Tag: Dean Lane

4435. Dean Lane skate park (491)

What a lovely thing to find on the long wall in Dean Lane skate park. Fresh, clean and definitely a collaboration to bring a smile to your face. The RBF crew have been particularly busy of late in various spots around the city, but you don’t often see their work in Dean Lane.

Evey, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022
Evey, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022

It looks to me like Evey has been having some coaching from Bnie with her 3D shadow, as I’ve never seen her paint these patterns before. This is what I love about street art; all the artists seem to be continuously developing and improving their work, moving from idea to idea and pushing themselves. The fills in her letters are rather fun too, and the colours definitely complement each other.

Bnie, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022
Bnie, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022

The other half of the collaborative wall is by Bnie in which she has absolutely smashed it in my opinion. The piece has everything you would expect from Bnie but elevated to the next level. This might even be her finest piece yet. The letter fills are beautifully blended and the white highlights lift them out a bit. The 3D fill is to die for, with a clever and rather unique patterning, which is a sure trademark of hers. The double border is nice and neat and provides the distinction between the letters and background. I love this piece, and I am enjoying these recent RBF collaborations.

Evey and Bnie, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022
Evey and Bnie, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022

4432. Dean Lane skate park (490)

This is a rather unexpected collaboration for a number of reasons, but is as welcome as it is unexpected. Chill and Smut combining to give us this beautiful piece of writing bookended with cartoon characters.

Smut, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022
Smut, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this collaboration is the change in style from Smut. His customary script writing has given way to something entirely different. The anamorphic letters are beautifully crafted and as you would expect from Smut painted with precision and a near-perfect orange border, which bleeds across into the two Chill characters.

Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022
Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022

To the left, the cartoon character is wearing a floppy hat and looking and pointing towards Smut’s letters. The black and white figure contrasting perfectly with the orange border.

Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022
Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022

To the right-hand side, and concluding the collaborative wall, is an almost mirror image of the opposite character, although this one is wearing a hoodie and baseball cap. The whole thing is a rather unlikely collaboration that comes together really nicely. Watch this space for some more experimental styles from Smut.

Chill and Smut, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022
Chill and Smut, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022

4422. Dean Lane skate park (489)

It has been a very long time indeed since I last saw a new piece from Jee See, and although this ‘seismic’ piece was short lived, it was a very welcome sight. My hope is that Jee See will take something positive from the experience and start painting more regularly again.

Jee See, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022
Jee See, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022

It is interesting how artists will focus on a word or a theme, and then develop it over time. Jee See’s work is synonymous with the word ‘seismic’ almost obsessively so, but it has become iconic and a part of what he does. It was such a pleasure to find this one.

4413. Dean Lane skate park (488)

It has been waaay too long waiting for this absolute stunner from Rusk, who seems to have gone to ground in recent months. What a way to return to the walls of Bristol, with this magnificent and rather unusual anamorphic piece.

Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022
Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022

Spelling out RUSK, the letters are made up of a ribbon or tape which is coloured blue on one side and pink on the other. All very skilfully done, and if you take a closer look, the ribbon has some arrows and bars decorating it. Set on a ‘wallpaper’ background with clouds, this is a truly excellent piece, not that I would expect anything less from Rusk. Welcome back.

4411. Dean Lane skate park (487)

It would seem that Hire has returned to a fairly regular rhythm, having not painted very much during the lockdowns. This is, of course, great news, and the work he is presenting at the moment is as good as it has ever been.

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022

This stunner was painted a couple of weeks ago, and Hire has achieves a certain amount of symmetry in this piece, although a closer look will reveal that it isn’t symmetrical at all, it just looks that way. Hire has created a very clever piece indeed and it is beautifully presented and executed. So good to see him painting regularly.

4408. Dean Lane skate park (486)

Unusual and unexpected, this writing in Dean Lane is an untypical piece from Inkie that appeared about a week ago, at the same time as a Rusk piece on a nearby wall (coming soon). At first glance, the writing is not obviously Inkie’s and certainly doesn’t have many of his trademark elements.

Inkie, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022
Inkie, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022

Take a closer look though and certain motifs are there. The quality of the piece is outstanding and although it might look a bit busy and eclectic, everything that is there is carefully placed, like the green hoops, the purple bubble writing around the edges and the shout-outs. This is a skilfully painted piece designed to look a bit raw, and Inkie has carried it off perfectly.

4400. Dean Lane skate park (485)

In the space of little over a week, several mega-tag faces by Awkward appeared in Dean Lane skate park. I have not seen any of Awkward’s work for simply ages, so perhaps he found some spray cans somewhere and decided to get out there and paint. The result of his endeavours is that I have decided to pull them all together in this collection, reflecting his approach.

Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2022
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2022

Each of the mega-tags features a rather distressed cartoonish face and a speech bubble, with the word Awkward written in it, although you might not be able to decipher the writing if you didn’t know who the artist was.

Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2022
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2022

This yellow face appears to be crying blood tears and is accompanied by the words ‘Peace Now’ – a reference to the war in Ukraine, and other global conflicts I dare say.

Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2022
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2022

Awkward has been considerate and respectful with this yellow face with pyramidal eyes, inserting it into a collaboration piece that had been there for a few days, without damaging it, and perhaps even augmenting it.

Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2022
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2022

This final one on the edge of the famous Dean Lane curved wall is, along with the others, rather striking, and has the words ‘Join the Cloaks’ (I think) – I don’t know what it means. Since this little starburst of pieces, I haven’t seen anything more from Awkward… perhaps when he finds some more paint.

4398. Dean Lane skate park (484)

In recent months, tattooist and street artist, Chill, has firmly established himself as a great cartoon character artist almost out of nowhere. His pieces have always been great to look at, but it is the frequency with which he has been painting them that has become so noticeable.

Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022
Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022

This fine piece in Dean Lane is typical of his distinctive work. Chill typically paints black and white characters that look like they have been lifted from a cartoonist’s sketchbook, set on a red or orange background, creating great contrast which helps the characters to stand out. Chill has stretched his usual modus operandi by including some green foliage and some decorative dotty spheres, that look like dandelion heads. Plenty of fun and action in this piece and cartoon-style eyes to die for.

4385. Dean Lane skate park (482)

It is probably about time for another piece from Face 1st, and this one, like so many of his other pieces, is so full of joy and happiness. I think that Face 1st should be employed as a ‘happiness tzar’ for Bristol, and be allowed to spray his happy faces to improve morale in a time when good news is hard to come by.

Face 1st, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022
Face 1st, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022

This particular piece in Dean Lane is in one of his preferred forms in which he has written FACE as the hair of a girl’s smiling face. For added effect, he has included a second face as the ‘A’ of FACE. It is always great to see anything by this artist, and the Bristol graffiti/street art scene simply wouldn’t be the same without him.

4381. Dean Lane skate park (481)

Truly, good things come to those who wait, and what a long wait it has been to see a public piece by Pelmo, but this is one of three very recent pieces that I know about and it is great to see he is out and about painting again.

Pelmo, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022
Pelmo, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022

This small piece in Dean Lane skate park features one of his oversized characters flipping a little skateboard. What a joy to find this. I have long been a fan of Pelmo’s unusual work, that tells stories about people of extraordinary proportions doing ordinary things. There is something most endearing and compassionate in the way Pelmo portrays his characters with love and affection. Watch this space for more.