Tag: Bucket hat

6810. Cumberland Basin

Kool Hand, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2025
Kool Hand, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2025

Kool Hand is a bit of an unsung hero on Natural Adventures. I kind of take it for granted that he will turn out regular pieces in his unique no-nonsense cartoon style, but that smacks of complacency on my part, and I feel I need to ‘big him up’ a little, because he deserves higher recognition of his work.

Kool Hand, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2025
Kool Hand, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2025

This is a lovely, clean and tidy character piece featuring a cartoon duck tossing a spray can in the air. Wearing a bucket hat, the duck in a coat has a friendly demeanour about him and seems to be having a good time. The piece is set on a solid purple background, and the superb yellow border bleeds out in countless places to form bubbles. A well conceived and executed piece from the fabulous Kool Hand.

6707. St Werburghs tunnel (472)

Zed in the Clouds, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2025
Zed in the Clouds, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2025

Only a few days ago I posted a piece by Zed in the Clouds and said at the time that he was hugely underrepresented on this blog, so as part of remedying that gap, here is a recent piece by the artist in St Werburghs tunnel, which is rather larger than his usual offering.

Zed in the Clouds, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2025
Zed in the Clouds, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2025

This combination piece features his familiar character donning a red bucket hat and the letters ZED. Both parts of the combination are filled with a cream tone that is draped in a mass of colour streaks that look like scribbles from a child’s drawing pad. All of the lines run vertically and are augmented with some star decorations. To round off the piece, Zed has included some blood-red drips throughout that bled from the border. Overall, a very nice piece.

5740. Cumberland Basin

Laic217, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2023
Laic217, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2023

All in all, 2023 was a very good year for Laic217, with 18 pieces featured in Natural Adventures, some of which I would rate as his best pieces to date. This piece features a skull character wearing a devil mask, I mean why not? I also got lucky that I photographed it on an overcast day, as this wall can be very tricky to capture when the sun is out.

Laic217, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2023
Laic217, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2023

Everything you’d expect to find from a classy Laic217 piece is here… the skull, something of the grotesque and threatening, the devil mask which is suspended by a gold chain, a bucket hat and of course outstanding folds in the fabric of the characters’ clothes. You can see a large gallery of Laic217’s magnificent work here.

4004. Greenbank (17)

Barely a week goes by when I don’t have something to post by Laic217. This piece on the long wall at Greenbank is an absolute gem and is painted in a rather cheerful assemblage of colours, although the subject is inevitably skeleton related.

Laic217, Greenbank, Bristol, September 2021
Laic217, Greenbank, Bristol, September 2021

There are lots of things we expect to see from Laic217, including the bucket hat, fabulously painted folds in the clothing, and the reappearance, after a long pause, of the brickwork glasses. I love the contrast between the grey scale characters and the colourful background. Yet another fine work from this highly talented artist.

3928. M32 Cycle path (140)

Ah! Sweet joy – another splendid piece from Bristol’s reliable and faithful Laic217. Of all the artists in Bristol, I think that the one that brings me most pleasure is Laic217, because I have been following his progress closely and watched him develop into a first class graffiti artist.

Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, August 2021
Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, August 2021

This classy piece on the M32 cycle path returns to a melting face theme that Laic217 was rather fond of a few years ago, but it is now embellished with so much more detail and technique. His name is concealed in the melting face, and there is a nod to his crew PAD too. The bucket hat has some slightly peculiar eyes peering through, and I love the way he has painted the ridges in the brim. Another wonderful piece from Laic217.

3077. Dean Lane skate park (334)

This is one of two pieces by Laic217 painted about a week ago. I missed the other one at the M32 roundabout which lasted about 12 hours. Here we have a nice study in black, grey, white and pink set on a rather untidy grid.

Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2020
Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2020

What I like about this piece is that Laic217’s use of the pink really emphasises the character’s accessories – the strange glasses, the neck chain, spray cap and signature on the bucket hat. It is always great to see his work popping up about the place, and I think I might have a newish one to find today!

2369. M32 roundabout J3 (157)

Laic217 has only gone and smashed it again, with this exquisitely summery scene. I can’t make up my mind whether the tree shade on the piece actually adds to the ambience, I don’t think it particularly detracts from it, which is not usually the case with shadows and street art.

Laic217, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2019
Laic217, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2019

This is a masterful piece by Laic217 with many of the features we are accustomed to seeing in his work… the bucket hat and smiley and a skeleton spraying, although the sspray paint seems to have been replaced with sun cream or something more gloopy. The crowning glory of the piece though is the shirt.

Laic217, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2019
Laic217, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2019

Laic217 works so hard on his fabrics and this Hawaiian shirt with tiger motifs has pretty much blown everything I have seen previously out of the water. I just don’t know how he has got the tiger print to look so good using a spray can – quite extraordinary. This is an artist whose work just goes from strength to strength and I just can’t get enough of it.

2193. St Werburghs tunnel (77)

Another artist I will never tire of is Laic217 and this piece in St Werburghs tunnel is so typical of his great work. Another weed-smoking bucket-hatted skull, which he simply gets better and better at crafting.

Laic217, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2019
Laic217, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2019

I feel a real closeness with Laic217’s work because since I started doing this recording  Bristol street art thing in 2015 I have watched his work closely and seen his style develop significantly, and although his subjects are often similar, the depth and complexity of his pieces constantly grows. Love this one.

2137. M32 cycle path (21)

Top Cat by Deamze looks on at a recent piece by Laic217. While not quite up to the very high standards we have come to expect from Laic217, this is still a rather striking piece Bering many of the hallmarks used by this artist.

Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, March 2019
Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, March 2019

I would guess that this was probably painted rather quickly, and perhaps not enough thought was given to the proportions of the portrait. Whatever the reason, the top of the head and hat is a bit squished. I am rather fond of the skull shirt decorations though. More from Laic217 soon I hope.

2114. Moon Street (63)

Not quite as prolific as he has been in the past, but still keeping things ticking over is the brilliant Laic217 painting in one of his favourite spots in Moon Street. I think the dimensions of the wall lends itself to his portraits.

Laic217, Moon Street, Bristol, March 2019
Laic217, Moon Street, Bristol, March 2019

In this piece we see a return to several ideas used in Laic217’s work which link back to a theme of flammability. A melting face, which Laic217 has used to great effect many times,  that spells out his name. Spray can caps for eyes recessed deeply into the eye sockets and a bucket hat which in this case seems to be fashioned out of a spray can.

Laic217, Moon Street, Bristol, March 2019
Laic217, Moon Street, Bristol, March 2019

I will never get bored with his work and if I am honest probably look forward to discovering his work more than any other artist… it is like a game.