Category: 5. Street Art

2722. Brunel Way Bridge (27)

There is something very pleasing about this piece by Turoe One… it might be the simplicity of colours, the sharpness and crispness of the lines and fills or the form of the lettering – whatever it is, I know that I like it.

Turoe One, Brunel Way bridge, Bristol, January 2020
Turoe One, Brunel Way bridge, Bristol, January 2020

I think I have written about the arrow that appears on so much graffiti writing before, but I don’t recall coming to a conclusion. I am not sure if there is any significance to the arrow motif, or whether it is simply an aesthetically pleasing way to add interest to lettering. I know that as a kid I used to doodle block letters with arrows, but maybe it was influenced by ’70s graffiti – I simply don’t remember. Anyhow, I like a nice piiece with arrows, and Turoe One has delivered with this one.

2721. M32 roundabout J3 (193)

The tunnels around the M32 roundabout are a fabulous place to find graffiti art, especially some of the more rough or edgy stuff, but are a real pain to photograph. The tunnels are narrow, and the light conditions can be absolutely terrible, especially on a bright day, because of the variability of very light to very dark in only a few paces.

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020

It is all worth it though when you come across a piece like this one by Face 1st. The feature picture is the only one that has the piece in its totality and you can see the letters PWA mad up of a pencil, some paint and an ‘A’ on the spray can. PWA is the crew, Pirate Wall Art, that Face 1st, Soap and Sikoh belong to. There may be other members that I am less familiar with.

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020

The whole piece is a joyous celebration of street art and painted in an area where there is pretty much always a piece from this artist on display – a bit like the 24/7 screening of Star Trek somewhere around the globe. Nice work.

2720. St Werburghs tunnel (138)

In one of his favourite spots, Mr Klue has painted this bright and breezy piece as part of a 64 Dot Com collaboration with DNT and Mr Sleven. In this more than in other pieces you can see the letters KLUE if you look carefully, with the U and E being especially clear.

Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020
Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020

The abstract style so unique to this artist is soft and ephemeral and like a cloud looks like it might evaporate altogether at the slightest gust of wind. In this piece there is a return of some steps, a feature I always like in his work. Capping off the whole thing is a halo in yellow, which adds a touch of humour. A lovely piece.

2719. North Street

During last summer, when Mr Draws painted this beast, it was impossible to get any photographs of it at all because it was behind a whole bunch of large leafy shrubs. Summer has yielded to winter and the leaves on the tree have fallen and the Council gardeners have cleared the shrubs. The outcome is that this magnificent whale is now visible to the world.

Mr Draws, North Street, Bristol, January 2020
Mr Draws, North Street, Bristol, January 2020

This whale is not the first Mr Draws has painted, indeed he sprayed one around the same time at the Cheltenham Paint Festival. It is however a bit of a departure from his graffiti writing or his mountains. I like the piece very much, it has a certain solemnity and mystery about it. Glad to have captured it at last.

2718. Dean Lane skate park (275)

The turnover at Dean Lane is beginning to pick up and this wonderful piece of graffiti writing by Remer from earlier in the month has now gone. I haven’t seen anything by Remer in Bristol before and am guessing that he is a visitor to the city and in some way part of or related to the No Frills crew.

Remer, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2020
Remer, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2020

This writing is highly stylised and beautifully presented, combining both curved and straight lines to great effect. The fill is interesting, with a variety of shapes and blocks in complementary colours in two main shades. This is an accomplished piece nicely done, bith crisp and clean. Remer is always welcome to come back to Bristol.

2717. Dean Lane skate park (274)

Finding a piece that is not only from a new (to me) artist but is also rather different is always one of the great pleasures of being a graffiti hunter. On the famous curved wall at Dean Lane, this delightful portrait appeared a couple of weeks back. It is by artist Lucy Danielle who is a midlands-born Bristol-based illustrator and graffiti murallist. Although she has painted quite a few walls, I don’t think I have knowingly ever seen one before.

Lucy Danielle, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2020
Lucy Danielle, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2020

I understand that this is a portrait of her sister which is a really nice thing to do. Set on a black background, the face really stands out, and the additional decorations help the to fill the  space without distracting from the subject too much. Imagine how different the whole thing would look without the purple circle and yellow squiggles. I need to find some of her other work.

2716. Purdown HAA Battery (2)

Back to the battery, and this time a piece by Daz Cat painted back in August last year. This is a rather touching and gentle piece with the cat holding a little bird on its hand. I rather hope that this is a kind gesture rather than a hungry cat one.

Daz Cat, Purdown HAA Battery, Bristol, January 2020
Daz Cat, Purdown HAA Battery, Bristol, January 2020

The shadow on the piece fortunately doesn’t iterfere too much. Daz Cat’s work has really grown on me over the last couple of years, and I love the way he constructs the cat’s faces, this one in semi-profile, so the eyes are quite different. I love the signature mark above the nose that appears on all Daz Cats’ cats. More from this spot to come.

2715. St Werburghs tunnel (137)

It took me a while to get a clean shot of this wonderful piece by Subtle because on my first two visits there were cars parked immediately in front of it. I ask you… cars parking in the tunnel! what is the world coming to?

Subtle, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020
Subtle, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020

Anyhow on my third visit I managed to get some nice shots, although as always, the artificial light played havoc with my camera settings and I had to do a little bit of post-production work to try and convey the true magnificence of of the piece.

Subtle, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020
Subtle, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020

I understand Subtle has had a lay-off from painting walls following an accident, but he is well now which is great news, and he appears to be painting like there was no tomorrow. Two things I particularly like about this one is the skull and the drips, both beautifully crafted and enhancing the piece enormously. More to come.

2714. St Werburghs tunnel (136)

I don’t think I feature enough of Ryder’s work on Natural Adventures – there is no obvious reason for it, I guess the same could be said for any number of Bristol artists. I would think that for every piece that I post here there are probably two or three that never make it.

Ryder, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020
Ryder, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020

This particular offering is a simple chrome graffiti piece with trademark faces worked into the lettering. The chrome colour in the tunnel picks up all sorts of light bouncing around and it is difficult to believe the artist hasn’t used more than one colour. Altogether a nice one from one of Bristol’s best.

2713. Purdown HAA Battery (1)

I chose a glorious day for my first visit to Purdown HAA Battery where I managed to combine a sensational dog walk with Mrs Scooj and a quick tour of the street/graffiti art on the battery walls. Purdown HAA Battery itself was a Heavy Anti-Aircraft position that overlooks Bristol and that protected the city from bombing raids during WW2. You can find out a some more here. The dog is doing a bit of ‘bombing’ himself.

Slakarts, Purdown HAA Battery, Bristol, January 2020
Slakarts, Purdown HAA Battery, Bristol, January 2020

I knew that there was some art to be found here, but have simply never taken the time to go and take a look. What a silly boy I am. There is quite a lot to look at up there, some old stuff and some more recent like this magnificent face by Slakarts (it’s him again!). This is a lovely clean piece with a great selection of colours and plenty of wrinkles in the face to animate it. Worth the excursion.