Sled One has made a few appearances on Natural Adventures recently, but this Halloween piece, painted on 30 October, trumps the lot of them. It isn’t often that this whole wall is painted – lots of ladder-work, so when it is you can expect something pretty special.
Sled One, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2024
The piece is painted on a jaunty angle, which is unsettling in itself. The backdrop is a gloomy street scene, with cars dimply lit under some street lights. The star of the piece is the scary pumpkin character, the unconventional shape of which adds to the sense of unease and edge. Shaped like a skull, the melting pumpkin face is dropping seeds like teeth falling out, and resembles the lanterns left out to rot after the Halloween festival itself. A wicked piece that doesn’t give in to the sentimental portrayal of a pumpkin, but turns it into an evil protagonist.
Astrea, formerly known as HNH, first came on to my radar at the Muriel Alleyway mini street art festival earlier this year where she decorated a garage shutter with her striking and unusual style. Astrea’s designs are intricate and hint at letters, although it is the overall effect that is king. In this piece, you can make out the letters HNH.
Astrea (HNH), Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
I am very much enjoying seeing her work popping up around the place, but sadly have missed the boat on two pieces, one under the M32 and the other in Peel Street Green, where I arrived a day too late, which was gutting. This modest black and white piece is painted on one of the skate ramps and makes a statement albeit quietly.
What a wonderful surprise to find this modest piece behind the swimming pool railings in Dean Lane skate park. Blink and you might miss it. Bean has been absent from Bristol for a long period, away at university studying hard I expect.
Bean, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2024
This character piece is really interesting, because it looks like modern take on an old school archetype. Bean has synthesised this very well and he has an ease and competence about his work. I expect this was a quick one, and I didn’t see any others around the time this was painted. I am very much hoping to see more from him after he graduates.
Kool Hand, Conrico, Pekoe and The Art of Sok, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2024
This year, Dean Lane has hosted a whole bunch of Halloween pieces, and this is the largest of the lot. The festive collaboration is from a line up of artists I would never have expected, and I don’t think that they have painted as a foursome together before. Kool Hand, Conrico, Pekoe and the Art of Sok have brought four distinctive styles together in this eclectic celebration.
Kool Hand, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2024
Kool Hand starts the wall off with one of his customary baseball cap-wearing orangutans, although there is a touch of menace about the ape. Usually Kool Hand’s characters are rather fun, but this one is sinister, with bloodshot eyes missing pupils and a maggot crawling out of its nose. There is nice use of solid tones bringing light and shadow, and hence depth, to the piece.
Conrico, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2024
I have no idea what is going on in the Conrico piece, but it looks like a werewolf-type character is leaning against a gravestone on which the words “Here lies graveyard shift… a very naughty…” You’ll have to make up the rest yourself. The character is clutching a carved pumpkin and the whole thing is set in a Japanese landscape. Curious and wonderful.
Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2024
Next up is a great piece of writing from Pekoe in an altogether lighter style, where each of the letters is painted in an individual design and colour scheme. The ghost forming the letter ‘O’ is the obvious concession to the Halloween theme. Over the last couple of years, Pekoe’s writing has improved immeasurably and her confidence with it… you can sense there is an ease and comfort with the creation of this piece.
The Art of Sok, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2024
Finally, something evil from The Art of Sok. I have seen plenty of cartoon characters from the artist, but nothing quite like this. The monster looks like some kind of orc-inspired creature and provides edge to the collaboration. The Art of Sok’s style is so clean and crisp… There is a simplicity in his use of solid fills that betray incredible sophistication and skill, transferring cartoon-book sketches onto full sized walls. All in all a superb and varied collection of Halloween pieces from the quartet.
Rusk and Elvs, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, October 2024
Getting into full swing with Halloween-related pieces, I bring you this magnificent collaboration from two great graffiti writers, Rusk and Elvs. Neither of these artists seem to be quite as productive as they have been in the past, but their presence is always good news, because of the quality of their work.
