.
King’s Cross train in five
I’m in St Pancras station
an ungainly sprint
.
by Scooj
5336. M32 roundabout J3 (487)
Background noise. I have only recently become consciously aware of Noise and his rather distinctive style of writing. I have a few of his pieces in my archive, but until now didn’t know much about him, and actually still don’t apart from his name. Noise has been a presence in Bristol, but somehow I just haven’t picked him up on my radar.
Noise’s writing style is not only accomplished, but rather easier on the eye than some writers. His letters are large, rounded and distinctive, and share a quality with Dopes’ letters. The fills here are beautifully done and create a kind of shiny surface effect. This may be the first, but certainly won’t be the last piece by Noise to appear on Natural Adventures.
5335. M32 roundabout J3 (486)
Kid Krishna has had a quiet couple of weeks, which means that I can catch up on some of his pieces, although there is so much happening at the moment, it is never easy to catch up on anything. This is a bright, happy piece from Kid Krishna, featuring elements of the Wizard from Vaughn Bode.
I can’t really express how good I believe this piece to be. It is clean, tight, cryptic and joyful, and since Kid Krishna appeared on the Bristol scene about 18 months ago, he has been turning out pieces like this one with extraordinary regularity, and in doing so, really pushed the boundaries with his unconventional style.
5334. St John’s Lane (3)
The paint jam on the new hoardings on St John’s Lane turned out some very special pieces, including this gorgeous writing from Rusk. Before posting it, I really ought to have gone back and photographed it without the mottled light on it, but I am both lazy and impatient, so have decided to post it warts and all.
Rusk has been turning out this very special ribbon-style writing for little while now, and I have to say that I definitely like it. It is almost like a transition between flat wild style and anamorphic style, having plenty of three dimensional depth to the letters sitting on a flat background. Great colours, great letters spelling RISKY beautifully presented and finished.
5333. Cumberland Basin
I am very pressed for time this morning, so this is a bit of a quick one. There were actually four pieces in this collaborative wall, but these three were more familiar to me and formed part of a set, with the fourth having a slightly different feel to it. The three artists, well known to regular readers are Daz Cat, Werm and Kool Hand.
To the left of the three is a rather cool rabbit character, or long-eared cat, sitting cross-legged and striking something approaching a yoga pose. What you don’t get from this picture is the scale of the piece which is probably 9ft tall, I know this because I painted something immediately to the left, which was dwarfed by it.
In the middle is another stunner from Werm, who is getting his style sorted with his small letters and expanding decorative extensions. He has consistently been one of the most productive artists on the streets for quite some time , and rarely disappoints.
On the right, Kool Hand has painted one of his customary character/writing combinations in his soft curvy style. The toothy dog is leaning on the letters, and both elements are nicely highlighted with white dots which offer depth to the piece. Altogether a nicely colour coordinated triptych from the trio.
5332. Brunel Way (212)
This was my third attempt at photographing this fine collaboration from Lee Roy and Waste, under Brunel Way, because of the rather irritating light and shadow that is cast on sunny days from the left. I got there in the end. I was lucky enough to be there when the artists were painting the piece and I got to meet Lee Roy for the first time, and what a genuinely lovely person he is – we chatted plenty.
The collaborative wall is clever in that each side is a reversed-out colour version of the other, and how different they look, using the same powerful pink and black colour scheme. Lee Roy talked to me about his rather free style and said that he used to write really tight letters, in a more traditional graffiti manner, but that he found it increasingly unenjoyable, striving for perfection and instead has adopted a more liberated style, tending towards anti-style. He certainly seems to be happy with his current work, and has been churning out pieces at a terrific rate so far this year.
I don’t know much about Waste, other than that he is a friend of Lee Roy’s from out of town. I forget where… Cardiff? Swindon? I should have made a note. I like this piece a lot, and note that Waste has made things easy for himself, using the ‘tram-lines’ in the wall to keep his letters regular. All in all a very nice collaborative wall, which fortunately remained undogged long enough for me to get some decent photographs.
5331. Dean Lane skate park (613)
One of the first street artists/graffiti writers I met, way back, was Jee See, while he was painting a column under the M32 motorway. He was really happy to talk about his work and was very welcoming, giving me the confidence to keep going with my blog.
This ‘seismic’ piece on the famous curved wall in Dean Lane makes me laugh, because it illustrates the importance of bringing a ladder or finding something to stand on when painting tall walls. Jee See’s familiar block letters with 3D drop shadows diverging halfway through the piece have been a steady feature of the street art scene for some years, although he doesn’t appear to paint all that often these days. The piece presents well, with white letters on a black background – nice and simple.
5330. Dean Lane skate park (612)
Corupt is another of the Bristol stalwarts, whose work is consistently on-point and pleasing to the eye. This vibrant yellow piece spelling out STICK (one of two monikers the artist uses) is painted on one of the smaller ramps in the Dean Lane skate park.
What I particularly like about this piece is that when I photographed it, it was still quite fresh. Skate park ramp artwork usually deteriorates reasonably quickly for obvious reasons, and it is unusual to find pieces in good condition. There is nothing flashy or pretentious about this piece, and yet it still packs a punch and makes an impression.
5329. Brunel Way (211)
There is no doubt about it, Mote is in a very rich vein of form, not only with productivity, but also with his series of bird monsters, which appear to have inspired him greatly, and which I must say are rather appealing. I also like the way that Mote has grown the range of formats, from thin columns to squares to landscape orientation.
Mote has drawn on nature itself, recognising the delineation between a bird’s face and the rest of its plumage, more apparent in some species than in others, for example parrots and vultures. There is some interesting fill work in the two halves of green, reversing the drip colours, and some of the drips falling out of the monster’s face and on to the floor. I have loads more to post from Mote, just from June, let alone pieces that are loitering in my archive.
5328. M32 roundabout J3 (485)
I have said many times before on Natural Adventures that it is always a great pleasure to welcome new artists, and over the last year or so there have been an incredible number of new entrants onto the scene. One of the latest to showcase her work is Hiccup, a Bristol artist, nail artist and creator of hand-crafted jewellery.
This is a nicely worked piece of a hand holding an old brick cell phone – I had one like it for many years. The letters ACAB (All Cops are Bast**ds) appear in the display – a common motif for street artists. Nails feature prominently, which perhaps comes as no surprise. A nice piece, with plenty more to come, I hope.
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