Colour – Page 4 – Natural adventures

6668. River Avon (75)

Grimes, River Avon, Bristol, January 2024

Another piece from the archives, and it is one from Grimes that I must have photographed before I knew who the artist was, and held back as I rarely post unattributed work. This one was taken back in January last year, and may have been the first time I became aware of his outstanding graffiti writing work.

The fruity colours are ones that he really seems to enjoy using, and I have to say that it is the colour palette decisions that he makes that have drawn me into his work, that and the energy that emanates from his pieces. There is a busyness about this piece with the colours and all of the fill patterns, but somehow he gets away with it and it doesn’t feel like hard work viewing it, which can happen sometimes with busy pieces. Nice work from Grimes, who incidentally is a really lovely bloke.

6623. St Werburghs tunnel (468)

Xavier Ren and Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2024

A little while before Christmas, this excellent collaboration appeared in the tunnel. In fact these pieces, by Xavier Ren and Hypo were two-thirds of the collaboration which included some graffiti writing by Minto, to the left, which I have already posted.

Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2024

Hypo has had an extraordinary year, and indeed has been one of Bristol’s most prolific and consistent artists since Covid. This piece underlines his fantastic eye for colourful combinations that create some stunningly vibrant work. The bright letters spell out HYPO, and he has used a clever device to ‘stitch’ the letters together. Really nice graffiti writing.

Xavier Ren, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2024

I know little or nothing about Xavier Ren and so assume he must be a visitor to Bristol, but I really like this character piece. The blue head-and-shoulders portrait piece is full of attitude and moodiness, and presented nicely. It is always great to see something a little different in the city that visitors bring with them.

6598. Upfest 2024 (57)

Sarah Trotter, Upfest 24, The Tobaccco Factory, Bristol, May 2024

Upfest is a huge opportunity for local, national and international artists to show off their artwork, and it can be exceptionally good exposure for some of our local artists, such as Sarah Trotter. I have only seen one piece before by Sarah Trotter, which was painted in Dean Lane as part of a Bristol Mural Collective paint jam, and I remember very much liking that piece.

Sarah Trotter’s elaborate and colourful style is a sumptuous feast for the eyes, full of richness and detail. It looks like this piece contains a fair amount of symbolism, with the centrepiece featuring a circle, a triangle and a sphere. Sitting above are wings and some beautiful feathers, and all of it set on a barren orange landscape and turquoise sky. Wonderful stuff.

Sarah Trotter, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023

6588. St Werburghs tunnel (463)

Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2024

It has been a very good year for Mr Klue, who has been both productive and creative. This new piece in the tunnel differs from many of his others in the use of several colours in a single piece. Perhaps it was a dregs piece, or maybe he simply wanted to switch things up a bit.

The letters KLUE are about as obvious as you are going to seen in a Mr Klue piece of abstract graffiti writing. The top edge of the piece is noteworthy too, with his piece bleeding into the cream background. The photographs don’t really do this one justice, as I remember thinking when I saw it how stunning the colours were. All good stuff.

6563. Sparke Evans Park (107)

Sworm, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, November 2024

Funnily enough I met Sworm, a friend of Klashwhensober’s, when he painted this piece back in the summer, and somehow it has remained intact since. To be fair is is a really nice piece of writing, and has been respected for a long while. At the time of painting, I never got a photograph of the completed piece and only snapped it in November.

The jaunty letters spell SWORM, but it is the fills that delight the eye. A spectrum of colours, perhaps it was a dregs piece (the term used by artists for using up the dregs of a can), dance through the letters with a variety of inspired patterns. This is a most attractive piece of graffiti writing.

6496. M32 roundabout J2 (7)

Lupa, M32 roundabout J2, Bristol, October 2024

I am a fan of Lupa’s work, and although it can be a little rough around the edges, it feels authentic, honest and unpretentious. As ever, with her work, there is a lot of joy and personality about the presentation of her letters, which are characterful and animated with simple faces. The bright colours are not blended, but simply blasted onto the wall, which adds to the genuine nature of Lupa’s work.

This piece is in one of the tunnels of the much underused Junction 2 roundabout, where turnover is far lower than one might expect. There is a lot of wall space here, which gives me comfort, because as the city becomes more and more gentrified, some of the ‘traditional’ walls and hoardings are rapidly disappearing. Lupa has used the space well.

6482. Cumberland Basin

Jest Soubriquet, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2024

Jest Soubriquet is an occasional visitor to Bristol, and his work is always welcome here. I have posted a couple of his portrait pieces on Natural Adventures this year, and this third one tucked away at the left-hand side of the long wall is a true beauty.

The portrait, painted with his trademark patchwork of colours, is accompanied by a cosmic cloud scene with colours taken from, but presented differently to those used in the portrait. The three triangles unintentionally (I think) give the portrait a ‘Statue of Liberty’ look, which once seen is very difficult to unsee. This is a really refreshing approach to portrait pieces, and I hope we see more from Jest Soubriquet before too long.

6437. St Werburghs tunnel (449)

Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2024

Hypo has been on fire for a couple of years now, re-emerging during Covid, and keeping up a regular rhythm of fine graffiti writing that just seems to be getting better and better. His letters lend themselves to bilateral symmetry like those of Werm, but there the similarity of graffiti writing between the two artists ends.

The colours in this piece are its crowning glory. Set on a neutral cream background, the wildstyle letters ‘HYPO’ are festooned with a beautifully blended selection of rainbow colours that manage to remain reasonably subtle, and whilst a colourful piece it avoids being gaudy. Very fine work from a lovely graffiti writer.

6368. St Werburghs tunnel (445)

Nips, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2024

I can’t explain why, but there is something that I really like about Nips’ graffiti writing. She first came onto my radar less than a year ago, but in that time her colourful and characterful work has really grown on me. She is an artist I have not yet met, but look forward to doing so some time and asking her about her work.

While Nips tends to keep her letter style fairly consistent, it is the fills where the magic happens, and in this piece she has created a stunning kaleidoscope of colour and patterns. A simple bit of background patterning and a drop shadow help the piece to stand out, along with some white highlighting in the letters. This is a notable piece from a creative writer.

6334. Leonard Lane (49)

In spite of it being one of my favourite spots, I still haven’t marked up the half-century of posts from Leonard Lane, but not far off now. Risky is a writer who I have been aware of for a few years and although I haven’t yet posted any of his pieces, I have been meaning to forever.

This by far the most impressive piece from Risky that I have seen so far, and I have to say that I really love it, and it is a perfect piece of graffiti writing for the location. Each of the letters RISKY are afforded a completely unique colour/pattern regime, and the whole thing comes across as an energetic and happy piece. Perhaps it is not the tidiest piece ever, but I don’t think that matters at all. Look out for more from Risky, now that I have started the ball rolling.

	Nguyễn Thị Phương Tr… on 7907. St Werburghs tunnel…
	hitandrun1964 on Preparation
	Paul - Cawston Green… on 7905. Purdown (106)
	M. on Preparation
	Sheree on 7904. Montpelier Park

	Nguyễn Thị Phương Tr… on 7907. St Werburghs tunnel…
	hitandrun1964 on Preparation
	Paul - Cawston Green… on 7905. Purdown (106)
	M. on Preparation
	Sheree on 7904. Montpelier Park

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