Rusk, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, October 2024
Dark colours, predominantly purples and blues, are the order of the day, or should I say night. Rusk has opted for a combination piece including both graffiti writing and a little cartoon Count Dracula character. The letters are clear and obvious and given emphasis with a layered 3D drop shadow. The character is a fabulous accompaniment and I wonder why Rusk doesn’t do more character pieces than he does. The piece is set on a spooky haunted house style background, which stretches across both pieces.
Elvs, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, October 2024
To the right is a sensational piece by Elvs, whose work is utterly unique. Watching Elvs paint his pieces is fascinating because he starts with the fill shape, and then adds in all the borders and detail, bringing the letters ‘ELVS’ to life. The colour choices are amazing and work superbly well, that green drop shadow doing a great job. A wonderful spooky collaboration.
Anyone who knows me will know that I am not a fan of ‘over-celebrating’ Halloween. The festival is so commercialised and has veered away from the modest affair that it used to be when I was a child. It is a generational thing, I know, but it doesn’t really ‘do it’ for me. One aspect that I am prepared to get excited about, rather predictably, is the Halloween-themed street art that always appears around this time of year, starting with this ghostly piece by Biers.
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2024
Biers has been writing his WD40 moniker quite a lot recently, although without his accompanying characters, which is a bit of a pity, because his combination pieces are part of his USP. The graffiti writing is accompanied on this occasion by a cute-looking ghost who looks a little embarrassed, judging from his red cheeks. The whole piece is nicely finished and achieved without the need for borders, which is great to see.
Keeping up with Dibz and Fade can be a difficult thing to do… they are a combined force of nature with an energy and enthusiasm for graffiti writing that is unsurpassed in Bristol. This piece, entitled ‘Explosive material’ kind of does what it says on the tin, and contains writing from both artists amidst an explosion.
Dibz and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Dibz on top in blue and Fade below in red complement one another perfectly with their styles, and the fills are nothing short of miraculous, incorporating the clouds of the explosion behind. This is a well-worked graffiti writing piece from two artists who keep raising their level notch by notch.
For good measure, they both left behind quick throw ups painted at the same time as this piece:
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Ooh, it was a genuine pleasure to meet ESKA and his partner while he was painting this absolute beauty. I have not come across the artist before, but that is not all that surprising, because he travels around the country on a barge, which is currently docked in Bristol Floating Harbour – I understand that his boat is easy to seek out, because it has his artwork festooned on the outside.
ESKA, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
While ESKA was painting I struck up a conversation with his partner who told me that there is a lot of symbolism in his pieces and that everything has a meaning – unpicking this might be quite difficult, so I will probably stick with talking about the aesthetic quality of the piece.
ESKA, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Unfortunately I never got a photograph of the full completed wall, because by the time I returned, somebody had painted over the left-hand edge of the piece, but you can see from the WIP shot what it might have looked like. The colour palette is gorgeous, and I love the way ESKA has incorporated his letters into the magical scene. This piece is a real feast for the eyes. More to come from this itinerant artist.
It would appear that Awkward is going through a bit of a purple patch, having made only occasional appearances for several years, he is now painting regularly in the Deaner. This one was part of a wider collaboration, or at least it was painted at the same time as some other pieces on the wall.
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol September 2024
In Awkward, perhaps more than with other artists, we see a strong crossover between his art and music – perhaps Benjimagnetic could give him a run for for his money – and indeed Awkward promotes Sentinel793 (Benjimagnetic) in this piece. The two cartoon characters appear to be rather ghoulish, with empty eye-sockets that are connected by wisps of smoke. Nice work from Awkward, although it might not be to everyone’s taste.
I wrote in a post recently that Zake appears to be at his happiest when he is collaborating with others, and here he is teaming up with Werm to create this integrated collaborative piece in the Deaner. Worm’s symmetrical writing has been somewhat disrupted by a mouthwatering (literally) cartoon portrait piece by Zake.
Zake and Werm, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
The colours are all a bit muted because I took the photograph in the late afternoon, and the wall was in the shade. Sometimes collaborations like this don’t work too well, because the elements don’t integrate very well, but in this instance I think the pair have done really well here and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Nice work.
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