Tag: ASK

5529. St Werburghs tunnel (385)

Inkie, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2023
Inkie, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2023

Today is the first day of a short break in Cornwall, and my focus is on dusting off my fishing gear and preparing myself for a day outdoors in the fresh air. Of course, my routine is likely to be a little disrupted, and my posts might get a little erratic as the week wears on, but that is fine. Today’s post features a fabulous piece by Inkie in the tunnel, from a paint jam at the end of August.

Inkie, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2023
Inkie, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2023

I am spoilt. There was a time when I used to get super-excited when I found work by Inkie, whose reputation precedes him, but these days I am fairly nonchalant about it, and even the presence of Goldie in this work in progress shot seem quite normal. Perhaps I have been doing this too long and am losing my edge.

Inkie, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2023
Inkie, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2023

The piece by Inkie is out of the top drawer, and I guess that in a paint jam of this calibre, everyone is under a little pressure to turn out their best work. Beautiful letters, outstanding fills and a sumptuous 3D drop shadow combine perfectly to render an archetypal Inkie piece. We are blessed.

5473. M32 roundabout J3 (506)

Sled One, M32 roundbout, Bristol, August 2023
Sled One, M32 roundbout, Bristol, August 2023

I would have to say that seeing new artwork pretty much every day of my life fills me with deep pleasure, but there are some artists that max out that feeling and one of them is Sled One. Possibly better known for his wild and surreal character pieces, Sled One is a fantastically accomplished graffiti writer too, as this piece on the roundabout demonstrates.

Sled One, M32 roundbout, Bristol, August 2023
Sled One, M32 roundbout, Bristol, August 2023

I guess the thing that stands out in this beautifully crafted piece is the fill in the letters SLED1. To me the fill looks like an old stone wall with a choppy sea alongside. Whatever it is meant to be, what is remarkable is that it is contiguous throughout the letters, creating a scene to be viewed through the letters. Some mint-green flashes add further interest. This is a masterful piece of writing from one of Bristol’s best.

You can view a gallery of Sled One’s extraordinary work here

5432. M32 roundabout J3 (503)

Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2018
Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2018

You’d need to go back to 2018 to remember this beauty from Soker. I don’t know how, but this piece got stranded and forgotten deep within my archive, and a quick delve has unearthed it for me to post today. Soker is one of the very best writers in Bristol, which is why it is a little surprising that I never posted this one.

Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2018
Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2018

The first thing to grab the attention is the classy colour palette. The fills in the seamlessly intertwined letters are of the very highest class, drifting from which, through yellow to oranges with consummate ease. The letters spelling SOKEM are pretty much perfect, and so cleanly finished. The buffed wall helps the piece to stand out and the pink and purple spots the cherry on the top. As close to perfect wildstyle writing as you will see.

4820. St Werburghs tunnel (319)

Rusk, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022
Rusk, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022

A graffiti writer, whose work I simply don’t get to see enough of, is Rusk. I think this is mainly due to the fact that he paints a lot of walls I simply don’t get to see. When he paints in the more regular spots, there is a good chance I’ll get to see his work, and there are plenty of examples in this gallery. The problem is he likes to paint in different and unusual places, so I have to resort to his Instagram stream to enjoy much of his work.

Rusk, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022
Rusk, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022

This is a lovely piece painted in the tunnel for Bnie’s birthday paint jam is a beauty. The letters spelling RUSK are beautifully proportioned, but it is the fill that steals the day. A graded horizontal colour transition with stripes of adjacent colours thrown into the mix. The yellow/orange transition reminds me of the colour swirl in marbles… is that just me? This is another fine example of Rusk’s great writing.

4776. Cumberland Basin

Sled One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022
Sled One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022

This is Sled One’s contribution to a recent paint jam along the long wall at Cumberland Basin. It is yet another outstanding example of his incredible artwork and creativity.

Sled One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022
Sled One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022

The beautifully painted, mischievous squirrel looks to be lining up a shot with his acorn and catapult. The acorns in the background splash are a nice touch, to round off the piece nicely. It is these subtle touches that often serve to lift a piece from ‘good’ to ‘excellent’.

4773. Cumberland Basin

Sepr, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022
Sepr, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022

Character pieces don’t come much better than this remarkable dog, wrapped up in its lead. Sepr is the greatest. What makes this truly outstanding, figuratively and literally is the application of the shadow of the character. It is so sharp and crisp, and completely accurate, mirroring all aspects and details of the dog.

Sepr, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022
Sepr, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022

This would have to go down as one of my favourite pieces of the year, and that is saying something as it has been something of a special year. It may be small and ‘simple’ but it is technically and visually a masterpiece. Bravo Sepr!

4677. Brunel Way (171)

Soker, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2022
Soker, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2022

There isn’t an awful lot more that I can say about the work of Soker that I haven’t already said in multiple previous posts. This one is uncomplicated but so utterly on point.

Soker, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2022
Soker, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2022

This is a fantastic piece of writing, with well proportioned letter shapes, fabulously subtle shade progressions in the fills and a nice mauve bubble background. Perfection from Soker.

4596. M32 roundabout J3 (418)

Although from these pictures, it might look like I photographed this while the artist was finishing off, it is an illusion – the paint paraphernalia belongs to Corupt who was painting a piece along the top of the wall. This is of course yet another outstanding work from 3Dom during a bit of an ASK paint jam celebrating Mr Jago’s birthday.

3Dom, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2022
3Dom, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2022

There are a number of motifs in the piece that we see a lot from 3Dom, such as eyeballs, stripy trousers, bleak landscape etc. I wonder if he has been watching the latest series of Stranger Things, as there is a gateway to the upside down maybe, or perhaps this is the upside down, the clouds might suggest it. All in all, this is just yet another outstanding surreal piece from one of the very best street artists around.

4578. Moon Street (94)

Even though the turnover of street/graffiti art in Moon Street is nothing like it used to be, it is still worth wandering down there from time to time, to pick up beauties like this one from Sled One. I think that the whole Stokes Croft area has become a bit of a graffiti wilderness, while it decides what impact the local gentrification has had on the sub-culture. Of course, many of the artists simply paint elsewhere, and there are many more of them in Bristol than there were only two or three years ago.

Sled One, Moon Street, Bristol, July 2022
Sled One, Moon Street, Bristol, July 2022

Sled One, however, has returned to Moon Street and painted a classic piece of writing, so typical of this talented artist. The letters spell out SLED, and the numeral ‘1’ completes his name. the design is balanced and well-proportioned and the fill colours contrast neatly with the black and gold patterned background.  I imagine that Sled One probably knocked this one off in an hour or two, but he has managed to keep it utterly onm-point. Great work.

4268. M32 roundabout J3 (387)

What a very nice piece of classic wildstyle writing this is from Soker, especially welcome as he has been fairly quiet in recent months, and as one of the godfathers of graffiti writing in Bristol, things just don’t feel quite right when he isn’t out there painting.

Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2022
Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2022

The class and confidence ooze from this piece, which reads PUKE. I am not too sure about the back story to this one and I’m not too sure I want to know. Some classic features, the arrow and star, have been incorporated in this nicely proportioned piece. Great to see Soker out and about.