It would appear that Awkward is going through a bit of a purple patch, having made only occasional appearances for several years, he is now painting regularly in the Deaner. This one was part of a wider collaboration, or at least it was painted at the same time as some other pieces on the wall.
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol September 2024
In Awkward, perhaps more than with other artists, we see a strong crossover between his art and music – perhaps Benjimagnetic could give him a run for for his money – and indeed Awkward promotes Sentinel793 (Benjimagnetic) in this piece. The two cartoon characters appear to be rather ghoulish, with empty eye-sockets that are connected by wisps of smoke. Nice work from Awkward, although it might not be to everyone’s taste.
Hypo has been on fire for a couple of years now, re-emerging during Covid, and keeping up a regular rhythm of fine graffiti writing that just seems to be getting better and better. His letters lend themselves to bilateral symmetry like those of Werm, but there the similarity of graffiti writing between the two artists ends.
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2024
The colours in this piece are its crowning glory. Set on a neutral cream background, the wildstyle letters ‘HYPO’ are festooned with a beautifully blended selection of rainbow colours that manage to remain reasonably subtle, and whilst a colourful piece it avoids being gaudy. Very fine work from a lovely graffiti writer.
I know very little about Omie, but in terms of artwork, I very much like what I see. Omie is a writer who varies their work to the extent that no two pieces are even remotely alike, and there isn’t an identifiable Omie ‘house’ style, indeed it is only the letters that provide a common thread to the portfolio.
Omie, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2024
I am very much looking forward to ‘harvesting’ enough photographs to be able to share a gallery of Omie’s eclectic collection. Black and yellow make good bedfellows, being Mother Natures warning colours, and Omie has combined the colours well in these letters and augmented them with some red spots, another of nature’s danger colours. The comment ‘rain sucks’ suggests a wet day, and this particular wall can start to run really badly in the wet. Nice work from Omie.
I wrote in a post recently that Zake appears to be at his happiest when he is collaborating with others, and here he is teaming up with Werm to create this integrated collaborative piece in the Deaner. Worm’s symmetrical writing has been somewhat disrupted by a mouthwatering (literally) cartoon portrait piece by Zake.
Zake and Werm, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
The colours are all a bit muted because I took the photograph in the late afternoon, and the wall was in the shade. Sometimes collaborations like this don’t work too well, because the elements don’t integrate very well, but in this instance I think the pair have done really well here and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Nice work.
One of the functions of Natural Adventures is to document contemporary street art and graffiti writing in Bristol, where I might differ from others who do what I do, is that I like to show the full spectrum of artists, and not only cherry-pick the high-end stuff. This way, readers get to see everything that goes on in the city, warts and all, rather than seeing it through rose-tinted spectacles. New and emerging artists play an important role in the street art culture of the city. Some will give up, while others will keep at it and improve and some will become celebrated artists in timer, and it is good to be able to trace their work back – Natural Adventures is a place where that can happen.
Roma, Greenbank, Bristol, September 2024
This piece is by Roma, whose work has been appearing from place to place all around Bristol. I am always a fan of red/green combinations, and Roma has thrown in some purples into the fills for good measure. ROMA are fine letters to work with, pleasing on the eye and easy to remember. While there is a rather nice drop shadow, it is interesting to note that there are no borders in this piece, which is unusual with writers. Personally, I quite like borderless pieces (my own personal prejudice, because I find them impossible to paint). The white highlights give the piece a little lift. Expect to see more from Roma
This is my 80th post from Purdown, but if I am honest, it feel like an awful lot more. Daz Cat seems to like it up here and the square format of the concrete blocks seems to suit his designs. It is always far more difficult for writers to fill a square space than for character artists.
Daz Cat, Purdown, Bristol, September 2024
Daz Cat has painted a cat (naturally) curled up in the square. The blue cat is wearing a fabulous orange striped shirt and shorts combination, and looks really rather cute. The cat is smiling and there is a good feeling all round about this piece. I will never tire of Daz Cats’ cats.
Fade, Pekoe and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024
Every once in a while I go back a month or two into my archives looking for pieces that get missed or overlooked but that deserve to be published on Natural Adventures. How I let this one pass me by I’ll never know, but it is a wonderful collaboration between Fade, Pekoe and Dibz.
Fade and Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024
Fade and Dibz paint this wall a lot, and I mean a lot, so it is really nice to see them hook up with Pekoe to collaborate with them. There is a strong spider theme coming across in the collaboration, and Fade’s letters have webs suspended from them and forming part of the fill. The dark letters are topped with a nice red colour for variation, and he has painted a tidy 3D drop shadow. Nice stuff from Fade.
Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024
Pekoe has painted a small portrait centrepiece between the two writers, of a woman with a red face and spider hair theme going on. I don’t know if this is a fictional Pekoe character or whether is is meant to be some kind of spider woman character, but it is nice and tight and beautifully presented (a rose between two thorns?)
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024
The Tryptich is completed with a fine example of wildstyle writing from Dibz, whose letter fills, decorations and colours reflect Fade’s on the other side. I would have liked to have known more about the spider theme, but my curiosity will have to remain unresolved until I next meet one of the artists. A nicely finished themed collaboration.
This is Mr Klue a little outside his comfort zone, painting at a location other than St Werburghs tunnel. It would seem that he was somehow persuaded to venture away from BS2 to join in the World Wall Stylers challenge ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’, and he has kept to the theme colours, although his writing isn’t especially on message.
Mr Klue, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024
Mr Klue’s writing can be difficult to read sometimes and you have to take it on trust that he usually writes KLUE, but in this piece it is much clearer and you can make out the letters quite easily. It is great to see that he has managed to get out into the sunlight before retreating to the comfort of his tunnel.
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