Cumberland Basin – Page 18 – Natural adventures

6268. Cumberland Basin

Dirtygypo, Cumberland Bain, Bristol, July 2024

Dirtygypo is making his presence felt in Bristol, with his pieces appearing in various spots with some regularity. With this piece in the little tunnel at Cumberland Basin, he has abandoned his customary colours for monochrome letters with a black border.

I am still struggling to read what his letters spell out. I can see an S, a couple of Is a Z and a T perhaps, I am sure the penny will drop eventually. His playful graffiti writing has a light-hearted touch to it, and I am very much enjoying finding them on my ’rounds’ with the dog.

6250. Cumberland Basin

Awor1, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024

This piece, by visiting artist Awor1, was one of at least three painted in Bristol, but is the only one I managed to photograph in time. The graffiti writing was painted during a small paint jam on the long wall of Cumberland Basin.

I don’t know where Awor1 hails from, and I am not familiar with any previous work by the artist, so don’t have any benchmark to compare this piece with. Certainly, Awor1 is an accomplished writer, and the clever use of brown shades (not my favourite colours) running through the letters combined with fine white highlights creates an almost metallic feel to the fills. The whole thing is set on a black background and decorated with green plasma and purple spheres. Nice work from Awor1.

6245. Cumberland Basin

Unknown artist, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024

It is rare for me to post pieces by unknown artists, although it is something I should do more often, because there are many unattributed beauties in my archives that are waiting to be shared. I guess that sometimes artists are experimenting with painting walls and perhaps a little wary or lacking in confidence to leave a signature behind.

I love this portrait piece and have felt compelled to post it. All the elements are there and the proportions pretty good. The lines for the neck and collar bones, look very studied to me and I would guess that the artist is probably studying or has studied art. The hair curl is reminiscent of Inkie’s work, which is a compliment of high order. I would love to see more from this anonymous artist and will be keeping an eye out.

6238. Cumberland Basin

Donz, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024

A rare trip into the centre of Bristol, from his native Lawrence Weston, brought Donz to this spot in the Cumberland Basin. At first I had a little difficulty working what was going on here, because Donz has painted directly over a Mr Draws piece, without buffing the wall or masking out with a background design, in the spirit of a throwie, but this is better than your average throw up.

Donz has a very particular style, probably governed by his letter in part, where his letter surfaces are quite flat, without midlines or accents, and the depth is provided by the 3D drop shadow. This piece reminds me very much of one he painted about a year ago in L Dub, which used the same colour combination.

6233. Cumberland Basin

Karmone, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024

Following on from the previous post, this piece by Karmone was painted during the same paint jam. Karmone is an occasional visitor to Bristol, from his home in Wales, and through his connections with Bristol artists, is invited to paint jams from time to time. As I always say on Natural Adventures, it is a constant pleasure to be able to welcome visiting artists to share their talent on our walls, adding to the mix.

Karmone has, like the others, followed the convention of colours for the collaborative wall, and added a sprinkling of orange and grey to liven up the base of the piece with some interesting yin-yang spherical designs. His letters are exceptional, spelling out KARM, with tidy fills and mid lines. The arrangement of the letters and the 3D shadows cast give them a great deal of depth and dynamism. Some great work from Karmone.

6232. Cumberland Basin

Rusk, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024

Rusk is an established graffiti writer in Bristol who tends to paint in fits and starts these days. He is currently going through a rather productive phase at the moment, which is great news indeed. This piece in Cumberland Basin was created during a paint jam organised by Smak and the Art of Sok, a couple of weeks back.

The general colours of the collaborative wall were light blues and yellows, and Rusk certainly stuck to the task with this tight piece. Rusk is known for his dedication and diligence and his work is always beautifully turned out. The highlight of this piece for me is the purple thread that runs horizontally through all of the letters. A fine example of on-point graffiti writing.

6224. Cumberland Basin

Ments, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024

This piece from Ments, painted as part of a wider paint jam, is a joy to behold. I am always going on about how we just don’t see enough of Ments’ work these days, and here is the second piece since May, the other being at Upfest. There is no doubt that Ments has pulled out all the stops with this one.

His characteristic ‘organic’ writing is full of mystery and shapes and textures of planet earth, like chemistry mixed up with geometry and art – a delightful combination. From what we see, there is no way of knowing what the letters spell, but it is probably a good guess to imagine that it says MENTS. There is so much to admire in the intricate details and interactions between the forms and colours in the piece. Outstanding.

6222. Cumberland Basin.

The Art of Sok and Smak, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024

In the seventies I might have described this piece as ‘smashing’, and as a child of the seventies I am going to describe this outstanding collaboration between The Art of Sok and Smak as smashing. I was lucky enough to meet with and chat to both artists the night before they painted this wall as part of a larger jam, at Merny’s exhibition opening, which had a great turnout.

The two artists have worked together perfectly to produce this character/writing combination. Smak’s writing is absolutely sensational and in addition to that, he has created a perfect tropical sunset backdrop with The Art of Sok’s character presented in the foreground – beautifully comnposed.

The Art of Sok, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024

During his short trip to Bristol, The Art of Sok, who it turns out is a lovely bloke, dropped a few pieces about the place which I will naturally post in due course. The cartoon-style character is pretty much perfect in its precision, which is how The Art of Sok rolls. He told me that he likes to get his finished pieces to resemble as closely as possible his draft, so it is all very much worked out in advance, and he has the skills to execute his plan to the letter. This is an excellent collaboration.

6199. Cumberland Basin

Dirtygypo, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024

There are basically three kinds of ‘new’ artist in Bristol (or any other city I might suppose); those who are hitting walls for the first time having practiced or expanding beyond their art studios; those who are already established artists who move to Bristol or nearby and start painting; and those established artists who are simply visiting or passing through the city and drop a piece or two, because they can.

It turns out that Dirtygypo has been writing in Bristol for at least a couple of years but has only just appeared on my radar. I guess I will have to rifle through my archives to see if I have earlier photographs of his work. Perhaps he has been hitting some of the more popular spots, or his pieces are lasting longer, whatever the reason, he has become more established recently. His work is exciting, colourful and busy, with irregular letters each filled and decorated differently. I am not sure what the letters spell, but I really rather like the frenetic appearance. Watch this space for more from Dirtygypo.

6186. Cumberland Basin

Noise and Sait Bare, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024

I have to say that this was not a collaboration that I was expecting, but that is the joy of documenting street and graffiti art in this fine city. Noise has collaborated with several different artists in Bristol, so why not collaborate with Sait Bare? The two artists have gone for a colour coordinated theme that carries through both of their graffiti writing.

Noise has painted the left hand side with his chunky NOISE letters, and Sait Bare has written BARE in his slightly unruly style – together they compliment each other perfectly. I would guess that the character in the middle was probably a combined effort, but without asking them I can’t be certain. This is a very nicely produced collaboration and great surprise.

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