This magnificent piece by Danny Rumbl is in a retro style that I really love, and it reminds me of the fine character works of Deamze and Sepr. The subtle blue-grey shades are extremely effective, and a great example of how sometimes ‘less is more’.
Danny Rumbl, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Danny Rumbl is an illustrator from the Netherlands who grew up with and was inspired by American cartoons of the 1960s, children’s books and nature all of which I think are reflected in this piece. What I like most about it though is the simple form, the crisp, clean lines and the solid fills. A highlight of the festival.
Sticking very well to the Simpsons theme of this year’s Upfest was this vibrant piece by Bao, a featured artist for the festival, on one of two prominent walls. I believe this is the first time this particular wall has been used at Upfest, and although a good wall, it is a devil to photograph, being a parking spot for shoppers on North Street.
Bao, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Bao is from Hong Kong, and she has travelled the world plying her trade. Her pieces are filled from top to bottom in a cartoon style with a ton of detail and little scenes to look at. Here Bart is having some kind of dream maybe, with multiple images of him and of his environment. I love the Simpsons sofa and cat in the centre of the piece. A wonderful work.
I have been looking forward to Nevla ‘going big’ and hitting The Bearpit … and with this joyful piece he has done both. The first time I saw this piece it was covered, rather unhelpfully, in posters. In an Instagram exchange Nevla informed me that the posters had been removed, so I went back again to get some ‘clean’ pictures of the piece.
Nevla, The Bearpit, Bristol, June 2018
The whole thing is a bit quirky, but I absolutely love it. An old man in a coat and top hat is not the sort of person you expect to be saying ‘I love you‘, it is strange and thought provoking. I love the other text boxes too ‘it’s unusual‘ and ‘smells nice innit‘ – what on earth is that all about?
Nevla, The Bearpit, Bristol, June 2018
Nevla’s whole piece in cartoon style is in his typical grayscale shades and nicely highlighted with a red surround. I really do like his work and hope that this piece is a gateway to more exposure and bigger and better walls.
I think that there is something about street art and rabbits, or at least I seem to come across a disproportionate amount of them in my travels. This fine example is by Nevla and resides in one of the tunnels up by the Ikea roundabout on the M32.
Nevla, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2018
Nevla has only relatively recently crossed my radar, but I like his unique cartoon style that he brings to the table. I don’t yet think I have seen any of his work outside a tunnel…maybe it’s time to break cover.
I know very little about the artist who created this fun character down at the M32 Spot. I know he is called Roo, and he comes from London. I think he is probably mates with SkyHigh (also from London) because this piece is adjacent to the one by SkyHigh I posted recently and on Google image searches their work often appears together.
Roo, M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2018
I actually really like this piece. It is very clean and fresh and there is a fun story going on. I like the addition of sort of bricks in the background, which brings the whole piece to life. It reminds me of a Hanna Barbera type cartoon. High praise. I would like to see more from Roo in Bristol.
The four pedestrian/cyclist tunnels around the M32 roundabout are absolutely covered from top to bottom with graffiti and street art, most of it pretty useless if I am being honest, but in amongst it all there are some better pieces. One artist who frequents these tunnels and who I have recently started to post about is Nevla.
Nevla, M32, Bristol, February 2018
Nevla produces these cartoon style black and white pieces, which portray street characters in various poses – maybe they are friends and acquaintances or just figments of Nevla’s imagination. Either way, the style is fairly unique to Bristol, and I am looking forward to watching the artist develop.
I absolutely love this piece for many reasons. Firstly, it taps in to my love of fishing and is one of several angling-related pieces at Upfest 2017. Secondly, the cartoon style is really unusual and quirky…it has a great many similarities with the style of Bristol’s own Sepr, which in my view is a really good thing.
Mariojin, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Mariojin, the artist, comes from Milan in Italy and in the picture above it looks like there might be an element of collaboration going on.
Mariojin, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Apart from Mariojin’s fabulous website which shows off some great work, I don’t know too much about the artist beyond what is in his Programme notes for Upfest:
‘Mariojin grew up in the outskirts of Milano, where the cohabitation of different cultures offers inspiration to the first movements of the Milan writing. He develops the passion for drawing and colours since childhood, inspired at first by his aunt’s canvas, artist and teacher, and subsequently, from the garish colours, forms and dimensions of Graffiti’s world. Attracted by this world he begins to paint with sprays at the end of the 90s. He is Member of Nuclear1 crew, which organizes an important graffiti jam “Meeting of Styles” Italy since 2014. He paints using a mix of influences between illustration and graffiti.‘
I posted my first piece by Nevla about a week ago, and this is the second. Fortunately, I have a whole bunch more I can share, now that I know who the artist is.
Nevla, M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2018
His cartoon style is something quite different and refreshing in Bristol as well as being really distinctive. His characters are usually framed by a red or blue border and tend to be black and white, almost as if he has drawn the cartoon using a flip chart and thick black marker pen. It is a pity that he favours tunnels, because the light is always poor and photographs dishonest.
I always enjoy featuring new artists on this blog. Of course they are not necessarily new artists, and may even be well established, it is just that they have only recently entered my consciousness. This fun cartoon-style piece is by Nevla who I think is a local artist/designer whose street work seems to be centred around the M32 roundabout and area.
Nevla, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2018
In this piece, he has given himself enough red background to allow his character in greyscale to stand out. It is a nice piece and I will be interested to see how his work develops over time. I have photographs of several more of his works and will be posting them in due course.
Just recently Biers has been rather busy in Dean Lane, and this is the first of two pieces I am posting. Biers likes this particular wall and has sprayed here before. I think I got here just a little late, as it has a rather incongruous line “cocaine is good for your brain” scrawled across the piece.
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2018
In this wall I think he has included alongside the letters BIERS the cartoon character Willo the Wisp, the voice of which was expertly provided by the late Kenneth Williams. A nice tidy piece on one of my favourite walls in Dean Lane.
Natural adventures 