6148. Cumberland Basin

Raid, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024
Raid, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024

Another of Bristol’s writers who creates the foundations upon which the graffiti and street art culture is built is Raid, who, although a relative newcomer to the city, has established himself as a regular contributor of beautifully designed writing, that appears to be on an ever-upwards trajectory.

Raid, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024
Raid, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024

Raid’s work is straightforward and unpretentious, and often marked out for his wonderfully creative fill patterns. In this piece though he has gone for a straightforward solid chrome fill, with a yellow accent running through the midline of the letters. The blue drop shadow and black border are nice and tight and the whole thing is as tidy as I would expect from Raid. Great work.

6128. Cumberland Basin

Marckinetic, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
Marckinetic, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

Marckinetic has been out a fair bit this year, painting alongside his mate Kid Krishna, and he hasn’t yet appeared to run out of inspiration for his FFS designs – this one being a cracking example. There is a real sense of clarity and purpose in this piece.

Marckinetic, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
Marckinetic, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

You have to have some insider knowledge or a great imagination to know that the letters spell FFS. There is a lovely symmetry and flow in this piece created by the curves of the letters, and the deep black shadow gives the whole thing a monolithic appearance. The fills are very nicely worked and I love the cracks in the blue fills. The piece has been nicely finished and is clean and crisp – an excellent and unusual piece of graffiti writing from Marckinetic.

6124. Cumberland Basin

Abbie Laura Smith, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
Abbie Laura Smith, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

Abbie Laura Smith has been doing herself proud with a new series of wheatpastes in the Cumberland Basin area. I have picked up a few, but still have some others to find. Unfortunately, this one has already been dogged, so I am pleased that I got to see it in pristine condition.

Abbie Laura Smith, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
Abbie Laura Smith, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

There is a common theme to Abbie Laura Smith’s work, which includes black and white portraits composed in part by lettering and words. The words in this paste-up are as follows (I think):

You will stumble, you may fall

Persevere through it all

And where do I go from here, despair

But you will get there some day

I am not sure whether the words are original or a quote from a song or poem, or whether they are autobiographical, but they carry some emotional power. The piece is one of her larger ones and is truly a beautiful combination of words and illustration. Watch this space for more from Bristol’s best wheatpaster.

 

6123. Cumberland Basin

Mote and Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024
Mote and Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024

Some more jolly capers from Mr Crawls and Mote, who have been smashing it for months now, and continue to turn out some great and fun character pieces dotted all over the place. This pair of characters were painted on the warehouse wall in Cumberland Basin, and command a majestic view over the river.

Mote and Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024
Mote and Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024

To the left is a friendly, toothy monster by Mote whose eyes (in common with the adjacent Mr Crawls character) are simply holes in the head, creating a mask-like effect. There are some nice squiggles and doodles in the fill, something of a trademark of Mote’s work. On the right Mr Crawls has recreated one of his hatted birds, although in a stylised cartoon form that is more angular than some of his earlier work. The pair look magnificent on the white background, and are unusually large, due to the big wall they have chosen to paint.

6117. Cumberland Basin

Solar, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024
Solar, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024

Although I have been featuring Solar on Natural Adventures since 2021, it wasn’t until May this year that I actually got to meet him while he was painting this piece. As with pretty much all the artists I meet he is a really nice person and managed to instantly dispel some of my imagined preconceptions of members of the PLB crew, which were largely based around not having met any of them.

Solar, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024
Solar, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024

I would categorise Solar’s writing style as soft anti-style, meaning that while he bucks the trend of conventional graffiti writing, there is some order and consistency to his letters, nothing too chaotic or anarchic. The letters are nicely done but the star of the show is the ‘implied’ drop shadow in blue and black, which is a very clever mechanism I haven’t seen deployed before. You’d think that the colour scheme wouldn’t work, and at first that was my impression, but actually it seems to work remarkably well.

