Blue – Natural adventures

7025. L Dub (69)

A graffiti artist who writes, and has been writing for some time in Bristol, is Vesar, and it is something of a mystery that in ten years of blogging about Bristol street art on Natural Adventures, this is the first time I have posted a piece by him. Shame on me. I have no explanation.

I would say that I have noticed a significant uptick in the quality of his work lately, and that might account for this post and I hope some more to come. Vesar has selected the winning combination of pink and blue tones, which is always going to get noticed by me at least. The writing is neat and tidy with three horizontal blue strips interfaced with bubbles. A yellow border separates the letters from the pink cloudy background, which itself has a darker pink border. Very nice work, and welcome to Natural Adventures.

6976. M32 roundabout J3 (689)

It barely needs repeating, but Hypo has been smashing it for at least a year now, and each of his pieces brings to the fore another aspect of his technical ability and creativity. This rhapsody in blue was one of a couple of recent pieces painted on this wall by Hypo.

To manage to get a piece to ‘pop’ when it is painted in the same colour as the background is a skilful thing to do and Hypo has managed to do it well here with a clever use of a deep 3D grey drop shadow and some deft white highlights and starbursts. The tones are really lovely and his fills intricate with blue stars and yellow spots. A very fine piece of graffiti writing.

6959. Brunel Way (396)

I think it is safe to say that Subtle is back, as this is the second of three recent pieces, although I have yet to locate the third. Seeing his large letters, which are anything but subtle, is like greeting an old friend, resuming the conversation where it was last cut off.

It is a welcome thing indeed, after so many brown shades dominating so many pieces recently, to see the good old bedfellows pink and light blue featured here. Subtle’s large blue letters, with modest decorations, are augmented perfectly with pink circles and spots surrounding. Set on a black-buffed wall, this is a splendid announcement of ‘I’m back’.

6558. M32 roundabout J3 (641)

Sub, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2024

Sub paints his large three letter pieces reasonably often, but I have been waiting for one that has the ‘wow’ factor, and with this enormous piece on the roundabout, I think he has pretty much got there. I first saw this piece on Instagram, before I photographed it, and was actually really keen to go and see it for myself.

I think that the buffed wall really helps in this instance, and the colour selection of orange and blue works really well. Sub has paid great attention to the dimensions of the drop shadow, which drifts off to the left. There is a fusion of his letters, through which the blue fill bleeds across the piece. The thing I like the most is the thin line patterning, which is just about right. Any more decoration and it would look fussy, any less and it would look bare. In my view, this is Sub’s best piece to date.

6350. Muriel Alleyway (13)

Bloem, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, August 2024

A rising star in the Bristol street art scene, although she probably doesn’t realise it, is Bloem, who is gaining confidence in her work and growing from day to day and piece to piece. This one was painted during Bristol’s smallest street art festival organised by Rtiiika at the end of July this year, on a gorgeously warm and sunny day.

This shutter piece, painted in the colours of Spode Italian plate tableware, is a magnificent tribute to how far this artist has come in such a short space of time. (Note to self – Bloem to be my next gallery collection). Bloem had some fun painting this piece, and left the little white circle in the middle, which had a tag saying ‘TOY’ in it, as the last bit she painted.

There are all the elements that Bloem can be associated with incorporated within the piece; a hand with long fingernails clutching a spiky chain (a motif she uses a lot in her jewellery work) and a beautiful flower in full bloem (did you see what I did there?). Wonderful stuff.

5736. St Werburghs tunnel (394)

Mr Devas, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2023

While I know of Mr Devas, the artist who painted this graffiti writing in the tunnel, I have a feeling that this is the first time I have ever posted a piece by him on Natural Adventures. This tells me that he is an occasional visitor to Bristol and not a regular.

The writing spells out DEVAS and reminds me a little of Javiceus’ writing style and colours. The interlocking letters in blue and pink (the memorable colours of 2023) are nicely thought out and beautifully painted, supported by a classy 3D drop shadow in black. Nice work – I’ll have to see if I have other pieces by Mr Devas in my archive.

5688. Peel Street Green (22)

Daz Cat, Peel Street Green, Bristol, November 2023

I have to say that I am missing the large ‘storytelling’ pieces that Daz Cat has produced over the last couple of years, and can only think that he is busy with other things to have time to put into his more complex pieces. I will have to make do with enjoying his quicker pieces that he is continuing to turn out reasonably regularly.

This is a wonderful blue cat in three-quarter profile, full of detail and character, which demonstrates just how far Daz Cat has developed over the last few years. There is a confidence and self-assuredness about his work now, as if he has nothing to prove, that comes across as relaxed and easy to look at. I hope he gets some time soon to pull together one of his storytelling pieces before too long.

5217. Norrisville Road (4)

Kosc, Norrisville Road, Bristol, May 2023

This road was one of the first I wrote a blog post about, in fact it was number 21 (this is 5,217), and the portrait piece was on the other side of the road, by Dora, an artist whose debut on Natural Adventures was in fact her first and last appearance. This piece is by the irrepressible Kosc, and what a belter it is.

The colour palette of the piece is exquisite and works beautifully with the blue buffed background. There is often quite an industrial/urban feel to Kosc’s work, but the letter fills in this one are a little bit softer, almost dreamy, although I can see a few ‘rivets’ here and there.

It is amazing to see how far this artist has come over the last few years, from his early pieces under a different name, to being in the top division of Bristol writers. There is so much to love about this one.

4256. Greenbank (26)

Instead of turning right onto the Bristol to Bath cycle track at Greenbank as I normally do (I am a creature of habit), I decided to buck the trend and turned left towards the road bridge and was rewarded with this rather nicel little piece of graffiti writing from Mr Riks.

Mr Riks, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2022

I have said before that I have a great many pieces by the artist in my archives, but I think I have only posted one before, which is rather remiss of me. This is a really nicely worked piece, neat and tidy. The fills transition beautifully from pale to dark blues, and I rather like the swishy feature that zig-zags out of the piece. All in all, very well worth turning left… a first class effort.

4235. M32 Cycle path (162)

What a wonderful surprise this gorgeous portrait piece was, when I walked along the M32 cycle path shortly after my return from a week away from Bristol. I don’t think I have come across the artist, Syone MTF, before, but if this is anything to go by, I would be keen to see more.

Syone MTF, M32 cycle path, Bristol, February 2022

In a blue-scale colour palette, this modestly sighted portrait certainly grabs the attention. It is a nicely worked piece moving in the direction of photorealism, but not quite there yet. I would love to see more from the artist and sincerely hope this isn’t a one-off. Eye-catching.

	paulh121 on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	Sheree on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	paulh121 on 7350. Hillgrove Street (9…
	Bill Bisgood on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…

	paulh121 on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	Sheree on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	paulh121 on 7350. Hillgrove Street (9…
	Bill Bisgood on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: