6408. Dean Lane skate park (760)

Turoe and Soker, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Turoe and Soker, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

Two of the Bristol masters have been at work in this fabulous collaboration in Dean Lane. Turoe and Soker have been writing for way longer than I have been posting about street art and are without doubt part of the established scene in the city. Although they don’t paint as often as some other graffiti writers, their work is always immaculate.

Turoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Turoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

The colour selection of both pieces is superb, with cool steel blues dominating. There aren’t the words to describe how good Turoe’s writing is. There is some wildstyle work, but it is not fussy or over-complicated. The colour transitions in the fills are exquisite and the 3D drop shadow with a vanishing point just beneath the piece sets the piece up perfectly.

Soker, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Soker, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

Soker’s piece is rather more elongated and has a slight metallic quality. The letters SOKER are clearly marked out, but it is the design of the letters that is so attractive. What a pity I photographed it when it was in the shade, as I expect that in the sunlight it would give off a quite different aura. Simply a wonderful collaboration.

6405. Dean Lane skate park (759)

T-Rex, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
T-Rex, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

This is the second piece I have posted from the paint jam marking Andy Council’s 50th birthday, although I’m not sure how much he would thank me for repeating this milestone with every post. The piece is a lovely trio of dinosaurs on the rampage by T-Rex.

T-Rex, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
T-Rex, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

T-Rex has a way of brightening up even the worst of days. Her mischievous dinosaurs could and perhaps should adorn any children’s picture book, and the crossover between the actual animals and cartoon characters is handled brilliantly. She concludes the piece with a nice ‘RAWrrrr!’, which is a play on the Read and Weep crew name, and a shout-out to Mena, who we all hope is making a recovery.

6402. Dean Lane skate park (758)

Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

It must be nice (Hamilton earworm alert), to have talented friends who honour your birthday with a celebratory paint jam. On this occasion it was Andy Council’s special 50th birthday and he was joined by several artist friends in Dean Lane.

Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

This was his own birthday piece which is a wonderful starling painted in his inimitable style. The stylised bird exaggerates the superb iridescent colours that starlings have which you can only really see when you get up close. This is a great piece, on a slightly awkward section of wall, but Andy Council has nailed it. Happy belated birthday.

6399. Dean Lane skate park (757)

Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

My inclination is not to say to much about this outstanding character piece by Cheo for fear of spoiling it. Cheo has been a mainstay of character pieces in Bristol forever and although he has been relatively quiet in recent years, he can still turn it on when he wants to. This is a beauty.

Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

The character is painted completely in green scale colours apart from the goggles and gold chain – even the bee is green. A small masterpiece from Cheo.

6396. Dean Lane skate park (756)

Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

Awkward has been getting noticeably busier in recent months, possibly prompted by his counterparts with whom he has collaborated successfully. This time though he painted solo on the bricked up flat wall behind the long skate ramp.

Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

The blue-faced character, wearing a baseball cap, appears to be resting on a wonderfully painted red cloud (emanating from his ear) and has a trademark speech bubble with the word AWKWARD spread over two lines. The large saucer eyes and wobbly lines to the left add a nervous energy to the piece. Awkward’s characters are quite unique and always come across as fairly wired or fraught. This is a nice piece.

6391. Dean Lane skate park (755)

Kid Crayon, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024
Kid Crayon, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024

Regular readers may recall that I am not a fan of posting work that is in effect advertising, but it seems that it is becoming all too common, whether promoting music or art. I guess I am more forgiving if an artist is promoting their own work, or helping out with mates, but it it still doesn’t sit very comfortably with me. It is a fine line between advertising for mates and corporate advertising. I suppose if money doesn’t change hands then it is ok. Somehow, though, the promotional aspect seems to disrupt the freedom of the artist, because there is a different driver or purpose, and this is reflected in their style and content.

Kid Crayon, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024
Kid Crayon, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024

Kid Crayon manages to gain leniency from me because I love his work, and in this piece he promotes n exhibition ‘Art on wax’ that happened way back in July. I expect the delay in posting the piece was down to my prevarication. It is well painted but in my view insincere. There you have it.

6383. Dean Lane skate park (754)

Foksymoron, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Foksymoron, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

There is no doubt about it, Foksymoron is expanding his portfolio, painting larger fox character pieces with more variety, adding something extra to his familiar mega-tag foxes dotted about the city. I, for one, am very much enjoying this pushing of boundaries, and am wondering how much more sophistication will be added to his work.

Foksymoron, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Foksymoron, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

The rather cool looking (if not a little overweight) fox in this piece is reclining, with his sunglasses dazzling. He is saying “put a donk on it” – I’m not entirely sure what this means, but donk is Australian slang for a penis, but I can’t see how that would apply here. Anyhow, the fox remains cool and joins his larger-scale counterparts in Foksymoron’s expanding portfolio.

6382. Dean Lane skate park (753)

Ceus, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Ceus, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

After something of an absence, it is a real pleasure to see Ceus (Javiceus), back in Bristol with this piece and the one he painted for the World Wall Stylers ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ wall. One of the trademark elements of Ceus’ work is his command of colour – he seems to make good choices that will hit home.

Ceus, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Ceus, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

I don’t think that this one lasted very long, I only remember seeing it once. The turnover in Dean Lane is pretty fast these days. The letters spelling CEUS are really beautiful, with scenic fills that transition really well. The red 3D drop shadow, sets the whole piece off really well. The graffiti writing is painted on a cityscape backdrop, filling up the wall space really well. Hoping for more from Ceus this autumn.

6375. Dean Lane skate park (752)

Dasco, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2019
Dasco, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2019

This post is a quick nostalgic trip down memory lane comprising three wonderful pieces painted in Dean Lane, photographed way back in May 2019, that inexplicably weren’t posted at the time. The first is by Dasco, whose short time in Bristol saw the production of several outstanding pieces, you can see his gallery here.

Taboo, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2019
Taboo, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2019

Taboo has long been a favourite on the pages of Natural Adventures, and here is an old one in monochrome, complete with skull and right ball. Nice stuff.

Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2019
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2019

Somehow this fabulous Biers piece missed the boat back in 2019, and I guess it was in a sense it was a prediction of things to come. ‘Nigel Farage – snake oil’ it says, and it isn’t wrong. The Clacton MP still hasn’t set up office in his constituency since the election and hasn’t held a single surgery, but then I don’t think anyone in their right mind would have expected that from the uber-opportunist.

 

6374. Dean Lane skate park (751)

Zake, Face 1st and Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024
Zake, Face 1st and Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024

When the PWA boys get together, you often end up with something quite quirky, and this fine collaboration from last month is an peculiar as they come.  This piece on the bricked up rear of the large ramp in Dean Lane skate park has been decorated by Zake, Face 1st and Chill.

Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024
Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024

Zake has been pushing the boundaries a lot with his cartoon portrait pieces lately, and this crazy character is no exception. Big teeth and wild hair generate a sense of madness in this character, which is further exaggerated by the lack of pupils in the eyes. Adding to this sense of the unhinged, yer man is holding onto a rat by its tail. Weird fun.

Face 1st, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024
Face 1st, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024

The centrepiece is beautifully occupied by a classic piece of writing and character combination work from Face 1st. His letters are in a 3D block style, topped with a giggling girl character that we have come to know and love.

Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024
Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024

Rounding off the wall is a cartoon character complete with detailed fine lines and coloursul solid fills. The character is a nicely observed caricature of a young man with a baseball cap, short back and sides and plenty of piercings. A little bird sitting on the forefinger of the character rounds things off nicely. As ever a fine collaboration from this threesome.