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.
This has been a winter where some of the giants of Bristol street art have awoken and decorated our walls with some of the finest works for a while. Sepr is one such giant who seems to be painting most weekends and turning out some really high-quality work.
Sepr, Upper York Street, Bristol, February 2018
What a stunner this is – ‘knock it on the head – before it knocks you on your arse’. I’ve not heard the expression before, but am willing to adopt it on the back of this wonderful Sepr work.
Sepr, Upper York Street, Bristol, February 2018
The common thread running through much of Sepr’s work is music, and musicians and here he has painted a pianist stretched out and toppling off his stool. For me, his works have a very strong retro feel and remind me of 1950’s cartoons – the hairstyle and the trilby are not of this decade.
Sepr, Upper York Street, Bristol, February 2018
These cartoons, beautifully drawn are pulled out from the wall by some expert shardos that govo it a bit of a 3D feel. Definitely worth a look.
This large and impressive wall in Rivington Street is by KaNO. Such a magnificent cartoon character in a very distinctive style, it should come as no surprise that KaNO freelances as a character designer for such studios as Warner Bros, Cartoon Network, and Hasbro.
Kano, Rivington Street, New York, October 2017
KaNO was born and raised on the streets of New York and was influenced by cartoon characters on the TV. He then went on to study art and design and animation. His full biography can be found on his website, along with some fabulous galleries of studio and street art.
Kano, Rivington Street, New York, October 2017
This really is a wonderful piece from a greatly talented artist.
I still have a great many pictures from my trip to New York in October 2017, but have had some difficulty finding the names of artists, and the locations of some of the pieces. These difficulties act as a bit of a barrier to writing these posts, as I have limited time to do the research required. The emergence of Street Art Cities, a website and app, has been an absolute godsend in that respect. Street Art Cities allows local street art ‘hunters’ (people like me) to upload street and graffiti art onto a map-based platform with descriptions of the work. I am one of two such approved hunters in Bristol, and in New York, a recent upload extravaganza by the four hunters there is making my job of posting my holiday snaps so much easier. Maybe if they ever visit Bristol they will benefit from the work I have done for Street Art Cities.
John Matos, Bower Street, New York, October 2017
Now I can tell you that this stunning piece of Yosemite Sam in Broome Street is by John ‘Crash’ Matos, an artist brought up in the Bronx in the 1960s and 70s. He tends to feature a cartoon character combined with the word CRASH in many of his pieces, a long way from bombing trains in train yards as a teenager. His nickname ‘Crash’ was coined after he accidentally crashed a computer in school…something that was much easier to do back in the old days I can assure you. This is a brilliant piece from a brilliant artist.
This is the right hand end piece to the ASK paint jam collaboration from November and is by Sepr. I have always been a huge admirer of his work and I am so pleased that he has been hitting the streets hard in recent months. His character style is so unique, and for me it has a really strong 1950s and 1960s feel to it – if you type ‘1950s cartoon characters’ into Google images, you’ll get a sense of what I mean.
Sepr, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2017
This particular piece is all a bit strange and there is lots going on. Where to begin? At the top there is a bird playing a flute I think and its left wing makes a crown, although I think that is accidental. Common with many of Sepr’s pieces, the character is playing a musical instrument, a tambourine, and in his other hand he appears to be burning joss sticks, the smoke trail of which terminates with a snake’s head. He is sitting astride a dolphin. What on earth can it all mean?
Sepr, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2017
Whatever it means, it is a fascinating and joyful piece to look at, and rounds off what is a truly exceptional wall. I think I only have one piece left to post from this ASK paint jam, and that is by 3Dom. All very good.
Yet another really sharp piece from Deamze, using colours that he likes to use together tucked away in Bedminster. This clever piece bisects his wildstyle writing and character diagonally from top left to bottom right, the top half being monochrome pink and the bottom monochrome green.
Deamze, Bedminster, Bristol, July 2017
It is a striking work that demonstrated Deamze’s talents to the full. I am not sure who the cartoon character is…answers on a postcard.
Another fabulously intricate piece of wildstyle writing from Deamze accompanied by a cartoon-style character. There is a lot to like about this piece…it is clean and crisp, the design is highly detailed, the cartoon character is beautifully done and is holding a spray can, which is always a good thing.
Deamze, New John Street, Bristol, September 2017
This is a site tucked up behind Cameron Balloons, and is a favourite for several members of the ASK crew, including Cheo, Soker and Deamze himself. I don’t come here very often, but it would appear that I visited pretty soon after a whole new bunch of work had been done. I like it when I get lucky like this.
This is an absolutely wonderful piece by Dibz, featuring a character from the animated television series ‘Pinky and the Brain’. This is actually ‘the Brain’ as Pinky is somewhat skinnier and more stupid looking. Lots more from the excellent Wikipedia page on this cartoon.
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2017
What I like about this work is just how fantastically sharp and clear all Dibz’s lines are, it is a really strong technical piece. He spends a lot of time perfecting his designs before committing them to a wall, and his black book is well worth looking at on his Instagram feed.
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2017
Care has been taken, even providing a neutral grey background to help the lime green and pink stand out on this piece. One of the best on this wall for a while. Incidentally, and quite by accident, it is on the exact same space as the previous post from Inkie.
There was a time when every few posts that I wrote was another work from the productive master of writing – Deamze. He is still as productive as ever, but his pieces are having to compete for space with the dozens and dozens of other Bristol artists that I try to cram into this website.
Deamze, New Stadium Road, Bristol, June 2017
This is a piece from under the M32 motorway, not far from the M32 Spot. This is an area that Deamze appears to favour, and there are always several of his pieces nearby. This piece is in his format of a cartoon character accompanying some highly designed wildstyle writing.
Deamze, New Stadium Road, Bristol, June 2017
As with so many of his pieces, I am not too sure who the cartoon critter is. I thought at first it might be Wally Gator, but it isn’t…it appears to be a dragon. Any ideas? Another classy piece from the Bristol master
There are several street/graffiti artists in Bristol who never seem to stop, and ranking high amongst those is Deamze. This compressed piece is from a few weeks ago and takes the format of his wildstyle lettering and a character.
Deamze, Kings Square Avenue, Bristol, April 2017
I am guessing that the character is some kind of hog or pig – probably from a cartoon series that I never watched on TV.
Deamze, Kings Square Avenue, Bristol, April 2017
The colours in this work, especially the dayglow pink and green set on a purple background create an eye-catching piece for passers by. Deamze has occupied this spot for as long as I have been blogging, and probably sometime longer than that.
Natural adventures 