Dean Lane – Page 14 – Natural adventures

6636. Dean Lane skate park (794)

Risky, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2024

It feels funny posting this piece by Risky, because it is only the third to have made it onto the pages of Natural Adventures, but I have been photographing his work for at least two years, so I am surprised I haven’t published more. I know little about the artist, and can’t find any socials at all, so until I catch Risky in the act I’ll have to remain ignorant – having said this, I have a nagging feeling that I may have met him a while back, painting under Brunel Way… the old grey matter isn’t what it used to be.

I love it that Risky, like so many other occasional writers in Bristol, turns up from time to time with a vibrant and colourful piece like this one, that really catch the eye. While this isn’t technically high-end, it has loads of things that I like; some great letter shapes and that strong red colour works really hard; some interesting white highlights that help the letters to pop, and some more subtle red highlights, adding a bit of depth to the letters; finally, a green drop shadow and yellow border. Although not the tidiest piece I have seen, I really like it.

6630. Dean Lane skate park (793)

This looks like it might be my last street art post of 2024, a year in which I have published 897 street/graffiti posts and 22 artist galleries, not a bad haul really, and there have been some corkers in amongst that lot. I tend not to do annual reviews or ‘top tens’, but I am sorely tempted to do so this year. Time, of course, is my enemy (and my friend).

It somehow feels good to round off the year with a piece by Haka, a true Bristol combination graffiti writer/character illustrator, who has been presenting children’s picture book and cartoon characters for a long while. In this piece he has painted one of my favourite walls with his characteristic writing and included a faithfully recreated BFG – Big Friendly Giant by Roald Dahl, illustrated by Quentin Blake. Be safe seeing the old year out and New Year in.

6626. Dean Lane skate park (792)

Mr Riks and Lokey, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2024

Although this wonderful collaboration from Mr Riks and Lokey doesn’t look particularly festive, I believe it to be a Christmas piece. It is certainly lovely to see these talented graffiti writers out painting together, although I think this paint jam was meant to be considerably better attended.

Mr Riks has such a distinctive style, and he has brought his letters to life with a distinctive blue-green and yellow combination, and for good measure added a little wasp with a spray can in hand. Lokey, meanwhile, remains one of the only anamorphic writers in Bristol, and this wonderful piece rounds off a productive year for the artist. A superb Christmas collaboration.

6617. Dean Lane skate park (791)

Happy Christmas. Lots to do today, so another short entry. I was fortunate enough to meet Omie for the first time a couple of days ago, and as with nearly all the artists I meet, he is a nice person, who made time for a chat. I was pleased that he knew about Natural Adventures and appeared to appreciate my write ups of his work. It was a genuine pleasure to meet him, because I really like his original take on each and every piece he paints.

This is a wonderful piece of writing from Omie, in celebration of Pekoe’s birthday – what a fine tribute. The colours are compelling and the blended fills work nicely particularly with the addition of spots, although the orange paint is a little thin… thin paints can be a pain in the butt. Some black highlights add interest to the letters which are beautifully presented. The Darraigh referred to in the bottom right hand corner is the recent storm that swept across England in Early December.

6612. Dean Lane skate park (790)

Wispa, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2024

It is always, always a great pleasure to welcome Wispa to Bristol, and finding her pieces (almost always an unannounced surprise) is such sweet joy. This recent piece was painted to celebrate Pekoe’s birthday, hence the shout out top left.

Wispa’s work is always immaculately turned out, and the clever fills in this piece read across from letter to letter. Simply a wonderful piece.

6597. Upfest 2024 (56)

SEPC, Upfest 24, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024

Since the stormy and wet winter weather started up in earnest about a month ago, fewer artists have been out and about, doing what they do best, a pause which frees me up to post a few pieces from Upfest earlier in the year. This one from SEPC is an absolute beauty, and one of the first I saw at this year’s festival.

SEPC is an artist from Manizales in Colombia whose colourful work embodies the connection of people in an urban environment, and his profile on the Upfest website is well worth a read. This was one of two or three pieces that the artist painted while he was in town. I love his humble approach, with plastic bags and boxes full of paint and kit for painting.

