and portrait pieces by Ethan Lemon and Frodrik.

Back to normal for my next post.

LostHills, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024
LostHills, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024
LostHills, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024
LostHills, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024
LostHills, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024
LostHills, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024
Ethan Lemon, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024
Ethan Lemon, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024
Ethan Lemon, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024
Ethan Lemon, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024
Ethan Lemon and Fredrik, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024
Ethan Lemon and Frodrik, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024

5924. M32 roundabout J3 (562)

Elvs and Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024
Elvs and Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024

This is a wonderful collaboration from two brilliant artists, Elvs and Rusk. I’m not sure I have seen these two painting together since Upfest 22, so this came as a very nice surprise indeed. Elvs has had quite a quiet year painting in Bristol and I would like to think (hope) that this piece signals a few more visits for 2024. Elvs’ writing is so incredibly unique and recognisable – I don’t think that I know of anyone that writes large block letters etched out with thin black lines in this way. Fine writing.

Elvs and Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024
Elvs and Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024

I would say that Rusk is better known for his writing or writing/character combination pieces, so this ghetto blaster hip-hop character is something of a rarity. The old-school style character has all the hallmarks of street art/hip hop culture and Rusk carries it off brilliantly. A rather nice silhouette of an urban skyline polished the collaboration off nicely. Great collaboration.

5923. Nottingham

Kid30, Nottingham, March 2024
Kid30, Nottingham, March 2024

I have made two visits to Nottingham in the last six months or so, but only found this shutter piece opposite the station, by Kid 30 on the second trip. On the first visit, the shutter had been up. Sometimes visiting city centres on Sundays or light mornings/evenings is the only way to see shutter pieces – I caught this one early in the morning before the shop had opened.

Kid30, Nottingham, March 2024
Kid30, Nottingham, March 2024

In this mash-up piece, Kid 30 has combined the cartoon characters of Cat in the Hat, Homer Simpson (I think), The Pink Panther and Top Cat, seamlessly stitched together in an entertaining way. I am a big fan of Kid 30’s work and would love to see him paint at Upfest again, and perhaps get a chance to meet him and talk about his work.

5922. Nottingham

Kid30, Nottingham, March 2024
Kid30, Nottingham, March 2024

This is a quick jaunt back to Nottingham and my most recent visit, when I managed to get out and find a few more pieces, including this beauty from Kid 30, who appears to ‘own’ the city, his work being dotted all around the city.

Kid30, Nottingham, March 2024
Kid30, Nottingham, March 2024

The large mural (painted in June 2022) covers the entire end of row wall and features a rather attractive skyscape, and a mash up of Dennis the Menace, and Kid 30’s alter ego ‘Smallkid’. There is something about the size of the piece and its relative simplicity that adds gravitas to the piece. I love it when street artists who paint loads of illegal pieces get to do a legal wall like this as it somehow legitimises their work, and compromises the authorities. My subversive streak emerging there. More from Kid 30 tomorrow.

5921. Sparke Evans Park (91)

Wispa, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2024
Wispa, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2024

This beauty from Wispa is another fine piece from an RBF paint jam in Sparke Evans Park at the end of February. Unfortunately, there are several unpublished pieces from this wall and I simply don’t know where I’m going to find the time to post them. I felt that this one from Wispa was worth prioritising.

Wispa, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2024
Wispa, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2024

As ever, Wispa’s writing is exceptional, and she embraced the paint jam theme by incorporation this magnificent Pokémon character, Vaporeon. I love the way that Wispa drifts in and out of Bristol tantalising us with her exceptional talent, and keeping us interested. Although her pieces are occasional, they are always welcome.

5920. River Avon (59)

This piece really made me laugh, taking the brilliant partnership between Mr Crawls and Mote into new territory in this rendition of a couple of fish monsters. Their work is always fun and usually tinged with a touch of humour that brings a smile to your face.

Mr Crawls, River Avon, Bristol, February 2024
Mr Crawls, River Avon, Bristol, February 2024

This is one of those collaborative pieces from the pair, where their influence on one another makes it quite difficult to know who painted which character. There are some tell-tale signs that give each of the artists away, and the yellow anglerfish is by Mr Crawls, and an absolute beauty.

Mote, River Avon, Bristol, February 2024
Mote, River Avon, Bristol, February 2024

The fish monster is by Mote, and consistent with so many of his characters in his vast portfolio. The fill patterning, and little hashtag symbol on the edge of the monster’s mouth give him away. This is a wonderful collaboration from the pair, which took me quite a while to hunt down. Well worth being persistent in my search.