6361. Cumberland Basin

Chill, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024
Chill, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024

Usually when I photograph collaborative work, especially from the PWA crew, I tend to post all of the pieces together, which risks a little, the dilution of impact of each of the contributing artists. Sometimes I like to decouple the collaboration to be able to concentrate on a single piece and this is what I have done with this fine cartoon piece by Chill.

Chill, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024
Chill, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024

This piece by Chill was painted as part of the celebratory paint jam for Werm’s birthday, an event that generates a great turnout every year. Chill has come on such a long way over the last few years and his cartoon-style character pieces betray his tattoo artist background, with strong clear black (ink) outlines and interesting designs. He also includes some ornamentation, usually little birds and greenery, but here in the form of skulls with plasma bursts emanating from them. This is a great example of Chill’s fabulous work.

6317. M32 Spot (191)

Mr Crawls, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024
Mr Crawls, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024

Although Mr Crawls appears to enjoy painting with Mote, it certainly doesn’t stop him from going out and painting on his own. This column piece, under the M32 motorway, takes us back to some of the artist’s earlier themes, incorporation; old and new styles into the work.

Mr Crawls, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024
Mr Crawls, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024

The cartoon character is a gull or a raptor of some kind wearing a bucket hat. The piece incorporates newer design themes developed by Mr Crawls, such as the skeleton neck and hollow square eyes. You might have spotted a rare appearance by my dog, who accompanies me on most of my photographic trips. Nice work from Mr Crawls.

6287. M32 roundabout J3 (615)

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

Stivs is something of an enigma, you never really know quite what you are going to see from him next. He is both an accomplished portrait and scene artist, as well as an exceptional calligraffiti writer. In this piece, he has created a wonderful cartoon book style portrait.

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

I took this photograph on my second trip to the wall, because the sun wasn’t quite right on my first visit. Unfortunately, by the time I returned, YSAE and Solar (one of them) had tagged it. At least they were respectful enough not to go over the portrait itself. The piece is called (I presume) ‘moody boys start wars’.

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

The artwork itself is exceptional, and it is one of the best renditions of comic-book style artistry I have seen, and at scale too. I have included a photograph I took on my first visit, which has no tags, but bright vertical strips of light where the sun has caught the wall and corresponding shadows. Phenomenal stuff from Stivs.

6262. Ashton Road

The Art of Sok, Ashton Road, Bristol, July 2024
The Art of Sok, Ashton Road, Bristol, July 2024

I think that this piece by The Art of Sok has been around for a little while, but I was pointed in the direction of it by the artist himself, which was lucky, because I don’t visit this spot as a matter of routine. It was painted as part of a collaboration with Smak, which makes sense because they are friends and share a Welsh heritage.

The Art of Sok, Ashton Road, Bristol, July 2024
The Art of Sok, Ashton Road, Bristol, July 2024

The Art of Sok has done here what he does so well; he has created an outstanding comic-book style cartoon of a young man wearing a baseball cap and smoking. The piece is perfectly clean and tight as a nut. Even the smoke coming from the cigarette is stylised, and you can see the two styles meeting where the much more wispy smoke drifts across from Smak’s adjacent piece. Wonderful work from The Art of Sok.

6222. Cumberland Basin.

The Art of Sok and Smak, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024
The Art of Sok and Smak, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024

In the seventies I might have described this piece as ‘smashing’, and as a child of the seventies I am going to describe this outstanding collaboration between The Art of Sok and Smak as smashing. I was lucky enough to meet with and chat to both artists the night before they painted this wall as part of a larger jam, at Merny’s exhibition opening, which had a great turnout.

The Art of Sok and Smak, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024
The Art of Sok and Smak, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024

The two artists have worked together perfectly to produce this character/writing combination. Smak’s writing is absolutely sensational and in addition to that, he has created a perfect tropical sunset backdrop with The Art of Sok’s character presented in the foreground – beautifully comnposed.

The Art of Sok, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024
The Art of Sok, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024

During his short trip to Bristol, The Art of Sok, who it turns out is a lovely bloke, dropped a few pieces about the place which I will naturally post in due course. The cartoon-style character is pretty much perfect in its precision, which is how The Art of Sok rolls. He told me that he likes to get his finished pieces to resemble as closely as possible his draft, so it is all very much worked out in advance, and he has the skills to execute his plan to the letter. This is an excellent collaboration.

6172. M32 roundabout J3 (593)

Mind 49 and SPZero76, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024
Mind 49 and SPZero76, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024

A couple of weeks back, there was a superb paint jam on the M32 roundabout. I am not sure if it was to celebrate something specific, or simply a whole bunch of artists enjoying a sunny day (what are those?), but whatever it was all about, it resulted in some cracking pieces, including this meeting of styles collaboration between Mind 49 and SPZero76.

