A gallery of fabulous character pieces by west of England artist DFC1848
all photographs by Scooj
DFC1848
Tag: DFC1848
4056. L Dub (32)
I took these pictures a little while back, and the beautiful collaboration featured is by DFC1848 and Peanutsdeli, painted as part of the DJ Perks 50th birthday paint jam. I am very familiar with DFC1848’s work, but this is the first time I have seen anything by Peanutsdeli, but on this evidence I’d love to see more.
The central characters are a familiar sight on Natural Adventures and DFC1848 has switched things up a bit by positioning the second character upside down and separating the two with a yellow “f”. Stepping back, you can see the whole thing spells out DFC. Nice tidy work.
The centrepiece is bookended by two remarkable characters by Peanutsdeli. These mischievous little folk are great fun and beautifully painted. They represent that clever crossover from illustration to street art. The characters would not look out of place in a children’s story book.
I will definitely keep my eyes peeled for more from Peanutsdeli, but I don’t think he paints much in Bristol, and I am guessing he is probably from the Cheltenham/Gloucester/Stroud area. Lovely work and a fine collaboration.
3871. Cumberland Basin
It was really great to catch up with DFC1848 when he was painting this piece during a paint jam for Eman’s birthday at the beginning of August. The sun was out, there was a fabulous turnout of artists and all was good with the world.
DFC1848 has painted a few of these ‘double’ characters and in this one continues to add in title flashes and decorations, always looking to add complexity to his designs. One of the things I really like about this is how he has ‘stitched’ the two halves together with a bit of cord, rather like Andy Councils recent pieces.
A nice clean piece and a fun character, DFC1848 is going from strength to strength. During our chat he kept on telling me to get out and paint. I really do need to do something about this state of affairs having talked about it for the last couple of years.
3825. Purdown HAA Battery (28)
It is always great to see pieces in Bristol by DFC1848, whose work over the last three years has just gone from strength to strength. His cartoon character pieces have developed from two rather basic forms into a wide portfolio of different animals and monsters, all with a element of goodness about them.
This is a particularly creative monster on one of the concrete walls of the Purdown Battery. DFC1848 tends to do solid fills in hie pieces, but the incorporation of details is adding sophistication. I am really enjoying the progress of this artist whose footsteps I’d like to follow.
3593. L Dub (26)
The work of DFC1848 just goes from strength to strength. His characters are becoming more complex and the finishing is becoming cleaner and tighter with each new piece he sprays. This is a rather nice take on his familiar character that he has built on over the last year or two.
In nearly all of his works, DFC1848 conceals the letters DFC, however in this one he has settled for signing it at the bottom right. The double headed bear, sharing a tongue could be quite a creepy concept, but this, consistent with most of his characters is cuddly and certainly not creepy. I like the highlights on the tongue and lower lips – these are additions that he is developing and improving all the time. A nice find.
3553. M32 roundabout J3 (288)
I love finding pieces by DFC1848 because they give me hope for my own artistic aspirations and his improvement over the last twelve months particularly has been exponential. DFC1848 has taken his character to new heights and developed so many ideas and incorporated new techniques.
What is obvious is that the more you practice at this game, the better you get. In this character piece, DFC1848 has switched things up a bit. Not only is the character a different animal, but it is upside down. The letters DFC are concealed within the character’s face, which is something he usually incorporates. Unfortunately, this piece only lasted a day or two, so I was rather lucky to find it.
3170. M32 roundabout J3 (253)
I don’t think that this lovely character piece by DFC1848 lasted too long, so I was quite lucky to get a picture of it. The rabbit (?) face is another example of the diversity of pieces that DFC1848 is coming up with these days, having spend much of his first year of hitting walls concentrating on his now-familiar bear face.
I am enjoying his diversifying portfolio and I told him as much when I met him last weekend at the Cheltenham Paint Festival. One thing led to another during our conversation, and he has offered to accompany me when I decide to paint my first wall, an offer that I am giving very serious consideration, so watch this space carefully – I hope to have something to show you before the end of the year.
Meanwhile, DFC1848’s pieces are becoming more complex and he is incorporating new features, such as the little patch on the cheek of this rabbit. Geat to see a street art hunter/photographer giving it a go and improving with each effort. Hats off…
3128. St Werburghs tunnel (178)
I not only simply hate the new WordPress editor, I loathe it. Not only does everything take twice as long, but it constantly seems to try and give you what you want rather than letting you do what you want. Very, very annoying.
This is a cheerful little piece by DFC1848 in the tunnel, and yet another example of just how far his work has come over the last few months.
This is a reversion to his original character, but there is so much more in the way of decoration and experimentation, including some bubbles on the outside and two tones of blue for the body. There is so much more confidence and ease with his work now and this perfectly demonstrates that practice is the name of the game.
3003. L Dub (16)
I love this recent collaboration from DFC1848 and DJ Perks for many reasons, but mainly because these guys are more often on the other side of the camera lens, and have made the step into spraying a lot for themselves and both have made huge improvements in the last year.
The left hand side is a wonderful bright red character from DFC1848, which retains many of the characteristics of some of his earlier characters but contains additional detail. It just goes to show what improvements can be made with loads of practice – DFC1848 had a board in his garden and practiced during lock down.
On the right is a very tidy bit of graffiti writing from DJ Perks, whose work has also seen a great improvement over the last 18 months. the letter shapes are great and the depth of shading works really well. I’m not too sure about the drips though. A lovely collaboration which fills me with hope for my own efforts.
2970. Dean Lane skate park (317)
I love this fun piece from DFC1848 for a great many reasons. Primarily, we are witnessing the development of an artist from the early stages. DFC1848 is a street art hunter (a term I dislike) like me, who about two years ago turned his hand to spraying walls with his ‘stock’ character piece, following some work on stickers. He has been practicing and repeating his favoured character on a reasonably regular basis since then but the step change has occurred during lock down, where he was painting a new piece in his garden pretty much every day, with some rather spectacular results.
Now since the lock down restrictions have eased DFC1848 has painted this in Dean Lane, with a confidence of an accomplished artist. It is great to see. I really look forward to seeing some of the characters he practiced in his garden making it onto the streets of Bristol this summer.
Natural adventures 