One of the pure joys over the last year has been the emergence of Mr Underbite and his charismatic character, Mr Underbite. This rather glum fellow is endearing to say the least, and despite his miserable disposition, cheers me up every time I see him.
Mr Underbite, Brunel Way, Bristol, March 2023
Mr Underbite tends to use a basic template which he goes on to ‘pimp’ with different features and themes. This recent piece under Brunel Way is the basic form, although this is the first time I have seen the character with a neck. Looking forward to seeing a whole load more this year.
Instantly, my first thought when I look at this piece is that 3Dom has signed it @mike22inks, which is his Instagram handle. Is this in an effort to be more overt in gaining commissions? At the moment, with Bristol City Council (supposedly) clamping down on illegal walls, it might be that some of the more established artists are looking to continue their craft with commissions and permitted walls. Who knows?
3Dom, Elton Street, Bristol, February 2023
The piece itself, at the end of the Lost Horizons building, is a beautifully illustrated social commentary piece, possibly titled “It’s a Trap”. On his Instagram post, 3Dom included the hashtag #cashlesssociety. The TV/monitor character is animated with crustacean legs and is dangling an angler fish-like lure rather menacingly, enticing victims into the toothy mouth. Lots of things going on in this fabulous piece.
Another day and another monster character from Mote, although this one is a little different from his others. I am guessing that this is a representation of a jellyfish kind of creature, and the wobbly border line would probably confirm this.
Mote, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2023
Unusually, Mote has signed this piece and I can’t think of any other occasion when he has done this, so that comes as a bit of a surprise. If I am honest, I’m not sure that the wobbly line thing works too well, but it is great to see the artist experimenting and stretching himself. Another one for the menagerie.
I believe that this is a reasonably old piece from Mote on one of the columns under Brunel Way, but I have only recently photographed it – there are so many in this spot it is difficult to keep up.
Mote, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2023
Every time I have seen this piece, I instantly get images of the caped crusader and am not sure if this is deliberate or accidental on the part of Mote, who is not known for his characters drawn from popular culture, but rather from his imagination. Whatever the inspiration for this column piece, it is cheerful and fun and typically clean as you’d expect from Mote.
This wall is a little tiresome to photograph, especially as my camera doesn’t have a wide angle setting. The wall is in a narrow space opposite the wall of a ramp on the skate park, meaning that getting decent shots of anything painted here is a challenge. Biers, AKA WD40 has set me the challenge on this occasion.
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2023
With his WD40 letters, Biers has incorporated a cartoon character, and I have to say I have drawn a blank on this one, so if you have any idea who he is, please feel free to drop his name in the comments. This is a particularly tidy piece from Biers, who can sometimes be a little rough around the edges, but not here, this is clean and on-point. A really lovely piece by Biers.
Here we have yet another fine piece from Mudra, in what seems to be a rapid-fire series of work from him. It is satisfying, as an onlooker, to watch as he develops and improves his style and to observe his creativity and imagination. To see his development, I have linked to his gallery, which is well worth a quick look.
Mudra, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2023
This piece, at the end of the tunnel, follows his template style of letters and character, mashed up into a single coherent work. The letters are connected through a common colour palette, but their shape, design and size are somewhat varied. The letters are quite concealed, although easy to find if you know what you are looking for. The little ‘d’ is probably the easiest. The character in the middle of the piece, on this occasion, is not a substitute letter, but instead just a bit of fun breaking up the piece. You’ve got to love the little floating had. There is a reference to recreational drugs and a bit of trippyness about the piece – but I am way too conventional to know about such things. More to come soon, I have no doubt.
I am guessing that Slakarts is busy these days in his non-street art life, because 2022 has been a very quiet year for him, and this is one of only a handful of pieces I have seen in a long time. This is how it goes for most street/graffiti artists, peaks and troughs of activity for a multitude of different reasons. It was fabulous, therefore, to come across this piece up at Purdown.
Slakarts, Purdown, Bristol, January 2023
Slakarts tends to maintain his central character, pimping it with ever more elaborate ideas. In this piece, the character is on the left, but the whole piece is a bit of a mash-up of randomly distributed elements of the character’s features, a nose, teeth, an ear and a tongue are thrown into the mix. Nicely designed and thought out. Let’s hope Slakarts can get out more in 2023.
I have a feeling that I never posted this piece by Stiff at the time (June 2022) it was painted, because it wasn’t quite finished, and when I returned to photograph it in its final glory it had already been painted over. I have decided to share it now, simply because I like his unique take, and enjoy his art. Furthermore, I was lucky enough to meet him for the first time when he painted this piece, as he tends to be quite elusive.
Stiff, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2022
Stiff usually paints some kind of alien character as the subject of his work, and I think that artists choose to paint aliens or monsters, because there are no references against which they can be judged, and you can be as creative as your imagination allows, in a way that portrait artists, for example, can’t. Nice work from Stiff.
I have a feeling that 2023 will be a year in which we see Mote reach a new level. The artist is already turning out pieces at a phenomenal rate, and his character compositions are becoming more sophisticated. What will be interesting is to see where all this goes this year, and I can’t wait to see it unfold.
Mote, Brunel Way, Bristol, Deccember 2022
This is another piece with a pair of characters connected via an upturned crown (a motif that Mote is fond of). The characters are also connected by a reverse colour scheme, so there is definitely a story being told in the piece. As always, Mote has kept the fills strong, with all the borders and detail lines clean and tight. A fine pair under Brunel Way.
Mote always pleases with his clean and simple designs of monsters that can be found pretty much everywhere in Bristol. This beautiful (ugly) pair are on the small part of the curved wall in Dean Lane skate park.
Mote, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2022
I think that Mote’s work is a great example of why it is important to buff a wall for best results. Imagine if these two characters were painted directly onto a messy wall without the clean background, the balance and status of the characters would be completely lost. I love these giant doodles, and have enjoyed the ride this year with Mote’s appearance on the Bristol scene. I am really looking forward to seeing how he can develop his style next year as he gains experience and new skills. Thanks for all the monsters.
Natural adventures 