There is something perfect about this picture, and it is one I like very much. It was taken on our first day of exploring Porto while we were just finding our bearings. I don’t know who the artist is, but his charming monster character reminds me a lot of Mote’s work in Bristol.
The framing of the piece is what makes it so appealing, and while it isn’t exactly the best piece of street art you’ll ever see, it is highly memorable and simply good fun.
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W T actual F
those who support the liar
are worse than he is
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by Scooj
You might recall that almost two weeks ago I posted a piece by Whysayit, commenting that I haven’t seen much of his work in recent years. It would seem that he is becoming a little more active, and this is one of two pieces by the artist on the Bristol to Bath cycle track at Greenbank.
Whysayit has a very organic style, spelling out YSAE, with letters that look like they have been squeezed out of a tube. The colour combination is a bit iffy in my view, with a solid, pale sandy yellow for the letters and a turquoise blue for the deep shadow. Yellow and red colours have been splashed in for letter shadows and drips. This is an interesting piece that has elements of Miro or Tanguy in it. I’ll be on the look out for more from Whysayit.
Conrico has a fabulous touch. His work often looks more like a brush painting than one created with a spray can. I know he uses banana caps a fair amount, because he told me, and he gave me one once to try at home, and these might help with the level of detail he achieves.
The partially submerged turtle, swimming through foamy waves is beautifully painted, in particular the well observed colourful scales of the shell. I would consider Conrico to be a true artist who has obvious talent and has managed to upscale his work onto larger canvasses really successfully. A fine piece.
Doors 189 – Porto doors (Part 3)
I was inspired by Dan Anton’s post last week in which he showed off doors from fire and rescue service vehicles which provided an opportunity to enjoy both the doors and the vehicles, many of which are so incredibly different to the ones we have here in the UK.
The highlight of my trip to Porto with my daughter at the beginning of June, turned out to be our trips in the old trams, three routes of which continue to run today, Lines 1, 18 and 22. Work on the tram network began in 1872, with lines running throughout the city, but these were reduced to only three in the 1960s and 1970s. The three ‘heritage’ lines run all-day services and Line 1 runs from the city centre waterfront along the river to the seaside district of Foz.
There was something very comforting about riding on these rickety old trams with their wooden double-ended single carriages finished with beautiful fittings. The driver’s consoles with a wooden dashboard and brass handles were a sight to behold. Anyone who is interested in ‘old stuff'”, would have been in heaven – I certainly was. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to visit the old tram museum, but it is something to look forward to if ever I return to this beautiful city.
These pictures of the trams, most but not all, with doors – the compartment doors are open, but they are there if you look carefully – should give you a sense of how special they are. I hope you enjoy them, if even only a fraction as much as I did:
So on a momentous day when our dreadful Prime Minister at last decides to resign, I will love you and leave you and raise a glass to better fortunes.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
by Scooj
On my tours of different spots around Bristol, I have bumped into Mote several times now, and each time it has been a genuine pleasure to converse with him. I am really enjoying his solid fill monsters, each quite different from the last. It is always good to see an artist turn out variations of an idea instead of perfecting an idea, although both approaches are completely ok.
These two monsters are lurking behind a scooter stop, which I actually feel adds to the overall composition. It is as if they are looking after the scooters, and almost feels like a deliberate coming together, and the red colours match so well. I like the cartoon style that Mote uses that has the faintest touch of Gerald Scarfe about it – probably those swirly lines.
A quick one today – there is a lot going on in the real world – it is not every day that the worst Prime Minister ever resigns, and it felt for a little while late night that he never would.
Zake has been on fire this year, and due to his productivity rate, some of his pieces have been painted over by the time I have got to them. I got to this one in time, at least.
This piece is a fairly typical Zake face with all the fabulous touches he brings to the shadows of the face, giving the whole thing depth and a 3D quality. I suspect that this was rather a ‘quick one’ but nicely finished nonetheless.
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Kicking and screaming
immature baby Johnson
Refusing to go
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by Scooj
Anyone who reads these posts regularly will know that I consider Dibz to be one of the best wildstyle writers, in Bristol and indeed in the country. In this outstanding piece in Dean Lane he has combined his talents with the elusive Ulow, who treats us to his talents from time to time.
The letters, in a dazzling transition from yellow to dark red, spell out DIBZ. The letters are so clean and crisp, and the fades between shades so seamless, there are few words that can describe the expertise on show. Just to cap it all, the pink highlights at the bottom of some of the letters create the most fantastic 3D effect of reflected light. Just brilliant.
The character, I am guessing it is Wolverine, is by Ulow, and demonstrates his fantastic shading skills that give his pieces a soft, rounded appearance, almost organic. Ulow is definitely an artist whose street art work I’d like to see more of.
Tack Jucker has been painting in Bristol for a little under a year now, but in that time he has made a great impression with his animal and hand pieces, he especially seems to favour his monkeys and apes, and perhaps will fill the void left behind by Nightwayss in that respect.
This piece is on the same wall where I first met the artist in October last year, and like the piece he was painting then, features a monkey. The structure of the portrait is skilfully done, with loads of depth in the features of the face contrasting with the textures of the fur. Although the monkey appears to be a little fierce, it certainly grabs the attention and there is no question that passers-by would notice it. I am looking forward to more from Tack Jucker.
Natural adventures 