Character – Page 54 – Natural adventures

3128. St Werburghs tunnel (178)

I not only simply hate the new WordPress editor, I loathe it. Not only does everything take twice as long, but it constantly seems to try and give you what you want rather than letting you do what you want. Very, very annoying.

This is a cheerful little piece by DFC1848 in the tunnel, and yet another example of just how far his work has come over the last few months.

DFC1848, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2020

This is a reversion to his original character, but there is so much more in the way of decoration and experimentation, including some bubbles on the outside and two tones of blue for the body. There is so much more confidence and ease with his work now and this perfectly demonstrates that practice is the name of the game.

3119. M32 Spot (76)

From time to time I make assumptions on Natural Adventures. Sometimes they are right and at other times they are disastrously wrong, so I am a little nervous about sticking my neck out and suggesting that this piece is by Mutatee.

My doubt is that I haven’t seen anything painted by Mutatee before, only little resin models, but the blue-faced character is the same as hers. I realise that the character is from some TV show, so it is possible that another artist painted this. All part of the confusing street art landscape. I shall attribute this fun little piece to Mutatee until told otherwise.

Mutatee, Turbo Island, Bristol, November 2019

3074. Cowmead Walk (2)

One of the nicest walls in Bristol has just had a makeover. The whole wall in Cowmead Walk in St Werburghs is quite awkward to photograph, so I have split the collaboration by 3Dom, Sepr and Feek into three separate posts of which this is the first. Painted in deep rich colours, this 3Dom piece is truly outstanding.

3Dom’s character is perched on the edge of a hamster wheel in the corner of a room with some strange pink and green plants growing up from the carpet and a Swiss cheese plant thrown in for good measure. The character is, in 3dom style, a composition of shapes and forms assembled in a surreal way into ‘human’ form. Typically the character’s legs are clad with stripey trousers. The tubes coming out of the cube head have a smiley and a sad face on them, although I’m not sure what this is depicting. There is so much detail in here that you could spend a long time looking at it – feel free to go right ahead. Such quality.

3028. M32 roundabout J3 (224)

The artist I miss the most when he hasn’t hit a wall for a while is Kid Crayon. There is something about his work and that it was seeing his wheatpastes in 2015 that drew me into appreciating street art in the first place that has created a special place in my heart for KC’s work.

Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2020

This is a typically wonderful piece from a recent paint jam at the M32 roundabout. The big bold letters are interrupted with a pyramid and an all-seeing-eye for an A. This in itself is terrific, but the character’s face and hand emerging or sinking into flat calm water is pure magic.

The party hat, a signature element of KC’s recent works, is silly and fun, setting the whole thing off perfectly. Kid Crayon’s work is nearly always fun and engaging, bringing a smile to faces.

Fiva (Fiver)

A fabulous gallery of fivers from Bristol-based artist Fiva (Fiver). Some truly wonderful pieces here.

All photographs by Scooj

Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023

Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2020

Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2019

Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2019

Five, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2019

Fiva, St George skate park, Bristol, September 2019

Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019

Fiva and Nightwayss, St George, Bristol, August 2019

Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2019

Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2018

Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2018

Fiva, St Werburghs tunnel, Bristol, June 2018

Fiva, St Werburghs tunnel, Bristol, June 2016

Fiva, Ashley Road, Bristol, December 2017

Fiva, Ashley Road, Bristol, November 2017

Fiver, St Andrews Road, Bristol, December 2016

3003. L Dub (16)

I love this recent collaboration from DFC1848 and DJ Perks for many reasons, but mainly because these guys are more often on the other side of the camera lens, and have made the step into spraying a lot for themselves and both have made huge improvements in the last year.

The left hand side is a wonderful bright red character from DFC1848, which retains many of the characteristics of some of his earlier characters but contains additional detail. It just goes to show what improvements can be made with loads of practice – DFC1848 had a board in his garden and practiced during lock down.

On the right is a very tidy bit of graffiti writing from DJ Perks, whose work has also seen a great improvement over the last 18 months. the letter shapes are great and the depth of shading works really well. I’m not too sure about the drips though. A lovely collaboration which fills me with hope for my own efforts.

