Tag: Cumberland Basin

5890. Cumberland Basin

Andy Council and Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2024
Andy Council and Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2024

You can definitely tell that spring is in the air when Acer One and Andy Council start teaming up with their wonderful collaborations, and this is one of a couple of recent walls they have painted in the Cumberland Basin area. Their contrasting styles are blended together perfectly in this piece, which really is an outstanding work.

Andy Council and Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2024
Andy Council and Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2024

Andy Council’s dragon, stitched together out of hundreds of detailed component parts, is on its own quite stunning, but when combined with Acer One’s geometric 3D cube and double impossible triangles, is utterly magnificent. This piece is a triumph, even by the high standards of the two artists, and has been painted in a spot that is likely to remain undisturbed for a while, so if you live in Bristol it is well worth a visit.

5887. Cumberland Basin

Creamylines, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2024
Creamylines, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2024

There is something about the unique nature of Creamylines’ work that I find very engaging, and I am always pleased to find new work by him. This is the second column piece that I have found recently in the area, and it looks as if the artist had a mini-blitz.

Creamylines, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2024
Creamylines, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2024

Creamylines has used the background colour of the column to great effect, creating a prefect backdrop to his ‘sunlit uplands’ landscape style. All the elements of his landscape work are there, the sun and clouds, a patchwork of colour and a river running through the whole piece. Of course, he has character eyes dotted around the place too. This is a really interesting style and quite unlike anything else we see in the city.

5852. Cumberland Basin

Kid Crayon, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2024
Kid Crayon, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2024

Kid Crayon holds a special place in the evolution of Natural Adventures, as it was his paste ups that drew me into the exciting and mysterious world of street art in Bristol, with posts such as this first one, my 11th post, or this one of the boy eating cheese. I developed a love for wheatpastes because of Kid Crayon, who eventually turned his attention to painting with spray cans.

Kid Crayon, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2024
Kid Crayon, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2024

Kid Crayon is nowhere near as prolific as he used to be, but this is probably a good sign, because it means that his work as an illustrator and animator is keeping his busy and bringing in an income. In this bright and colourful piece Kid Crayon has written his name in letters with a variety of fills, and the eye is drawn to the character in place of the letter ‘O’. A fun and most excellent piece reminding us all what a fabulously creative artist he is.

5804. Cumberland Basin

Marckinetic, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2024
Marckinetic, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2024

Marckinetic usually paints alongside his friend Kid Krishna, and so when the latter goes quiet, so does Marckinetic. Now that Kid Krishna has started firing on all cylinders again, Marckinetic has been out on at least two occasions recently.

Marckinetic, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2024
Marckinetic, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2024

This piece, painted in January, shows us just how original the artist’s style is. I believe that there is writing here, just not the way we are used to seeing it (there is a possibility the letters say MARC – CORRECTION – they spell out FFS (thank you Paul H)). The deep white shadows have a little bit of Acer One about them, but the ‘cosmic’ fills are all Marckinetic, and something of speciality. This is an unusual and very welcome piece in the vast spectrum of Bristol street/graffiti art.

5790. Cumberland Basin

Mr Draws, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2024
Mr Draws, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2024

Mr Draws is one of the most enduring and endearing artists in Bristol. His writing is familiar, albeit unconsciously, to any Bristolian who keeps their eyes open, and has been for several years. This large piece in Cumberland Basin is a cracker, which reminds m a little of a koi carp.

Mr Draws, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2024
Mr Draws, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2024

This is a very nice piece of writing from Mr Draws, with his typical letter shapes, a nice deep drop shadow and some nice fills. The gold ‘A’ draws the eye, and I have noticed a few pieces lately that have contained a gold letter… perhaps it is a thing. This is a fine piece from a fine artist.

5785. Cumberland Basin

Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2024
Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2024

One of the nicest surprises of 2023 has been the rise and rise of Mr Crawls, whose bird pieces have become a familiar sight all around the city. More recently, he has teamed up with Mote to produce some great fun pieces that work so well, each painting in their own style, which somehow come together seamlessly.

Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2024
Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2024

At first, I thought that Mr Crawls might be a bit of a one-trick-pony, but far from it, he has been modifying his characters and switching them up as he goes along. This solo bird has a comical cartoon expression, that Mr Crawls manages to paint so well. I predict another bumper year from this irrepressible artist.

5769. Cumberland Basin

Abbie Laura Smith, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2023
Abbie Laura Smith, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2023

Vigorously waving the banner for paste-ups in Bristol, pretty much single-handedly, is Abbey Laura Smith with her intriguing black and white portraits. Regular readers of Natural Adventures will know that I am an admirer of paste-ups or wheatpastes, and will drone on about how we just don’t see many in the city these days. This niche art form must not be confused with bill posters, which in my view are a plague, driven by the selfish interests of advertising for a product or a cause – they (in my very humble view) are not art in themselves despite being illustrated in most cases by graphic designers or artists, but are tomorrow’s litter, and today’s eyesore. Well we all have opinions, and that is mine, so there!

Abbie Laura Smith, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2023
Abbie Laura Smith, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2023

Wheatpasting is as much about the siting of the piece as the art itself, and Abbie Laura Smith has done a great job in thinking about the placement of this portrait on a utility box in Cumberland Basin. The artwork itself is a clean and crisp line drawing of a pretty lady, with some nice ‘graffiti drips’ at the base. I hope that Abbie’s efforts encourage a revival of this lost art in Bristol.

5740. Cumberland Basin

Laic217, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2023
Laic217, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2023

All in all, 2023 was a very good year for Laic217, with 18 pieces featured in Natural Adventures, some of which I would rate as his best pieces to date. This piece features a skull character wearing a devil mask, I mean why not? I also got lucky that I photographed it on an overcast day, as this wall can be very tricky to capture when the sun is out.

Laic217, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2023
Laic217, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2023

Everything you’d expect to find from a classy Laic217 piece is here… the skull, something of the grotesque and threatening, the devil mask which is suspended by a gold chain, a bucket hat and of course outstanding folds in the fabric of the characters’ clothes. You can see a large gallery of Laic217’s magnificent work here.

5710. Cumberland Basin

Bnie and Unity, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2023
Bnie and Unity, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2023

So far this year I have only found one Christmas piece and this collaboration from Bnie and Unity is it. The fabulous duo were painting alongside several other members of the RBF crew during a paint jam in support of the people of Palestine. This piece is absolutely draped in Christmas good cheer.

Bnie, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2023
Bnie, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2023

To the left, Bnie has painted her letters in a festive silver colour with a string of Christmas lights weaving in and out of them. The Palestinian flag features prominently and Father Christmas does what Father Christmas does to the right. I think that Bnie painted him, but equally it might have been Unity.

Unity, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2023
Unity, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2023

Unity has been visiting Bristol a little more frequently recently and that can only be a good thing as it means we get to see more of her brilliant work. Unity continues the themes and colours that Bnie has adopted, with the only real difference being a splash of gold in the ‘I’ of Unity. Another Palestinian flag indicates firmly that the public mood in Bristol, which this art reflects, is with the innocent people of Palestine, who played no part in the Hamas attack but are paying an unimaginably high price by the Israeli response to it. Let us hope for and demand peace in the region.

5705. Cumberland Basin

Sait Bare, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2023
Sait Bare, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2023

My train journey to London continues and the service is heaving. Christmas shopping and football matches have swelled the normal Sunday passenger numbers, but somehow I have managed to keep my unreserved seat beyond Chippenham, so I think I am safe. The above might not make much sense if it is not read in sequence from the previous two posts (5703 and 5704).

Sait Bare, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2023
Sait Bare, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2023

This is the second piece by Sait Bare that I have posted on Natural Adventures, although I think it was painted before the first. I am still acquainting myself with his work, and as he doesn’t appear to paint very regularly, I am still forming my thoughts about his style and execution. This is a fine piece of writing/character combination work, and the border lines and details are very nice and sharp.  The letter fills too are really nicely done with some great fades and ‘gaseous’ patterning. The character is quite straightforward with a quirky appearance. All good, and I look forward to seeing more from Sait Bare in the New Year.