Mind 49, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024
Mind 49, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024

Mind 49 has been smashing it with each new piece he produces. His portrait work, often from unusual angles and with faces partially obscured is painted in a soft photorealistic style, if that makes sense. The character in this particular piece is looking away, but immediately catching the eye is the addition of a large swallow flying by, utterly unexpected, and quite brilliant. This is a wonderfully conceived piece which segues nicely to something completely different via a multicoloured strip.

SPZero76, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024
SPZero76, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024

The two pieces have nothing in common at all, and SPZero76’s animated comic style is not something I would expect to see adjacent to Mind 49 soft-portrait style. The multicoloured strip is the only thing that unites them. The piece entitled ‘after the robot apocalypse’ features a dog? character and a feline robot toting large weapons, in some dystopian future setting. A wonderful and lively animation piece from a truly gifted artist.

6159. Greenbank (124)

Esme Lower, Greenbank, Bristol, May 2024
Esme Lower, Greenbank, Bristol, May 2024

I think that we are approaching the last few months of this wonderful spot with its long hoarding, because the housing development is nearing completion, and when finished the boards will come down and the graffiti spot will become a thing of the past. That is part of my motivation to capture these spots and the art, because it is all so ephemeral. I was lucky enough to meet Esme Lower while she was painting this piece, and she said at the time that she was looking forward to doing more artwork on the streets, because she really enjoys it.

Esme Lower, Greenbank, Bristol, May 2024
Esme Lower, Greenbank, Bristol, May 2024

I love this representation of a fight or scrap, because it is representative of so many conflict situations, and painted in a humorous style. It reminds me of the fights that Asterix and Obelix would have with the Romans in the comic book series. There is plenty of action and movement in this fun piece, and I will definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for more from Esme Lower.

6049. Peel Street Green (31)

Desi and Mr Two Gram, Peel Street Green, Bristol, May 2024
Desi and Mr Two Gram, Peel Street Green, Bristol, May 2024

Peel Street Green is a really great spot for showcasing your work, and Desi and Mr Two Gram have absolutely smashed it with this colourful and cheerful themed collaborative wall. I particularly like the inclusion of characters, which is something neither of these artists does all that often, but they should, because these are brilliant.

Desi, Peel Street Green, Bristol, May 2024
Desi, Peel Street Green, Bristol, May 2024

Desi has returned to writing DESI, after a spell of writing VEIL, and appears to write with such confidence and flair these days. Her work has really come on in leaps and bounds, and her finishing has improved no end. The character, with pink overtones, in keeping with the writing, looks, stylistically, like a character from the Dexter’s Laboratory cartoon series. A great combo piece.

Mr Two Gram, Peel Street Green, Bristol, May 2024
Mr Two Gram, Peel Street Green, Bristol, May 2024

Mr Two Gram and I had a long conversation a little while ago, under the M32, during which I asked him whether he ever painted characters, and he replied that it was something he was considering… well I am glad that he did, because this combination of writing and cartoon character is superb. Mr Two Gram’s letters are so distinctive and always neatly turned out, and the colour scheme works well here too. As with Desi’s piece, the hair and eyes match the writing, ensuring the character is relevant to the piece. Great work and a wonderful collaborative extravaganza.

5986. Brunel Way (270)

Bean, Brunel Way, Bristol, April 2024
Bean, Brunel Way, Bristol, April 2024

The wonderful thing about art is that you can create situations or landscapes or portraits and so on that are utterly fictional, unlikely, impossible, weird and that you are in control of this creative universe. Alternatively, some artists try to capture real life either through accurate representations or abstract interpretations. Bean has painted something verging on the weird side with this piece.

Bean, Brunel Way, Bristol, April 2024
Bean, Brunel Way, Bristol, April 2024

The character, who is wearing a rather curious hat, is holding his, or somebody else’s severed legs from which blue gloop is gushing. I’ll not attempt to interpret the piece, which is exceptionally painted in Bean’s trademark two-tone colour cartoon style. An entertaining and curious piece.

5985. M32 Cycle path (263)

Biers, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2024
Biers, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2024

Biers has been rolling out a good deal of wonderful writing/character combination pieces over the last year or so, and is deeply embedded in a rich vein of form. This piece is painted along the narrowest stretch of cycle path and getting pictures, even with wide angle capability, is tricky at best.

Biers, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2024
Biers, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2024

The WD40 letters are filled with a magnificent blue patterning, with some awesome designs floating on rippled blues. The character is Courage the Cowardly Dog, from a cartoon series screened in the late ’90s early ’00s, which passed me by completely – I was too busy trying to be a grown up. Set on a deep red background, this is a classy piece of work from Biers.