2396. Dean Lane skate park (242)

The long wall at Dean Lane plays host to a great many great collaborations, and this one is no exception. Two of there artists, Rusk and Turoe One are familiar to me, but the third, Kasoe (Gatoloco) is reasonably new to me .

Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019
Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019

Starting off the collaborative wall is the familiar writing of Rusk which has been really beautifully done. His horizontal shading gives the whole piece the effect of being a glistening gold bar or something like that, and the depth created by his 3D shading is really well done. The whole piece is set on a cosmic background with a bit on an electric storm going on. Great stuff as you’d expect from this artist.

Turoe One, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019
Turoe One, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019

Next up is a terrific Iron Man character piece by Turoe One, an artist who has been decorating walls for more than 30 years, but whose work has been almost off my radar until recently (how does that happen?). There is little to say about the Iron Man figure other than it is utterly awesome.

Gatoloco (Kasoe), Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019
Gatoloco (Kasoe), Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019

On the right hand side of the collaboration, and perhaps a little bit discrete from the other two is this very distinctive and beautifully painted writing from Gatoloco who writes Kasoe. There are elements of other styles in this piece, such as 3D shading reminiscent of Inkie, but the whole thing has a strong and clear identity and is very easy on the eye. I have seen at least one other piece from Gatoloco and will be looking out for more.

2386. Dean Lane skate park (240)

This is a favourite spot for small pieces under one of the ramps at Dean Lane skatepark and has recently been painted by Pekoe. I have an awful lot of time for her work and am really enjoying seeing the journey she is on and the improvements she is making.

Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019
Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019

This piece demonstrates so well her naive art style which is in fact more complex than might first meet the eye. She is known for producing female portraits with ‘big hair’ which is always carefully thought out and beautifully executed. There is obvious emotion in this piece too with the word ‘cry’ written over the top and tears on the girl’s face. All good, although the location merans that its longevity will be very limited. Glad to haver captured it.

2385. Dean Lane skate park (239)

The No Frills crew have been pretty busy this summer, and this is the latest of several recent collaborations in Dean Lane. The common contributor with all the collaborations appears to be Biers (AKA Jimothy Kool Aid), who writes ‘Oh Yeah’ and combines the letters with a characer.

Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019

The left hand side is by Biers and the character is a rather fun and young-looking Mick Jagger. The writing is tight and just what you’d expect from Biers, nicely thought out and the colours are great.

Slim Pickings, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019
Slim Pickings, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019

On the right there is a ‘TES’ from Slim Pickings with a magnificent fill that transitions between orange with red spots to red with orange spots, a technique I have seen him use before to great effect. Another nice collaboration from this pair.

2383. Dean Lane skate park (238)

It would seem that Rezwonk and Decay are inseparable at the moment, they are churning out so many exciting and vibrant collaborations this summer. Some of these display a common theme used by both artists or some like this, one present two very different pieces side by side.

Rezwonk, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019
Rezwonk, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019

On the left is a colourful Rezwonk piece of writing, that is reasonably simple in concept – different coloured letters with melting drips, but complex in its execution. How on earth would you start such a piece? I’m not entirely sure the white ‘dusting’ works though, if anything it looks like someone has tried to obscure the piece… it might have been better without.

Decay, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019
Decay, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019

Then on the right is the Decay piece which shares only drippiness with Rezwonk’s. In all other aspects the writing and colour selection could hardly be more different. It is rermarkable to think how much Decay’s work has come on over the last twelve months or so. Perhaps a quick squint at his updated gallery will give you some idea of the progress made.

 

 

2370. Dean Lane skate park (238)

I have liked the work of Mr Draws a great deal now for several years and am enjoying seeing his work get tighter and more creative with each outing. This is a simple but effective rendition of his ‘Draw’ signature.

Mr Draws, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2019
Mr Draws, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2019

The green and yellow stripes are nicely selected and painted and the whole thing is given a lift with the thick black outline. It would seem that so many of the spots Mr Draws liked to paint are now out of action, such as the Bearpit and Carriageworks. It is great then that he continues his great work, even if I have to go the extra mile to see it.

2358. Dean Lane skate park (237)

I was lucky enough to catch up with DJPerks when he was just finishing off this small piece. He really is quite modest, and doesn’t talk much about his own artwork, and still manages to drive around taking pictures of other people’s street art.

DJPerks, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2019
DJPerks, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2019

This is a nicely designed quick one with a vanishing point right in the centre of the piece. Although I haven’t seen much of his work, and have only posted one before this one, I do like the way he mixes it up each time, playing with the letters PERKS, each piece original. It’ll be interesting if he continues along this path or whether, like some artists he’ll sttick with one basic design.

2349. Dean Lane skate park (236)

Getting lucky is all part and parcel of photographing and recording street art. I remember when I first started out I never thought I’d actually meet an artist (I naively thought it was all done under cover of darkness) let alone watch them at work. Over the last five years I have met countless artists and would consider myself friends with several of them. One who I met for the first time a week or two back was Subtle, and what an astonishingly nice bloke he is.

Subtle, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2019
Subtle, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2019

Subtle, whose work first entered my consciousness in about 2016, is an artist who has eluded me until now and whose work just seems to be getting better and better with each piece. While I watched him doing this piece (distract I ought to say) he let me into a whole load of tips on technique, the most memorable of which is that he uses a roller and emulsion for the bulk of his work (most of what you can see above) and saves the spray paint for the details. The reason for this approach is driven by cost – a wall as large as this one would cost quite a lot if it was all done with just spray paint.

Subtle, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2019
Subtle, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2019

I really enjoyed my twenty minutes in the company of Subtle and am pleased that I managed to get a reasonably clean completed picture (in spite of Soak and Young’s intervention) a few days later. For sure, this is one artist I’d love to catch up with again, and now that he has moved more centrally in Bristol I think the chances of that happening are greater than before.

Rezwonk and Subtle, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2018
Rezwonk and Subtle, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2018

2346. Dean Lane skate park (235)

Oainted directly over a Hire piece, Slim Pickings has produced another outstanding TES piece in Dean Lane. By now, everyone should be familiar with ‘stock’ shape of Slim Pickings’ work so it is the fills and detail that is of real interest.

Slim Pickings, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2019
Slim Pickings, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2019

His work is always sharp and clean and in this piece his colour contrasts work really well. I like also how the colours used are reversed out on the ‘S’, and by that I mean, reading left to right, he has sprayed orange letters with red spots which becomes a red letter with orange spots. Nice tidy work, from the master of TES.

2340. Dean Lane skate park (234)

I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and watch Casette (@ros-fables) as he finished off this rather beautiful whale piece in Dean Lane. I haven’t come across the artist before, so it was great to meet him, albeit briefly, on his visit to Bristol from (I think) the west country.

Casette, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2019
Casette, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2019

The sperm whale (blue whale?) is set on a fat striped background, a theme that is carried into the body of the whale. I was pleased to see Casette using a bit of cardboard to mask the spray over some of the details, something I have started doing quite a lot – obviously a legit technique. Pleased to have seen this lovely one-off, until he next returns.

2337. Dean Lane skate park (233)

It feels like a pretty long time since I last saw anything by Kool Hand in Bristol, and I figured he might have moved to London because he has posted a few pieces on Instagram from there. But here is a new piece in Dean Lane, and I hope this signals a return.

Kool Hand, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2019
Kool Hand, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2019

In this piece we see a return of his monkey/orangutan character, but just the head (looking a bit fierce) this time. I love the use of bold, vivid colours, the simple single-colour fills and clean designs. I think that if I try to do characters I might try something a bit like this, but to be a fraction as good would be success.