This rather nice bubble writing and character combination was painted by 3F fino during an LRS paint jam on the M32 cycle path a few weeks ago. It has to be said that the LRS crew have been knocking it out of the park recently and are becoming a dominant movement in the Bristol street art sub-culture.
3F fino, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, February 2022
The light backdrop is helpful with helping the piece to stand out, and there is a fun interaction between the letters and the character which is taking a bite out of the ‘N’ of FINO. This is a clean and tidy piece which plays to the strength of 3F fino’s cartoon style. Gotta love the monster’s shadow.
3F fino has been smashing it lately, along with his LRS friends, and barely a spot in Bristol is without one of his pieces decorating it. This particular figure is on a column under the M32. Round column pieces are quite tricky to paint, I am told, but this one is on a square column, and apart from the limited width, is nicely done, albeit probably a quick one.
3F fino, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2022
In this piece, 3F fino has created one of his masked characters, wearing a hat with the word Fino emblazoned on it. The character’s body contains the letters LRS, a nod to the crew that is quite large and growing in Bristol.
It is fair to say that some members of the LRS crew have been extremely busy of late, in particular Werm and 3F fino who collaborated on this fine wall in Devon Road. The entire garage wall is taken up with their work, and it all holds together rather nicely.
3F fino and Werm, Devon Road, Bristol, January 2022
3F fino’s character looks like he has climbed the wall and is busy spraying it, a fun theme used by a lot of street artists. His characters tend to have quite a cartoony style about them and this one looks like he might have jumped off the pages of The Beano or Dandy. The block writing from Werm is beautifully designed and executed, and he seems to have settled down with this style for a little while now. I wonder how long it will be before he switches things up again. This is a nicely worked wall, and what better way to decorate a back alley canvass?
The LRS crew have really increased their profile in Bristol over the last year or two with Decay, Werm, 3F fino, and Sitka leading the way, and this is a wonderful recent collaboration for 3F fino and Stika (Apex_alloy) on the M32 cycle path.
3F fino, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2022
Although this was a collaborative wall, the two elements are discrete and stand-alone. To the left is an interesting piece from 3F fino, with a pair of embracing characters, keeping their identities hidden with head/face scarves, which is a theme to be found in many of the artist’s pieces.
Stika, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2022
The other half of this wall is a fabulous Calvin and Hobbes piece by Stika, and what a brilliant piece it is, really showcasing Stika’s versatility. There is something really touching.no and heartwarming about this cartoon duo and Stika has captured that warmth perfectly in this piece. An absolutely cracking collaborative wall with two fine pieces.
Since changing his moniker from Eman to Werm, Werm has been getting busier and busier and is constantly developing his writing styles and his characters. One thing for sure is that he is a fast learner and adds weight to the saying ‘practice makes perfect’… he practices a lot.
3F fino and Werm (Eman), Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2021
This writing and character combo, by LRS crew members 3F fino and Werm, is under Brunel Way in, where the light conditions are always a massive challenge for taking photographs. The character is by 3F fino and I think is a bear or something from Star Wars or something. The writing by Werm uses his currently favoured heavy block letters, spelling WERM, which can be seen in multiple spots around the city. In recent years, the LRS crew have certainly made themselves highly visible in the city.
One of the most enjoyable thing about chronicling street art and graffiti is that every day has the potential to bring with it surprises. Those surprises are like gifts, presents from the artists to anyone who cares to enjoy their work. This lovely collaboration from Ros(z)alita and 3F fino was part of a larger collaboration that included Tao.create, but I am reserving her piece for a later date.
Rosalita and 3F fino, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2021
This is as special as it is unexpected, and although these two have collaborated before, I think that this is so nicely done and combines their styles and preferred subject matter really well.
Rosalita, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2021
On the left is another carnival face from Rosalita (who now spells it Rozalita, hence the discrepancy in the body of this text), where the makeup this time is much more in the style of a Venetian masquerade mask. The frilled collar adds to the clown element of the piece. Beautiful.
3F fino, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2021
To the right, a slightly more edgy character by 3F fino is apparently spraying the clown. I often wonder with pieces like this whether they are self-portraits, or at least based on self. There are some nice elements to this cartoon-style character and his cans, and the clothes and face mask all add to the ensemble.
All in all a nice, large and vibrant collaboration from these two.
More often than not, I try to avoid posting pictures with shadows on them, because they can obscure the artwork or distract the eye. In this instance though I think the shadows add to the overall drama of the piece by 3F fino.
3F Fino, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2021
The piece, from a little while back, shares a theme that 3F fino has painted before of a portrait of a masked figure. Set in an urban landscape at sunset (or sunrise, it is always difficult to know which) the piece is incorporated into the brickwork of the wall, something I always like. A nice eye-catching piece.
Leonard Lane has had a small renaissance lately thanks in no small part to 3F Fino who seems to have been enjoying himself and experimenting with ideas in the murky, narrow, stinky Lane.
3F Fino, Leonard Lane, Bristol, May 2021
This is an unusual and impactful piece from 3F Fino, and I’m not sure I would have been able to attribute it to him if it were not signed. There is something faintly Van Goughian about the artwork which looks like a series of brush strokes rather than the work of a spray can. Original and interesting work.
It is interesting to see how some artists find a spot and then work it really hard. Perhaps they enjoy the textures and surfaces or maybe it is being out of the public gaze, whatever the reason it happens quite a lot and 3F Fino seems to have been enjoying himself quite a bit in Leonard Lane recently. This is good news, because the turnover in this dark alley tends to be quite slow. Lots of new stuff to admire there at the moment.
3F Fino, Leonard Lane, Bristol, May 2021
3F Fino has been having a bit of fun with painting characters coming out of windows. I love this kind of contextual work that uses the surroundings and incorporates them into the painting. The piece itself is bright and creative and has the rounded edges that Are a common feature of his character work. Great fun piece.
Every artist brings something different to the walls of Bristol, some high end world-class pieces, others quick and dirty throw-ups, but in between there is a vast contribution of different styles, subject and quality, which makes the whole scene so interesting. 3F Fino first entered my radar about a year ago in Cumberland Basin, and since then has hit walls all over the city with his unique character pieces.
3F Fino, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2021
This column character piece picks up on a theme he has used a lot n his work, of partially hidden faces. I am not sure if this is a COVID-19 thing or totally unrelated to that, and maybe more to do with clandestine activity. This character has been popping up in central Bristol too, so watch this space for more posts from 3F Fino.
Natural adventures 