Tag: Dean Lane

5693. Dean Lane skate park (667)

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023

Even when he paints a smaller, simpler piece, Hire puts in admirable effort, and I am not too sure that the words ‘quick one’ come into his vocabulary or thinking. In case it wasn’t obvious enough from the letters, Hire belongs to the BF crew, and occasionally substitutes his HIRE lettering for BF.

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023

Starting with the background, Hire pretty much always paints on a prepped wall, to help his letters stand out from the surrounding graffiti ‘noise’. His chrome letters are lifted by the clever use of the green and purple patterning that sits behind them, and the fine white lines bring a little bit of definition to the piece. Fantastic, thoughtful work from Hire and a great shout out to BF.

5685. Dean Lane skate park (666)

Minto, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
Minto, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023

Minto’s recent appearances in Bristol are very much appreciated, and although he has had a long association with the city, it looks like he might be painting here more regularly. There are a few artists like Minto who are graffiti writers, that incorporate artwork and a story into the letters to create a kind of fusion. In this piece, Minto has written his name, or parts of it, into the side of a camper van.

Minto, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
Minto, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023

This is not the first camper van piece I have seen by Minto, and I think it might be a kind of ‘thing’ for him at the moment. The piece is nicely painted, and I particularly like the ‘happy’ wheels, reflecting a mountainous wilderness at sunrise. Great stuff from Minto and I look forward to seeing a lot more.

5683. Dean Lane skate park (665)

Mr Crawls, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
Mr Crawls, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023

I love this door in Dean Lane, it creates a nice frame for character pieces and is definitely a candidate for the occasional feature on this blog, One Wall Many Faces. This time around it is the turn of Mr Crawls to occupy this space, and he has done a very nice job of it indeed.

Mr Crawls, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
Mr Crawls, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023

As the year has progressed, Mr Crawls has become more productive, his pieces appearing all over the place, and more recently in collaborative form with Mote. I am not entirely sure what kind of bird this is. The hooked beak would suggest it is a raptor, but the colouring and characterful expression has gull written all over it. Of course, it is fictional and not a bird we recognise, mostly on account of a fine pair of horns. Great fun from the effervescent Mr Crawls.

5674. Dean Lane skate park (663)

Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023

Awkward is an artist who pops up from time to time, pretty much always in the Dean Lane area. Most, if not all, of his work appears to contain a rather stressed looking character, the face only, often with a speech bubble with the word Awkward in it.

Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023

This piece comes with a further two messages, the first is ‘Free Palestine’ and the second might be an observation of the weather when he was painting, ‘Then came the rain’. Awkward seems to be well acquainted with a few of the established writers in Bristol, but just doesn’t seem to paint as often, which is a bit of a shame.

5662. Dean Lane skate park (661)

Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023

Ha ha, this is a fabulous and tight piece by Biers (WD40) in the skate park. Adopting his customary writing and character combination, Biers has introduced the TV cartoon character Dexter, from the Cartoon Network series Dexter’s Laboratory. I fear I missed out on this animation extravaganza, but I seem to recall my children watching it.

Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023

The writing, spelling WD40, is really nicely painted with nice crisp and sharp lines nd outlines. The bubble fill works well with the bubbles flowing from the test tube being held by Dexter, providing read-across between the character and letters. Biers is turning out some great work lately which is great to see.

5657. DeannLane skate park (660)

Klashwhensober, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
Klashwhensober, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023

I will never be able to keep up with Klashwhensober’s prolific presence around Bristol. Not only does he paint whenever he gets the opportunity, he also paints at all the regular spots and some of the out-of-the-way places too. I’m not sure I have seen him occupy this particular wall in Dean Lane before and it didn’t last for very long, so I am pleased I captured it when I did.

Klashwhensober, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
Klashwhensober, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023

Without a doubt, this is one of Klashwhensober’s better pieces and he has smashed it on a premium wall and it doesn’t look in the slightest bit out of place. The bright yellow and grey letters stand out beautifully on the contrasting orange/red background. Great fill patterns and drop patterns too and the finishing is pretty much on point too. A great piece from Klashwhensober.

5652. Dean Lane skate park (659)

Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023

Although Halloween was quite some time ago, I still have several ‘horror’ pieces in the pipeline, including this beauty by Biers. I met the artist about a week after he painted this one, and he said that he didn’t like it very much. I quite often find that artists can be their own most ferocious critics. From my perspective, I think this is a great piece, very much in the Halloween spirit of things.

Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023

The writing spells out WD40, which is difficult to pick out unless you know, and follows Biers’ usual format of writing his letters and incorporating a character in the ‘0’. The character in this instance is Chucky from the Child’s Play franchise – films I have never actually seen myself – horror is my least favourite genre of films… they scare me. Wonderful work from Biers. Boo!

5635. Dean Lane skate park (658)

Dibz, Awkward and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
Dibz, Awkward and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023

This is a rather interesting collaboration in Dean Lane, in which Fade and Dibz have done their thing, but have been joined by Awkward, whose big-eyed character faces are in stark contrast to Dibz and Fade’s sharp graffiti writing.

Dibz, Awkward and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
Dibz, Awkward and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023

Dibz has written DIBZ and has a downwards and left facing drop shadow. Fade has written FADE and his writing has a drop shadow that goes up and to the right, which creates some imbalance in the piece (to my mind). Add to that the crazy character by Awkward and you have a collaboration made up of three great individual pieces, but the golden thread or flow is a little absent. Having made that observation, I still very much like the three core elements on this wall.

5624. Dean Lane skate park (657)

Rusk and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
Rusk and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023

Some collaborations are so good they simply ooze class, and any observer would be able to notice that something a little bit special is happening here. Rusk and Shade One have paired up once again in Dean Lane to give us this fabulous treat.

Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023

The writing from Rusk is beautifully proportioned and finished to his usual very high standards. The purple drop shadow works spectacularly well with the green/grey letters. Two stand out details are the white shine running horizontally through the piece and the yellow stripes on some of the letters. Utterly outstanding.

Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023

The portrait piece by Shade One on the right is, I think, a tribute piece to Shimz. The wonderful attention to detail and extraordinary capture mark Shade One as the best photorealistic artist in Bristol right now, and how different his style is from only a couple of years ago, when his characters were more cartoony. This is simply brilliant, and the combination with Rusk is a real worldie in my mind.

5609. Dean Lane skate park (656)

Jevoissoul, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
Jevoissoul, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023

I try to keep my finger on the pulse with artists who are breaking onto the Bristol scene, one of whom is Jevoissoul. There is no mistaking that he has made his mark very quickly, with several pieces scattered in the Dean Lane and Brunel Way areas, leading me to think he probably lives in south Bristol somewhere, reinforced by his use of the BS3 postcode which takes in the Bedminster area.

Jevoissoul, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
Jevoissoul, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023

I have posted two quick pieces from smaller spots in the skate park. I think that Jevoissoul will produce plenty of these character faces, practising his skills and technique, with a view to producing some rather more expansive and creative pieces – something he has already started to do.

Jevoissoul, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
Jevoissoul, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023

Whilst not particularly exceptional, I am posting these as a benchmark from which to measure his progress over time. I’m looking forward to the journey.