Colourful is the word that springs to mind when I look at this fine piece of writing from recently discovered (by me) Phour. Many graffiti writers fade their colouring horizontally, but Phour has done this vertically so the colour transitions happen as you read along the piece.
Phour, M32 cycle path, Bristol, June 2020
Phour along with graffiti writers like Mr Draws, Oner, Slim Pickings (Tes) and Fiva, to mention but a few, writes his name, clear and simple without too much disguise or wildstyling which makes his work really easy to identify. I find this piece most pleasing. Great colours, neat and tidy and it has a fearless joy about it. Looking forward to seeing a whole load more from Phour.
As with so many artists, Bnie has been very active since the easing of lock down and I can’t ever remember a time when the frequency of her work has been as high as it is now. This all amounts to great news for fans of her beautiful writing.
Bnie, M32 cycle path, Bristol, July 2020
In typical fashion, Bnie gives us a really tidy and clean BNIE with some complex and stylish fills. Her creativity and imaginative fills are her USP and she really leads the way with these patterned letters. A fine piece.
The last few weeks have seen a rash of Pekoe pieces popping up all over the place and it has been a real pleasure to see. Her distinctive style is the perfect complement to the large and growing cohort of graffiti writers in the city.
Pekoe, M32 cycle path, Bristol, July 2020
This piece by Pekoe is a real celebration of Bristol and articulates exactly how I feel about the city. Bristol has a great culture and with its history steeped in colonialism and the slave trade it is working hard to confront and come to terms with its past and move forward in a progressive and equitable way. The Black Lives Matters movement has had huge support in Bristol and a desire to understand white privilege and to take steps to make things right. We are at the start of something special I hope.
I love the green face and the hairstyle in this piece is a little different, but no less marvellous. A terrific work.
Kool Hand is at it again, this time on the M32 cycle path, with his colourful Orangutan. This piece is from a few short weeks ago and was sprayed alongside painting pal Daz Cat. It is a near copy of one he painted in Dean Land and which I posted recently.
Kool Hand, M32 cycle path, Bristol, June 2020
As I pointed out with the Dean Lane version, Kool Hand is experimenting with decorated fills, which is interesting to see, because his USP to date has been to adopt clean solid fills for his characters. I am going to try and see another of his recent pieces later on today that he painted recently. Great to see his work developing.
Another artist who has been pretty busy since the end of May is Taboo, and his ‘new school’ work is really rather quirky and organic. The central part of this piece looks like a standard throw up, and then it has a dynamic and beautifully painted character incorporated into the work, almost as it it were by two artists – something Taboo does very well.
Taboo, M32 cycle path, Bristol, June 2020
I really don’t like this hoarding at all though. It is at the start of the M32 cycle path, and the large sky above it makes photography, without flaring, almost impossible. Dull days or dusk are probably the best times to come down to this spot.
Taboo, M32 cycle path, Bristol, June 2020
Back to the piece ‘landed in the wrong dimension’, Taboo has painted an incredible Mickey Mouse figure with a surreal distortion to the top of his head that circles round into the A of TABOO. There is something edgy and unsettling about the whole thing, challenging the familiar. Great work.
There are some artists whose work I enjoy finding more than others. Is that normal? I guess it is. It doesn’t mean I don’t like the others, on the contrary I pretty much tend to like them all, but some just some give me that special feeling of excitement for whatever reason. One of these artists is Daz Cat.
Daz Cat, M32 cycle path, Bristol, June 2020
I found this unusual piece on the M32 cycle path next to one from painting companion Kool Hand. This cat looks a little worse for wear, judging from his expression and the long neck is a clever mechanism for getting the whole thing into a landscape format. Some lovely touches on the cat’s jumper and an all-round winning piece.
The more I look at this piece from Cort (Padi) the more I like it. On first inspection it all looks a bit untidy, but I don’t know, there is something that really attracts me to it. Cort pretty much always has strong letters that aren’t particularly over-disguised but are designed differently from piece to piece. In this one he has changed the customary CORT for KOORT, which is a playful thing to do and gives him scope for messing about with different letter shapes.
Cort, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2020
Painted alongside the multiple skeleton piece by Laic217, Cort’s work acts as a perfect foil to Laic217’s because the style and content is so different. I think it is the red colour contrasting with the grey that works so well for me. A nice piece.
Sometimes artists break the mould and when they do, they can surprise us, andn that is exactly what Elvs has sone with this tight piece of writing on the M32 cycle path. Regular readers of Natural Adventures will note that this is far removed from what we might expect from the artist and is so refreshing to see. To give you some idea of what I mean, take a quick look at this gallery and you will understand what I am saying.
Elvs, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2020
The five colour fill is very nicely done and the 3D shading consistent. Quite why he has changed his letters I don’t know, but it is quite commmopn for graffiti writers to do this. A nice little surprise that I wasn’t looking for.
I feel just the slightest tinge of normality returning with this epic new piece from Laic217. Usually I would have posted several pieces by Laic217 during the spring, but because of the lock down restrictions he simply hasn’t been out painting, just like most of the other Bristol artists. It felt like a Christmas treat coming across this piece a week or two back.
Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2020
We are treated not to just one or two skeletons, but nine, which must be something of a record for Laic217 in a single piece. I’m not to sre what the story here relates to, whether it is Covid-19 related or something else. I suspect the latter, because the black cross denotes ‘harmful’ and the flame denotes flammable. I suppose this could be described as an incendiary piece… sorry.
Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2020
I can see how a bunch of skeletons skulking around might not be to everyone’s taste, but to me this is a remarkable piece and so utterly stands out from the crowd. The clothes and headwear and consistently well sprayed, difficult to do when using so few grey tones. So it might be quite a dark piece, Laic217 tends to stray on the dark side, but it is technically an assured and confident work.
Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2020
I particularly like the white labels of LAIC, PAD asnd a Nike tick. The shout out to Pad (aka Cort) his painting partner is rather sweet. This is the first of several new ones from Laic217. Watch this space.
Of course you’d expect Rezwonk to be quick out of the blocks once the lock down restrictions eased, I guess it is the clause that allows you to ‘exercise’ for as long as you’d like that has made the difference to street artists being able to paint pieces without stressing about the rules.
Rezwonk, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2020
This is a complex REZER design in fairly basic colours, but it has been carried off with real style and panache. With pieces as complex as this, I just can’t get my head around how the artist sees what they are doing – incredible skills really. A high quality Rezwonk burner.
Natural adventures 