In amongst the frenzy of activity in June and July as artists have woken and gone crazy for painting, the steady beating pulse of Bristol graffiti art continues in the form of work from PWA artist Face 1st. Reliable and dependable, Face 1st turns out his face-based pieces that rarely disappoint. His works have become so much a part of the furniture that sometimes we don’t even notice them (when I say we, I don’t mean me of course).
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020
This is a lovely piece in russet tones and present us with FACE hair over a smiling girl’s face. There is something warm and familiar about his work, and something so very Bristol too. This is a modest low-profile piece and I love it.
As with so many artists, Bnie has been very active since the easing of lock down and I can’t ever remember a time when the frequency of her work has been as high as it is now. This all amounts to great news for fans of her beautiful writing.
Bnie, M32 cycle path, Bristol, July 2020
In typical fashion, Bnie gives us a really tidy and clean BNIE with some complex and stylish fills. Her creativity and imaginative fills are her USP and she really leads the way with these patterned letters. A fine piece.
Fortune favours the brave. I took a lunchtime walk last week and decided to take the dog to the M32 roundabout. I could have gone to any of the other spots, but decided on that one and lucky I did. I arrived to find an ‘A list’ of graffiti writers prepping for and starting a paint jam. Included in this extraordinary line up were Soker, Minto and Tizer from London, Rusk, Inkie, Hemper and Stivs.
Tizer, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020
Because of my working hours and limited ability to get out I rarely see artists at work, so this was a real treat, and the first piece I am sharing from this paint jam is by Tizer, who is a graffiti writing legend.
Tizer, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020
I learned two things when I chatted with Tizer the next day (another whole story), the first is that he freestyles all his pieces, which is incredible really – no drafts or prompts, just what’s in his head. The second is that he turned to spray painting and skateboarding as a youngster to escape the gangs where he grew up in Brixton.
Tizer, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020
It was really interesting to see how Tizer works. From what I saw he drafts an outline and then works on the colour fills from left to right. When that is done he paints on the black outlines and details ending up with a stained-glass window effect. Wonderful to watch and what an amazing finished piece. Of course the whole thing spells out Tizer.
It seems such a pity when a lovely collaboration like this one from I Am Ian and Kid Crayon only lasts a day or so, but this wall has been in high-demand recently and turnover very fast indeed. I have already missed recent Laic217, Kid Crayon and Mr Draws Pieces right here in the last few days. I spoke with Kid Crayon the day after I took this photograph (he was painting a new piece – to come) and he told me that he and I Am Ian had trained together as graphic designers and remained friends and although they have taken slightly different paths they get together occasionally to paint a wall.
I am Ian and Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020
This collaboration is a lot of fun and a time-lapse video from Kid Crayon’s Instagram feed shows how the whole piece came together and is well worth a view. Kid Crayon has woken up and is painting like a mad thing which can only be great news. I am less familiar with I Am Ian’s work, but that is because he rarely hits the streets with his art. Their last collaboration was a fabulous piece in St Werburghs tunnel. There is so much to love about this.
Kid Crayon and I Am Ian, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020
Last week I met Phour for the first time, and what a pleasure it was. I had had my suspicions that he was another writer that had changed his letters, but I was quite wrong. Phour told me that he did a bit of spraying as a youngster, but had stopped until a couple of years ago when he picked up his cans and started up again. I must confess that I have only noticed his writing this year, but what I have seen I like and he is, on first impressions, a genuinely decent guy who was more than happy to stop and talk for a while.
Phour, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2020
This is one of a few slightly older pieces that I have had on archive waiting to be posted until I knew a little bit more about the artist. His letter shapes are clean and clear and he seems to enjoy lots of colour in his work. All the right ingredients are there for Phour to move up the ranks of Bristol graffiti writers. I look forward to following him along the way.
Corupt is an artist whose work is horribly underrepresented in Natural Adventures, and over the coming weeks I will attempt to correct this. His work can be found in all the main spots in Bristol, but he definitely favours the tunnel and M32 roundabout.
Corupt, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2020
The letters in his work have a unique style that makes his writing quite easy to spot, especially as he writes under other names from time to time. This one is a real gem with some clever colour combinations and a cornucopia of fills. So often his pieces in the tunnel don’t photograph very well due to the awful light conditions, but this one has come out really well. Great work.
Natural adventures 