I suspect that this is just a little taster of what is to come from Bean later on this year, as he dropped a couple of pieces during what I suspect was an early spring break from his studies. His work is really developing well, and his stylised cartoon characters are each so unique.
Bean, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2024
I like the way that Bean has added a bit of a buffer around his character, allowing it to stand out a little better from the ‘noise’ or artwork that he has overpainted, it certainly makes a significant difference to the outcome. I would love to see some of his work on a fully buffed wall, maybe this summer. This piece is a cracker, and the character feels really animated, with lots of movement in his hair and from the spray can.
Once again, Laic217 seems to be pushing the envelope with his work, most recently with this unusual piece in the little tunnel at Cumberland Basin. Although the fingers of thee character are a little bony, there isn’t a skull or skeleton in sight.
Laic217, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2024
The way that this piece has been painted, it almost loos like oils on a canvass, slapped on in layers. Laic217 has worked cleverly to achieve depth in perspective, but also depth in textures through his use of dark and shade. I don’t know what the arrow represents, but it looks great. It is a nice touch to with the letters LAIC tattooed onto the fingers. Classy stuff.
The ‘gallery’ in Elton Street, on the side of the Lost Horizons Arts Centre, is always worth a look. There are five or six framed boards raised above the street (ladders required for the artists), curated by the Arts Centre, and which are rarely, if ever, tagged or overpainted. This board, on the end of the building has been painted by Used Pencil, a Bristol artist whose work I have only once seen before at Upfest 2022.
UsedPencil, Elton Street, Bristol, February 2024
This piece is painted with a combination of spray paint and brushes, which helps to give it that texture and detail, and you can find a video of its creation on Used Pencil’s Instagram feed. It is a piece that is easy on the eye and has a kind of mystical feel to it. Although the style is recognisable from his Upfest piece, the subject matter is quite different.
The day I originally photographed this wonderful piece by Kid Crayon was very wet indeed, and although most days have been wet this winter/spring, that day was particularly wet. I mention this because, unfortunately, my original set of photographs were blurred with a spot of rain on the lens. Of course, by the time I returned to get more pictures, the piece had been tagged, so this post has a blurred untagged image and a crisp tagged one. It can be difficult to win at this game sometimes.
Kid Crayon, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
Kid Crayon has been out a couple of times recently, and it is great to see, I certainly miss his work during the long gaps of street inactivity. In recent years, his work mainly consists of a letters/character combination and with this piece he doesn’t disappoint. The letters are painted in modest colour tones, and the ‘seams’ ‘bolted’ together with ‘rivets’, a writing technique used by other artists in Bristol.
Kid Crayon, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
The character face is the star of the piece in my eyes an harks back to Kid Crayon’s early wheatpaste faces that got me curious about street art in Bristol in the first place, back in 2015. The trademark crayon is present, floating in front of the character’s face – who needs a signature and letters spelling out your name when you only have to include a floating crayon?
Kid Crayon, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
At the time of painting this wonderful piece, Kid Crayon left a little extra, as he often does, by painting the bin at the far corner of the skate park. Stylish stuff.
As mentioned in a recent post, Roo and SkyHigh visited Bristol recently, and left a memorable mark on the walls of Brunel Way. Rther sadly SkyHigh’s masterpiece didn’t last too long, but I am pleased to report that Roo’s pieces are still making an impact on anyone wandering around the area.
Roo, Brunel Way, Bristol, March 2024
Roo’s work is simple, with bold outlines and solid fills. Her cartoon style is beyond charming and her characters always have a sunny disposition. Although the pieces are simple, this doesn’t mean that they are easy to paint, in fact the opposite is true, great skill is needed to produce the crisp and sharp lines, which are exposed to deeper scrutiny than more complex and busy pieces.
Roo, Brunel Way, Bristol ,March 2024
Not content only with painting her daisy on this little wall, Roo also found time to decorate one of the columns under Brunel Way. She painted another piece too, not all that far away, which I will feature soon. Roo and SkyHigh are always welcome in Bristol, spicing things up a little.
Saor has been dropping some utterly outstanding pieces for such a long while now, that it is far too easy to take them for granted, and this beauty in Dean Lane is another one to come off the production line. Unfortunately, this piece, and others that were painted during the same session, was a little rain-affected, and there are a few unintentional dips knocking around.
Saor, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2023
The cartoon character, Astro Boy, is one that I can identify because I used to watch it repeatedly with my children when they were younger. The design of the letters SAOR is beyond brilliant, and as ever executed with extraordinary precision. It is interesting to contrast the familiar character with the high design of the letters, confusing the visual narrative a little. Just another wonderful piece from Saor.
I am very pleased to see that Slakarts appears to have a little bit of time on his hands and has been painting a few pieces recently. For fans of his work, this is of course great news, although it might indicate a slackening off of his work, which might not be so good. I would like to think it represents a good work/life balance.
Slakarts, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2024
This piece is a little more considered than some of his archetypal ‘mega-tag faces’, and carries a pretty strong message in today’s context. The character appears to be reading ‘War and Peace’, although he is in fact reading two different books, ‘War’, and ‘Peace’. It is encouraging to see that the larger volume is on Peace, but distressing to see the character reading War. The line-drawing style of the piece is brilliantly executed, being tight and tidy. Watch out for more from Slakarts coming soon.
A little earlier in the year, Kid Krishna announced his return to the streets after a bit of a quiet period. Since January, he has been super-active and smashing it on walls all over the city, so much so that I am having to consider bunching a few of them together into a single post.
Kid Krishna, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024
One of the things that Kid Krishna brings to his pieces is an incredible sense of colour, sometimes subtle and other times overt, but always carefully matched and incorporated. I have been puzzling over the character, and feel like I should know who it is, more than that, he was on some posters which I spotted in Nottingham, or something very similar. It will remain a mystery. This is a lovely fresh piece from Kid Krishna in the tunnel.
I am enjoying the regularity with which Biers is turning out his pieces at the moment, with at least one or two each month. The broad format is the same, with his WD40 letters, and a character poking through the ‘0’.
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2024
The character has baffled me a little, and my Google search has yielded nothing, so he will have to remain a mystery. Perhaps the skull next to the character would offer an extra clue, but it is not enough for me. The letters are really clean and tidy, a feature of Biers’ recent work, and the colour palette is lovely, although slightly lost on the pinky background. Perhaps something with a little more contrast might have worked better, but what do I know?
Kid Crayon, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2024
Kid Crayon holds a special place in the evolution of Natural Adventures, as it was his paste ups that drew me into the exciting and mysterious world of street art in Bristol, with posts such as this first one, my 11th post, or this one of the boy eating cheese. I developed a love for wheatpastes because of Kid Crayon, who eventually turned his attention to painting with spray cans.
Kid Crayon, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2024
Kid Crayon is nowhere near as prolific as he used to be, but this is probably a good sign, because it means that his work as an illustrator and animator is keeping his busy and bringing in an income. In this bright and colourful piece Kid Crayon has written his name in letters with a variety of fills, and the eye is drawn to the character in place of the letter ‘O’. A fun and most excellent piece reminding us all what a fabulously creative artist he is.
Natural adventures 