2995. St Werburghs tunnel (169)

The easing of lock down (and I know I have flogged this particular horse to death) has seen the arrival of an ultra busy, ultra inspired period of street art in Bristol. It seems that all the artists that have been hitting the walls hard have been doing some creative thinking while they have been at home.

This lovely piece in St Werburghs tunnel from Rapt is neat and tidy and has the addition of a little character to the left, looking a lot like Snoopy. The dog is smoking a cigarette and wearing a hat with the words ‘Doggy Style’ written across it. This piece was part of a collaborative effort, with Elvs making up the other half (coming soon). Giants awaking from their slumbers.

2977. M32 Spot (73)

It took two trips to this spot to be able to get any decent pictures. On my first visit, the sun was very bright indeed and a horizontal shadow was cast across the top half of the piece… my photographs were unusable.

This is a magnificent collaboration between 3Dom and Feek and one of the first to be painted since the lock down restrictions were slightly eased. On the left is an extraordinary character by 3Dom built up of five or six distinct elements: a raspberry head with a target, a geometric torso, wicker basket bottom, fractured legs and fabulous slippers. The character is balancing on a tightrope.

Opposite is a character from Feek, wearing a barrel on his head riding a unicycle on the same tightrope, a parrot nervously hanging on to the seat of the unicycle. The whole piece is a celebration of circus in a burst of colour and surreal ideas, and is the kind of outstanding piece that doesn’t come around every day.

3Dom and Feek, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2020

Between the two tightrope acts is a beautifully painted ASK (After School Klub) written in circus-style Block script, which holds the two halves together with great skill. This is a truly exceptional piece and one that has been well worth the wait.

2970. Dean Lane skate park (317)

I love this fun piece from DFC1848 for a great many reasons. Primarily, we are witnessing the development of an artist from the early stages. DFC1848 is a street art hunter (a term I dislike) like me, who about two years ago turned his hand to spraying walls with his ‘stock’ character piece, following some work on stickers. He has been practicing and repeating his favoured character on a reasonably regular basis since then but the step change has occurred during lock down, where he was painting a new piece in his garden pretty much every day, with some rather spectacular results.

Now since the lock down restrictions have eased DFC1848 has painted this in Dean Lane, with a confidence of an accomplished artist. It is great to see. I really look forward to seeing some of the characters he practiced in his garden making it onto the streets of Bristol this summer.

DFC1848, M32 cycle path, Bristol, June 2019

2946. St Werburghs tunnel (168)

I managed to get out yesterday and found a few new pieces around the place, and it would seem that with some social distancing rules being relaxed artists are beginning to slowly return to walls. In the meantime, I still have a few archive pieces lined up for publication, including this fine collaboration fron Dasco and Wiflywin.

Dasco, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2019

On the left is a nice piece of writing from Dasco. Confident and assured the fills are great and the stripy barcode effect on the 3D lettering has worked well in this instance, which is not always an easy thing to do. Set on an orange brick wall, the piece segues nicely into the wiflywin piece to the right.

Wiflywin, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2019

Wiflywin continues the writing using a similar colour palette and the barcoded 3D letter shading, but perhaps with just a little less confidence. I am not quite sure what the letters spell out, and I will have to get to know more about the artist.

Dasco and Wiflywin, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2019

On the right is a smashed up police car and I am uncertain whether one or the other or both artists painted it. Perhaps there was another artist involved, I am not sure, but I rather like it, and it works really well as a ‘character’ bookend to the graffiti writing. I’m not sure why I never posted this in November last year when I first photographed it.

UPDATE – On 30 May I met Wiflywin for the first time and asked him about this, he told me that he painted the police car… problem solved.

	scooj on Thursday doors – 5 Febru…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 5 Febru…
	scooj on 7449. Greenbank (180)
	skat on Thursday doors – 5 Febru…
	Dan Antion on Thursday doors – 5 Febru…

	scooj on Thursday doors – 5 Febru…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 5 Febru…
	scooj on 7449. Greenbank (180)
	skat on Thursday doors – 5 Febru…
	Dan Antion on Thursday doors – 5 Febru…

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