Tag: Dean Lane

3559. Dean Lane skate park (401)

I was fortunate enough to catch up with Pekoe as she was painting this pink face in Dean Lane a couple of weeks back. This was one of several portraits she painted over the space of a few days and which left her skint… spray paint is not cheap.

Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2021
Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2021

It was interesting watching her work on this portrait, and her ‘trial and error’ approach to some elements of it. She was working on the nose and nostrils when I took this picture. Seeing the piece in draft like this, gives you a feel for how important the finishing is in street art and just how much work goes into these works.

Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2021
Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2021

I have always liked Pekoe’s work, from the very first piece I saw… there is a kind of authenticity and honesty about it and it is calmly unpretentious. Finding each new piece brings me a little moment of joy.

3548. Dean Lane skate park (400)

Another one from the archives and one that I am so pleased to have re-found. It is a lovely collaboration from Turoe and I think Veks, although I might have that wrong. I think I never posted it at the time because I was uncertain about the artists, and it disappeared, quite neglected.

Veks and Turow, Dean Lane, April 2017
Veks and Turow, Dean Lane, April 2017

Dating from way back in April 2017, the writing in dark brown colours is clearly by Turoe, who definitely wasn’t on my radar back then (what kind of blind was I?). The character I believe to be by Veks and is masterfully painted, so crisp and clean and vibrant. I feel I should have done more homework at the time, but I don’t think I even had an Instagram account back then and was still learning (that never ends). A fine and once forgotten, until now, collaboration.

3546. Dean Lane skate park (399)

There are some artists in Bristol whose style is recognisable from the slightest glance. It might be the shape of the letters, the colours, the form or any number of common themes or motifs. Every now and again though they let their hair down and do something quite different. This is something different from Dibz.

Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021

This is a fun and rather small burner from Dibz, which if it weren’t for the letters might be difficult to attribute to him. What you can always be assured of though from Dibz is outstanding clean lines and finishing and this piece is no different. I caught up with him while he was painting another more Dibzy sort of thing on an adjacent wall and asked why he had painted something so different here and he indicated that he was just having a bit of laid back fun. Great to see.

3545. Dean Lane skate park (398)

It was while he was completing this piece that I met Slakarts for the first time, and then the following week in the same place I met him again, both while he was painting collaborations with Nugmoose and Mudra. There three appear to have formed a tight group, and I look forward to many more collaborative walls from them.

Slakarts, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021
Slakarts, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021

Slakarts is developing and evolving this character all the time with each iteration bringing together themes he has been working on, such as the doubling of some features and the addition of glasses with reflective stripes on them. Thoroughly fun to observe and Slakarts seems to derive a lot of happiness from his work. All good.

3540. Dean Lane skate park (397)

This recent piece from Nugmoose caused a bit of a stir, because it is really different and unusual and by an artist that we don’t see painting the streets too often. This is actually part of a collaboration with friends Slakarts and Mudra. These three have formed a rather nice partnership and were out painting again a week later on  the other Dean Lane long wall. I stopped on both occasions to chat with the artists, and Nugmoose is a lovely bloke who told me he is quite interested in painting alien encounters and ideas, hence the strange hieroglyphs to the left of the piece.

Nugmoose, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021
Nugmoose, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021

The colours are so unusual and really help to make this portrait stand out. The lines are clean and simple but the impact very big. Every artist I have shown this piece to have immediately responded with saying how good it is, but you don’t have to take their word for it… take mine.

3519. Lawrence Hill roundabout (16)

On my most recent visit to Lawrence Hill roundabout there wasn’t too much to write home about, there are a lot of throw ups and tagging in the tunnels and not so much ‘classy’ stuff that you get to see in other spots about the city. This character from Slakarts is a definite highlight.

Slakarts, Lawrence Hill, Bristol, February 2021
Slakarts, Lawrence Hill, Bristol, February 2021

I met Slakarts for the first time as he was finishing off a collaborative effort with Mudra and Nugmoose at Dean Lane and I would just like to say what a lovely bloke he is. We stopped and chatted for quite a while and it was a genuine pleasure. As is always the case he was a lot younger than I had expected. He is enjoying painting this character at the moment, but said he’d really like to go big, so that is something to look forward to.

3516. Dean Lane skate park (396)

Not much lasts for long in the street art world, especially in Dean Lane, and the Acer One piece featured in the previous blog post was overpainted with this brash piece from Lee Roy, who has unleashed his energy and desire to cover Bristol in paint in recent weeks.

Lee Roy, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021
Lee Roy, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021

Although Lee Roy is an established writer in Bristol, I have only recently started to post his work, probably because it is impossible to ignore at the moment. His style is interesting, with irregular and unusually shaped letters, but his fills are very nice indeed, if a little understated in this piece. I love the touch ‘Need Photos’ in the top right corner – well here they are.

This wall has since been overpainted by Mudra yesterday, but he decided to keep the little ‘Need Photos’ message in there.

3515. Dean Lane skate park (395)

Acer One has been out and about smashing it recently, usually in collaborative pieces or painting alongside friends, in this case he painted the letters ACER adjacent to a Benjimagnetic piece.

Acer One, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021
Acer One, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021

What I really like about ACER One’s pieces is that from close up they are very difficult to decipher, but as you retreat, your eyes begin to piece together the patterns into letters. You can play a game with yourself with this picture… if you look at the magenta and gold bits, they take on abstract shapes, and it becomes almost impossible to see the letters – weird. I like that he obviously uses a mask of some kind to get these perfectly straight lines. A fine, warm piece from Acer One.

3513. Dean Lane skate park (394)

More great work from Benjimagnetic who is on fire these days, this time with a nice piece of heavily disguised writing at Dean Lane. This one was painted alongside Acer One who also seems to have had a new lease of life in recent weeks.

Benjimagnetic, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021
Benjimagnetic, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021

Benjimagnetic has used his favourite colour palette of reds, purples and blues, but rather than spelling BEN as is usual he has spelt something else here. My usual uselessness at reading his writing means that I can’t tell you what this says… it starts with a T but I lose it after that. Whatever it says, it is still a fine piece.

3507. Dean Lane skate park (393)

Aah, the familiar and comforting letters spelling TES from Slim Pickings (as I call him) in Dean Lane. When all else around us is in utter chaos and flux, it is nice to have constants like this to ground us for a while, albeit a fleeting moment.

Slim Pickings, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021
Slim Pickings, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021

This is a big TES and very nicely done. Just two colours with a little bit of white 3D accent work demonstrate the confidence and skill of the artist. No need to embellish the work, although embellishment is always great too, don’t get me wrong. A strong and knowing piece.