I continue to be bewitched by Mr Crawls’ work. I have always been attracted to character artists who present variations on a theme – Mr Crawls, Mr Underbite, Asre, Morag, Hire’s rabbits, to mention but a few. There is something comforting about the familiar and enjoyable about the pimping that familiarity, if that makes any sense at all.
Mr Crawls, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2023
This penguin piece is only a couple of hundred yards away from his first penguin piece on a column of the M32 Spot, but is just as much fun. There is something endearing about this penguin, maybe it is that he is a penguin, or maybe it is the woolly hat, either way this character is a winner. I am enjoying the Mr Crawls menagerie very much.
Werm and Daz Cat, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2023
Oooh. This is a lovely collaboration by Werm and Daz Cat in one of my favourite spots, the curved wall at Dean Lane. The writing/character combination utilises the slightly awkward space on the wall really well. It feels like a while since a good piece appeared here. Back in the day this wall was a bit of a premium wall, but recently it has been occupied by rather too many throw ups and frankly a lot of rubbish, so it was refreshing to come across this piece.
Werm, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2023
To the left on the lower bit of wall, Werm continues with his transition towards a different presentation of his letters which have been nicely thought out, offering a little bit of bilateral symmetry. With Werm, I feel like he experiments and then settles on a particular form before transitioning to the next until he feels he needs to change. A stop-start method that seems to work for him. Some other artists won’t change at all, while others make subtle or wholesale changes with each new piece they paint. This is the joy of the vast spectrum of artists in Bristol.
Daz Cat, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2023
For me the star of the show is the Daz Cat cat and friends toasting marshmallows. I love these storytelling pieces by Daz Cat, he seems to capture something really special that you need to look at, interpret and enjoy. Quite what creatures the companions are I am not sure, but one looks most contented, the other a little concerned. The main character has an air of compassion and love. A brilliant piece, and it is always good to see Daz Cat painting these expansive scenes.
Jevoissoul has hit the ground running and here he has painted a classic portrait piece complete with joint and stylised smoke, all painted in his Picassoesque cartoon style. He is brave too, there are no many new artists who would paint this wall so early on in their development, and to be fair, Jevoissoul has carried it off well.
Jevoissoul, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
When I met him a little while back, Jevoissoul told me that he has been drafting and sketching his characters for years and is very familiar with his material. The challenge for him has been to scale up his work and to adapt to using spray cans, both of which he has done admirably. I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot more of Jevoissoul over the coming months/years.
I said that I would bring you more pieces by Jevoissoul, and I am true to my word. Jevoissoul is a new artist trying his hand at painting walls and making a good fist of it from what I have seen so far, and he is in a bit of a hurry, having painted several small pieces in the Brunel Way/Dean Lane area. His name is interesting, and I guess is a corruption of Je vois soul – I see soul.
Jevoissoul, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023
In this character portrait piece our hero is wearing a cap with the postcode BS3 on it and smoking a roll-up. The word SLOW accompanies the piece, and is seen on many of his other pieces too. Everything about Jevoissoul’s work and character suggests a pretty chilled and laid back person, or at least that is how I read it. I expect we’ll be seeing a lot more from the artist in the coming months, I have a feeling he is only just getting started.
There are absolutely no signs of Bean slowing down at all. The young artist has been smashing out his character/writing pieces with incredible regularity throughout the summer, and I already have easily enough for a gallery of his work, although I have a pipeline in preparation, and his gallery might need to find a slot in the queue.
Bean, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2023
This piece combines Bean’s central character with writing that spells out BEAN. The blue-faced cartoon character fits the Bean style perfectly, with each colour block containing a light and dark tone to bring out a bit of depth. The writing is really accomplished and has excellent fills in three horizontal sections. I feel like Bean is a man in a hurry, and perhaps he should draw breath and develop some elements of his work. I think that his pieces would definitely benefit from a buffed background, to remove competing distractions, for example. If he keeps developing and learning, Bean will go far.
Today, being a Sunday, I have a little bit more capacity to write a third post, which is rather necessary, given the vastness of my backlog. Let me introduce you to a new artist on the scene, Jevoissoul, who I met at this exact spot a couple of weeks after he painted this interesting column piece. When I first saw the piece, I wondered if an artist called Panskaribas (whose style is similar to this) had returned to Bristol, as there are many shared characteristics between the artists, such as the cartoon Picassoesque style.
Jevoissoul, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2023
What is most impressive is that Jevoissoul has jumped straight from sketchbook to walls, using this area under Brunel Way to practice his spray can control and technique. When I spoke with the artist, he told me that this was just the beginning and that he was planning to do a lot of painting, and indeed that is exactly what is happening, his work is popping up all over the place. I think I am going to enjoy watching how Jevoissoul develops as a street artist from this encouraging start.
CD.TC, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023CD.TC and Daz Cat, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2022CD.TC, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2021CD.TC and Daz Cat, St Werburghs tunnel, Bristol, May 2021CD.TC, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2021CD.TC, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2021CD.TC, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2020CD.TC, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020CD.TC, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2020CD.TC, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2020CD.TC, Daz Cat and Kool Hand, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2020CD.TC, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2020CD.TC, Purdown, Bristol, July 2020CD., St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
What an absolute belter from Cheo, an artist who has lost none of his touch during his absence, and if anything has come back to painting on the streets with renewed vigour and creativity. It took me several attempts to get a clean shot of this piece in Dean Lane, because developers, who are working on the old Salvation Army building behind, had fenced off half of this wall, much to everyone’s irritation.
Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2023
I understand, thank you Paul H for the insight, that the piece was influenced by the Rayman video games, something I would not and could not have ever known. The beast is so brilliantly painted, and has such depth and detail that few artists would be able to recreate. Just an awesome piece from an awesome artist.
I think that this is a reasonably old piece by Mr Penfold, but not to me it isn’t because I only recently tracked down this spot, after some considerable time looking for it. The side of this building in White Street has about five windows, beneath each of which is a nice flat rendered wall – perfect for painting.
Mr Penfold, White Street, Bristol, September 2023
I haven’t seen much on the streets by Mr Penfold for quite a while now, so finding this was rather pleasing. I think he is concentrating more on his studio design work, which is well worth a gander on his Instagram feed. Often Mr Penfold’s pieces are abstract designs, but every once in a while he paints a character, but they are usually peppered with abstract shapes as is the case here. I would love to see more of his str4eet pieces, but I guess he is out there being busy with his real work.
Bean has more than made his mark in Bristol, and his characters have livened things up a great deal. He is on a roll and there doesn’t seem to be any stopping him. This colourful piece under Brunel Way, featuring two characters and some writing, shows how the young artist is quickly growing in confidence and improving his technical skills.
Bean, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2023
The characters that Bean paints have a very distinct look in a cartoon style that relies on using two tones of each colour in each section of the piece, light and dark, to create some depth. There isn’t much blending of colour or use of highlights, that some artists use to create depth. Bean’s writing is free in form, and very nicely filled. This is an artist who seems to be in a hurry and is turning out imaginative pieces at an alarming rate.
Natural adventures 