I first saw this portrait piece from a distance, and couldn’t for life of me think who the artist was and it was only when I got close enough to take some pictures that I could see it was by Bogat, of course. There is a little clue in the central panel of the baseball cap.
Bogat, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2024
This is an archetypal cartoon character piece the likes of which you might see anywhere in the UK, what is a little different from Bogat in this one is the speech bubble with the rather unsavoury words “Ya mum smells like prawn cocktail”. And there we have it… subversion, art, expression, talent and fun all plastered up on a small column under the M32. It is what it is all about.
It would appear that Awkward is going through a bit of a purple patch, having made only occasional appearances for several years, he is now painting regularly in the Deaner. This one was part of a wider collaboration, or at least it was painted at the same time as some other pieces on the wall.
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol September 2024
In Awkward, perhaps more than with other artists, we see a strong crossover between his art and music – perhaps Benjimagnetic could give him a run for for his money – and indeed Awkward promotes Sentinel793 (Benjimagnetic) in this piece. The two cartoon characters appear to be rather ghoulish, with empty eye-sockets that are connected by wisps of smoke. Nice work from Awkward, although it might not be to everyone’s taste.
I wrote in a post recently that Zake appears to be at his happiest when he is collaborating with others, and here he is teaming up with Werm to create this integrated collaborative piece in the Deaner. Worm’s symmetrical writing has been somewhat disrupted by a mouthwatering (literally) cartoon portrait piece by Zake.
Zake and Werm, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
The colours are all a bit muted because I took the photograph in the late afternoon, and the wall was in the shade. Sometimes collaborations like this don’t work too well, because the elements don’t integrate very well, but in this instance I think the pair have done really well here and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Nice work.
Sait Bare and Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024
I think that Zake is not only incredibly prolific, but is also one of those artists who is happy to collaborate with anyone. Some artists are quite particular about who they collaborate with, but Zake, it would seem, just loves to paint with other artists. In this piece he has teamed up, to great effect, with Sait Bare.
Sait Bare and Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024
The writing, spelling SA(I)T, is by Sait Bare and is typical of his non-conformist letter shapes and cloudy fills, a style that takes a little getting used to, but which is really growing on me. The ‘i’ is supplied by painted by zake in the form of one of his distinctive cartoon portraits, whose body makes up the stem of the ‘i’ and whose head is the dot on top. This is an unexpected and rather successful collaboration, and I suspect not the last from this pair.
Awkward has been getting noticeably busier in recent months, possibly prompted by his counterparts with whom he has collaborated successfully. This time though he painted solo on the bricked up flat wall behind the long skate ramp.
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
The blue-faced character, wearing a baseball cap, appears to be resting on a wonderfully painted red cloud (emanating from his ear) and has a trademark speech bubble with the word AWKWARD spread over two lines. The large saucer eyes and wobbly lines to the left add a nervous energy to the piece. Awkward’s characters are quite unique and always come across as fairly wired or fraught. This is a nice piece.
During my ‘deep dive’ (corporate jargon alert) into the archives, I found a bunch of pieces from Panskaribas, all painted in June 2019, which never made it onto the pages of Natural Adventures, so I am setting things straight in this mini-gallery post.
Panskaribas, The Bear Pit, Bristol, June 2019
Panskaribas had a productive couple of years in Bristol, painting his cartoon doodles is all sorts of nooks and crannies in the popular and sometimes less popular spots. Seeing some of these makes me very nostalgic for The Bear Pit, which has been off limits for a few years now, rendering it a sterile dead-spot in the heart of town.
Panskaribas, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2019
Panskaribas, The Bear Pit, Bristol, June 2019
Panskaribas, The Bear Pit, Bristol, June 2019
While his style might not be everyone’s cup of tea, he certainly livened things up around the place and was a willing collaborator too. Sadly I never met the artist, who now goes by the moniker SEAU, (you might note RESEAU on some of his pieces) and his Instagram is @re.seau.
Zake, Face 1st and Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024
When the PWA boys get together, you often end up with something quite quirky, and this fine collaboration from last month is an peculiar as they come. This piece on the bricked up rear of the large ramp in Dean Lane skate park has been decorated by Zake, Face 1st and Chill.
Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024
Zake has been pushing the boundaries a lot with his cartoon portrait pieces lately, and this crazy character is no exception. Big teeth and wild hair generate a sense of madness in this character, which is further exaggerated by the lack of pupils in the eyes. Adding to this sense of the unhinged, yer man is holding onto a rat by its tail. Weird fun.
Face 1st, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024
The centrepiece is beautifully occupied by a classic piece of writing and character combination work from Face 1st. His letters are in a 3D block style, topped with a giggling girl character that we have come to know and love.
Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024
Rounding off the wall is a cartoon character complete with detailed fine lines and coloursul solid fills. The character is a nicely observed caricature of a young man with a baseball cap, short back and sides and plenty of piercings. A little bird sitting on the forefinger of the character rounds things off nicely. As ever a fine collaboration from this threesome.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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
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.
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