4066. Brunel Way (133)

Zake is fast becoming one of the most prolific artists in Bristol. His wonderful stylised faces are appearing all over the place with regularity, and of course improving all the time. This lovely recent piece is at the curved end of the concrete support wall under Brunel Way.

Zake, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2021
Zake, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2021

Zake’s work is typified by his extraordinary understanding of light and shadow, and the features on his faces are accentuated by the shading, gaining real depth. Often, his work will be under-lit or side-lit, but this one has a fairly uniform front-lit aspect. This piece is beautifully presented too.

4063. Brunel Way (132)

I knew about this piece, by Lemak, a long time ago, but never actually knew exactly where it was. I never found out at the time and then forgot it had even existed, so I was super happy to find it a week or two back, and although it has been a bit tagged, the quality of the piece shines through.

Lemak, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2021
Lemak, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2021

Lemak is an artist who spends a lot of time in his studio, but occasionally he treats us with one of his highly complex multi-layered stencils on the streets. I’ve not seen anything new since lock down, but that doesn’t mean to say there hasn’t been anything.

This piece, on the Greville Smyth Park side of Brunel Way was painted way back in April 2019 and features Daddy’s Lil Monster, Harley Quinn, a DC comics character. Superb work from a superb artist.

4059. Brunel Way (131)

In this piece on the long wall under Brunel Way, we see Claro_que_sssnoh doing what Claro_que_ssnoh does so well – that is create distinctive interesting writing that creates a wonderful pattern of shape and colour.

Claro_que_sssnoh, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2021
Claro_que_sssnoh, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2021

His work usually spells out HONS and his combination of curvy and straight lines are decorated with lines, patterns and dots in equal measure. In this piece it is the colour palette that is most notable, brightening up this drab and dingy corner. Painted as part of an HMR paint jam, it was the pick of the bunch alongside Dabuten Tronko.

4047. Brunel Way (130)

This wall under Brunel Way was taken over a couple of weeks back by the Bristol Women’s Collective in a fabulous paint jam which resulted in several small and very interesting pieces. This one is by Billy, and really ticks a lot of boxes for me (in other words I like it).

Billy, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2021
Billy, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2021

The abstract design, inspired by a swirly rug in Old Market, obviously, is simply painted and presented, but combined with the words tells a wonderful story and encourages the mind to wander into the market and imagine. An unmistakably Billy piece, and fabulous at that.

4045. Brunel Way (129)

The Spanish HMR crew hit the support wall under Brunel Way a week or two back and this amazing black panther portrait from Dabuten Tronko was the centrepiece, flanked by a pair of writers on each side.

Dabuten Tronko, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2021
Dabuten Tronko, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2021

Dabuten Tronko’s character pieces set a really high standard in Bristol, and although he doesn’t paint all that often, when he does it is nearly always a beauty like this one. It is interesting to see how he has left the writing above the panther intact painting the red light around the back of the letters. A nice touch. This is yet another fine piece from the artist and makes me think that perhaps it is time for a gallery of his work.

4025. Brunel Way (128)

I am a little annoyed with myself, because I was actually very close to Pekoe while she was painting this piece, but was having a long conversation with Tack Jucker at the time. When, finally, I walked under the bridge to see who was painting, I saw that it was Pekoe, but she had gone, and I missed her by minutes. Such a pity as it is a while since I last spoke with her.

Pekoe, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2021
Pekoe, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2021

Notwithstanding my irritation, the piece she painted is a good ‘un. A classic Pekoe portrait in a vibrant red with decorated big white hair. The tears are there, which always makes me a little sad, because it projects a sadness in the character, and maybe in the artist too. Great to see another piece from this prolific Bristol portrait painter.

4021. Brunel Way (127)

Tick tock, tick tock – the beating heart and soul of Bristol street art and graffiti writing, Mr Draws continues to paint his pieces, reliable and faithful, providing us all with a sensation that all is well with the world (even though it isn’t, of course).

Mr Draws, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2021
Mr Draws, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2021

I have followed Mr Draws pretty much from the day I first started writing about this stuff and have enjoyed his unwavering determination to just keep going, even through the hard times. This is a nice piece spelling out Draws and with horizontal colour slices running through. Always great to see his work and the sense of comfort it brings.

4019. Brunel Way (126)

There is a relatively new artist in town (at least he has been painting more frequently) who in a few short months has been making an impression with some lovely character/animal pieces. He is Tack Jucker (see what he did there with his name?) and made his debut on Natural Adventures with a monkey piece in Sparke Evans Park, a week or so back.

Tack Jucker, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2021
Tack Jucker, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2021

Here we have another monkey piece, and I managed to catch up with the artist and a friend while he was finishing this one off. He is friends with Nightwayss and that is rather apt as both appear to enjoy painting monkeys. This melting-face individual has smoke discharging from its eyes and seems to be more horror-based than natural history-based. It is a fine piece and one of several in the pipeline.

4007. Brunel Way (125)

This piece under Brunel Way is something of a rarity. It is by Stiff, who doesn’t paint walls all that often, and this is only the second piece of his that I have posted on Natural Adventures, although I know I have a third somewhere (just found it labelled Unknown!).

Stiff, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2021
Stiff, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2021

I love his cartoon compositions that tell fabulous stories in his preferred format of black background and green and white artwork. The alien/quirky scientist face-off is beautifully animated and very nicely sprayed. A bit of fun and a welcome surprise. I would love to see more from Stiff.

3984. Brunel Way (124)

This is happening with a comforting regularity and in my view it is definitely great news… SkyHigh has been visiting Bristol again and left us with this utterly amazing piece that on a near epic scale. The wall on this concrete support is pretty high and this is piece is larger than it looks.

SkyHigh, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2021
SkyHigh, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2021

Using his block letters that he seems to run off with consummate ease, including a smiley sticker and ‘Hello my name is’ badge, Sky High has written ‘Smile More Often’ which is the name of a London crew and this piece is not dissimilar to one painted by SkyHigh in Leake Street in 2020.

SkyHigh, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2021
SkyHigh, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2021

There is so much to like in the detail of this piece, but it is also SkyHigh’s finishing that is admirable, he really is a perfectionist, and his work always stands out from the crowd. Keep coming back, Bristol needs you.