A quick one today as I need to get myself sorted for a day of fishing. This is a magnificent pair of characters from Mr Crawls and Mote… the gift that keeps on giving. The piece can be found on the hoardings opposite Temple Meads station.
The trademark chrome background helps to lift the characters and give them prominence. A bird with a hat from Mr Crawls, and a lovesick monster from Mote. What’s not to like about these characters?
Don’t expect too much from me today. I am on holiday and paradoxically have less time than usual to compose a blog post than usual. This is a rather nice piece from the anti-style graffiti writer Whos.
There is a charm about Whos work, and this chrome piece certainly makes an impact. The fills and chrome character provide a rather fun overall effect, and it is great to see Whos out and about again.
The letters spell out WHOS and include a little character portrait in what looks like a rather psychedelic piece. The most striking part in this chrome arrangement are the stars and tears that appear in the fill of the letters. A nice piece from Whos.
I am still a little under the weather with Covid this morning, so only short posts today. This is a wonderful piece of chrome graffiti writing from Kosc in a spot that he has painted before, but I don’t usually associate with him.
The letters are made up in the style of riveted sheets of metal, a device used by many writers and one that is very effective. Kosc has perfected this style.
Klashwhensober is consistently one of the most prolific graffiti writers in Bristol, tracing out his SOBER letters wherever he finds a free wall. Some of his pieces are obviously rather hurried while others, like this one are a little bit more considered and tidy.
The way that Klashwhensober has overwritten the piece underneath is quite clever in that instead of buffing out the wall completely he has created a cloudy covering obscuring it enough to nullify it. The chrome letters are really nicely worked with a tidy two-tone drop shadow and clean black border. Definitely one of Klashwhensober’s better ones.
When Logoe hits town, he tends to hit it pretty hard. When this collaborative piece was painted earlier in the month, I think it might have been a one-off, because I didn’t find any other pieces in all the spots he usually decorates so freely. It is a collaboration with Nova, about whom I know absolutely nothing, but it is a beauty nonetheless.
More often than not Logoe writes with thin script letters, but he has switched things up in this piece of graffiti writing with great big fat chrome letters with a bold solid black drop shadow. The whole piece is very neat and tidy and well presented on a red cloudy background. Of course, there is a sprinkling of small oval dots running through the piece, just in case we weren’t sure it was by Logoe.
Nova has painted letters using the same colour scheme, and also incorporated little ovals, although arranged a little more orderly than Logoe’s. Another cross-reference feature is the yellow ‘o’ in both pieces. Nova’s writing is also nicely presented, and I am intrigued to know more about the artist, but that might need to wait until the next time I bump into Logoe. A fine collaboration an a favourite wall.
Two things I really enjoy about Mr Crawls’ work are his desire to grow and develop his ideas, while underpinning them with his magic style and the frequency with which he paints, constantly keeping the interest going in locations all over the city.
I haven’t seen anything quite like this from Mr Crawls before, although the head, hat and chrome background are reasonably familiar themes. It is the bottom half of thee piece that introduces a whole new aspect that is different and one which it will be interesting to see if he replicates or uses again. Definitely an eye-catching design in a great spot.
What better way to start the day than with a nice, crisp chrome piece from Nips. What a pity I didn’t get there before the tagger, but that is all part of the way of life in this jungle. Everyone knows what the rules are, and whatever existing rules can be broken at any time by anyone.
There is an uncomplicatedness about this piece that speaks of an artist who is comfortable with their work. No need to embellish or over-decorate. Sometimes less is more, and I would suggest that is the case here. I haven’t yet met Nips, and look forward to the day when I might just be in the right place at the right time to do so.
He gets absolutely everywhere, does Grimes, and what a delightful thing that is. He has even made it into the narrow Leonard Lane with this fine chrome piece. You might spot some double yellow lines, that could possibly be the most useless yellow lines in the country, given that it is a dead end, incredibly narrow and if a driver was stupid enough to drive into the lane, they might never get back out again.
Even when he paints in a single colour, Grimes manages to generate great energy from the form of his letters and in this case some orange ‘flame’ decorations around the perimeter. The letters spell out GRIME and are beautifully finished with a decent 3D drop shadow border. Still more to come from this relative newcomer to Bristol.
So, after a rush of high-end Upfest murals, I feel it is time for a switch back to some of the more grounded and authentic street pieces that are rolled out every day for those who choose to find them. This is a really nice piece of writing under Brunel Way, by Sorts.
Sorts presents some nice irregular letters, with a chrome base which are augmented with some really nice pink and purple fill sections decorated with red spots. The whole thing is nicely balanced and works really well. The letters are set on a creative green background with ‘cracks’ painted into it. Great honest stuff from Sorts.
Another quick rifle through my archive turned up this beautiful chrome piece by Elvs in Dean Lane from March this year. There was a time not so long ago that Elvs was a regular visitor to Bristol from his native Wales, but his appearances have dwindled lately, and I guess he has other things on his plate that makes travel and painting more challenging.
I like to think that this wonderfully elaborate graffiti writing is archetypal Elvs, a complex and beautifully picked out design simply delivered. Everything here is on point, a fine chrome fill, superb fine line detail, great black 3D drop shadow, tidy light blue border, white starbursts, a bubble background set on a blue buffed wall and a little yellow halo to finish with. Certainly worth waiting for.
