I have only encountered Daub and his work at festivals, and so I conclude that he rather enjoys them. It would be nice to have him visit Bristol to paint a wall or two, but I just don’t think it is going to happen.
Daub, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
The fish eating fish is a familiar motif, but one that is given the Daub treatment, and looks fantastic. Daub tends to draw up his design with a white filled outline, to which the detailed black lines are added with black pen work. The outcome is always spectacular and full of fine detail. Fish and street art, what is not to like?
Daub is an artist I have come across a few times at the Cheltenham Paint Festival and at Upfest in Bristol. His ink pen pieces are most distinctive and painstakingly crafted. Last year I stopped for quite a lengthy chat, but this year was a little more difficult to interact due to social distancing.
Daub, Paint Festival 2020, Cheltenham, September 2020
This mesmerising piece is of an owl, I think, and between the large eyes is a small yellow beak, introducing the only colour to the work. What is not clear from these pictures is the amount of detailed shading that you can see when you get close up. A nice piece from a festival regular.
I have just checked and I never posted his piece from last year… I’ll have to put that right.
An enormous doodle with plenty of detail for you to feast your eyes on by artist Daub. This is an artist who likes detail and is prepared to spend time working it up. I am guessing that this is a Posca pen piece, but if I am honest, I am a real novice when it comes to artist’s materials.
Daub, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
The whole piece resembles something aquatic or coralline interspersed with human features such as the eyes and the hand on the right hand side. I don’t know what it is about, if indeed it is about anything, but I rather like it, and the whole thing plays with your eyes a bit.
Daub, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
This was yet another piece that was finished by the time I got to it, so I never had the pleasure of meeting the artist…maybe next year.
I have a terrible feeling of being rushed to get these Upfest 2016 posts published, because at the time of writing this one, there are only about two weeks to go before 2017’s festival gets underway. I popped into the Upfest shop today and picked up my map. Very exciting indeed. This year there is going to be a very long wall (fifty or so artists) at Ashton Gate.
Back to this pair of works that I photographed together because of the interesting contrast between them. On the left is a piece by Von Grey, a psychedelic offering that has undertones of Sgt Pepper about it, which is no surprise as his biography states that his work is heavily influenced by 1970s album covers, ancient artefacts and modern subculture.
Von Grey, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
The piece on the right is a fabulous gorilla by Daub who judging from his Facebook and Instagram accounts appears to be remarkably fond of this gorilla, and why not, it is a magnificent beast. It is interesting that the gorilla is superimposed on a background that appears to tell its own story and I fear it is somehow not all good news.
Natural adventures 