6102. Cumberland Basin

Sait Bare, Cumberland Bain, Bristol, May 2024
Sait Bare, Cumberland Bain, Bristol, May 2024

Rather annoyingly, I keep missing pieces by Sait Bare, either finding them prior to completion or that they have been overpainted, so it was a relief to find this one finished and intact. This letter/character combination piece is painted in a metallic gold colour, that is strong, and the background decor reflects the general messiness of the wall.

Sait Bare, Cumberland Bain, Bristol, May 2024
Sait Bare, Cumberland Bain, Bristol, May 2024

The letters spell SAIT with the character taking the pace of the letter ‘i’, and there is a deep red and black striped drop shadow. The character is painted in a carton style, with the eyes and mouth standing out in white against the gold. There is a lot to like about this piece and I look forward to finding more from Sait Bare.

6087. Cumberland Basin

Mr Underbite, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024
Mr Underbite, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024

Now, this is what I like. Mr Underbite is a bit of a favourite of mine, and to find his melancholic character dotted about the place is always a real pleasure. The fact that he has switched things up with this small piece in Cumberland Basin makes it all the more pleasurable.

Mr Underbite, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024
Mr Underbite, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024

Mr Underbite has used this small section of wall really well, presenting his character in three separate sections, each containing a part of the face, a deconstruction if you like. Anyone familiar with Mr Underbite’s work would immediately recognise this piece and attempt to reassemble it in their heads. To anybody else, this might look a little abstract and unfathomable. What a great way to play with a character. For reference, a typical Mr Underbite piece is shown below.

Mr Underbite, River Avon, Bristol, March 2024
Mr Underbite, River Avon, Bristol, March 2024

6085. Cumberland Basin

Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

A bit of a quick one today, because I have an early start and a very long day running another workshop, so today’s posts were (are being) written last night after a long weekend away. This is a shame, because there is quite a lot to say about this unusual and very clever piece by Acer One.

Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

There are two words in this circle, ‘CONRAD’ in gold and ‘BUKEM’ in black. These names relate to Acer One’s love of drum and bass and are tributes to MC Conrad and LTJ Bukem. At that point my knowledge about this piece drops off a cliff. How Acer One conceived and then executed this piece is what makes him so very special. This is the work of a very talented artist.

Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

Not content with this triumph, Acer One also had a little play with some anamorphic art just around the corner, I mean, why not? Many attempt and fail with this king of trickery, but Acer One has managed to do a good job, and if only my photography was up to scratch you’d see how well he did. Acer One is an artist who is always pushing boundaries and developing his technical skills. Great work.

Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

6080. Cumberland Basin

Mind 49, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
Mind 49, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

There is an artist in Bristol whose steady progress over the last year or two has elevated him to a high status, and deservedly so. Mind 49 has been painting from an early age, and his development has been a joy to witness, and now he is turning out outstanding pieces on a regular basis. He seems to have found his style and his work reflects a greater confidence.

Mind 49, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
Mind 49, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

This is one of a few recent pieces that showcase Mind 49’s portrait style, in which he practically always obscures part or most of the face either by its orientation or the use of clothing or accessories, like these sunglasses. Because of this his portraits feel more grounded, and less posed than some portrait pieces that we see. Brilliant zip by the way. This one is so much better in ‘the flesh’ because my photographs are a little washed out, which can happen on this wall in the afternoon/early evening light. Keep watching this space for a whole lot more from Mind 49.

6065. Cumberland Basin

Lee Roy, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
Lee Roy, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

Lee Roy is another artist who has gone a little quiet lately, and when I do find pieces by him, I am not sure whether they are old ones or new ones, because they tend to be in spots I don’t visit all that frequently, like this on the warehouse building on the north side of the river opposite the garden centre.

Lee Roy, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
Lee Roy, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

VLAD appears to be the letters/word that Lee Roy is enjoying at the moment, and he is continuing with his flowing anti-style approach. I would say that his work, which might look untidy to casual viewers, is actually highly regarded by his peers and photographers alike. It is a very ‘street’ style of graffiti writing. I would love to see him out more this summer, although I do occasionally see him out walking his dog.