In his own words, SEPC combines photorealism with use of colour and incorporates various contextual elements. In other words, there is a lot going on in this work alongside the main portrait pieces, and all of it superbly painted. SEPC’s work was one of the real highlights of this year’s festival.

6594. Dean Lane skate park (789)

The lateness of my posts today is down to a day of incredibly uncomfortable travel. I am heading to London on a train (to watch the mighty Arsenal play Everton FC) that is brim full. My booked seat is null and void, because all bookings have been cancelled, so I had to try and find a spare seat. Unfortunately the carriage I eventually found a seat in is quite noisy, the gentleman next to me has a stinking cold and the young lovers in front of me are very excited about their trip to America for Christmas to ‘meet the parents’, which is lovely, but I’m not sure I need to know every detail. I try to occupy my time by writing this blog post, but it is far from easy.

This container on the raised section of the Dean Lane skate park has quite a high turnover, but I would say that about three quarters of what appears here is ordinary, so it was great to find this superb combination piece by Smak. Smak has written his letters in a pleasing bronze/brass and purple combination, but it is the encircling snake that catches the eye. The snake is a kind of crossover between realistic and cartoon, looking a little bit like Kaa from the Jungle Book. I hope I survive the journey without going mad or contracting some revolting sickness just in time for Christmas. To cap it all, the train has just ground to a halt. Grrr.

6589. Dean Lane skate park (788)

Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2024

I met Awkward for the first time at the Ikea Wall of Fame Metalheadz paint jam organised by Goldie. As is usually the case, Awkward was nothing like the image I had of him in my mind, based on his artwork. It was so good to have a chat with him and understand a little about his motivations around art and music, where his music is his main thing.

This cheeky piece (why is it that most of his character pieces seem to be on the cheeky side?) features a pink faced character with enormous eyes and a speech bubble with the words ‘Universal magnetic’. This may be a reference to his friend Benjimagnetic. To the left of the face, Awkward has left his customary signature split into two halves, AWK…WARD.

6584. Dean Lane skate park (788)

I love Ceus’ work. His writing has a flow about it that is welcoming to the eye, and there is often a hint of wings in his work, a regularly occurring theme. If I am brutally honest, I don’t very much like primary colours in street art… for some reason the red, blue and yellow thing leaves me cold.

I usually praise Ceus’ colour palettes, and I love some of the softer, subtle colours he often uses, but the adoption of these primary colours dominates the form so much and makes the whole thing feel rather clunky. Maybe it is just me and the embedded memories of childhood building blocks… who knows? Aside from the colours, this is a classy, as always, piece for graffiti writing from Ceus.

6582. Dean Lane skate park (787)

Zake bases his work around a cartoon face. A few years ago, the face would usually be just the face, but these days, the face has become the central element to something bigger, perhaps more of a narrative around the face, with things going on. A glance at this updated gallery of his work gives you some idea of his development and growth as a street artist.

This is a curious piece, and all I can think of when I look at it is ‘sperm cell’, a thought very difficult to unthink. I suppose it could be a tadpole, or at a stretch some kind of eel. Whatever it is, it is mildly unsettling and weird. The piece was painted as part of a three-way collaborative wall by Hire, Zake and Ceus, where each piece was utterly distinct from the others in style, colour and content. So the only real element of collaboration was the background and the friendship of painting together.

	paulh121 on 7701. North Street
	hitandrun1964 on 7699. Macscot Road – Upf…
	hitandrun1964 on 7700. Cumberland Basin
	restlessjo on 7699. Macscot Road – Upf…
	wrookieschu on 7699. Macscot Road – Upf…

	paulh121 on 7701. North Street
	hitandrun1964 on 7699. Macscot Road – Upf…
	hitandrun1964 on 7700. Cumberland Basin
	restlessjo on 7699. Macscot Road – Upf…
	wrookieschu on 7699. Macscot Road – Upf…

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: