My oh my! Nick Harvey, who paints his street art under the name Kin Dose, has created something very special indeed for Upfest’s Summer Editions project. Although it is a pity that there is no festival this year, there has been ample compensation in the form of these ‘special’ pieces spread across the city, with more to come over the summer.
I knew that Kin Dose was painting a piece, so took the opportunity to go down and watch him work for a while. I have been an admirer of his work for a few years now, ever since I first became aware of him – it was his cat with black eyes at the Carriageworks that first captivated me. It is so good to be able to watch an artist at work and Kin Dose was sketching out the piece the first time I saw it. I asked him quite a few questions (probably too many) and was able to find out quite a lot about him and his work.
He came to Bristol a few years ago and had been known as both Kin and Dose, so combined both to give him his current street name. He used to do a lot of stencils, but said he has become a bit tired of them and no longer enjoys the fiddly cutting element of the technique. Recently he has been doing a lot more photorealistic stuff, and this one must surely be the jewel in the crown.
He explained that he perfected his technique through using air brushes to create these photorealistic pieces, and he also uses a lot of cardboard cut out shapes to mask areas and create sharp, clean lines. I asked if that was cheating and he said absolutely not, which made me feel a lot better, because I have been using card to create straight lines on my own rudimentary efforts.
The piece took about five or six days to complete, and it is amazing to see how a sketched out blur can turn into something quite magnificent. The piece is almost two paintings in one, the girl’s face and the tiger brought together on a cosmic backdrop.
I’m not too sure what the piece is telling us, but I suspect it is something to do with a connection with nature. The tiger’s head is really stunning and holds a captivating expression. His technique is remarkable, it is almost impossible to understand how he gets such fine detail into the fur and whiskers.
Another triumph for Upfest, and anotherr great addition to Kin Dose’s impressive portfolio.
