Dragon – Natural adventures

6750. Greenway Bush Lane (5)

Taboo, Greenway Bush Lane, Bristol, February 2025

It feels like an age since I last photographed anything by Taboo, but the fresh wall on Greenway Bush Lane, seems to be an inviting prospect for street/graffiti artists in the area. In this piece he has teamed up with another artist (I don’t know who) to create this very pink collaboration.

Taboo’s anti-style letters spell TABOO, with the irregular letters partially disguised, especially the ‘OO’, also the T and last O are painted in red paint and seem disjointed from the rest of the piece. His letters are characterised by a distinctive midline running through them, a technique used by a lot of anti-style writers.

At first, I thought the dragon (having a pint – and why not?) was part of a combination piece by Taboo, but on closer inspection realised it is in a very different style, and is using black rather than blue to pick out the detail. I can see the letters HB Nick, but unfortunately that doesn’t get me very far. A nice collaboration on this rather exciting wall.

6135. Dean Lane skate park (724)

Well, well, well, this outstanding dragon character piece came a little bit out of the blue. It is by Cheo, one of the godfathers of Bristol street art, whose frequency of painting has declined a little in recent years, but whose work is always to be celebrated.

In this game, if you snooze you lose, and I arrived a littler too late to photograph the piece before it had been dogged. The blue cock and balls (one of the most ancient forms of graffiti), probably sprayed by kids, slightly ruins the flow of the piece, but takes nothing away from the enormous talent of Cheo. Every little detail is perfectly worked, such as the folds in the clothing, the dragon’s face, and the crispness of the flame sprite. The signature bee rounds the scene off nicely. So good to see, albeit a little late.

I went back to Dean Lane a few days later and the blue tags had been removed, although another one appeared to the right of the piece.

6101. Nelson Street (18)

Kin Dose, Nelson Street, Bristol, May 2024

Who needs Upfest, when you have local artists that can do this? I got impatient with photographing this wondrous mural by Kin Dose, which every time I have been to take a look has had cars and vans parked in front of it. This is the best shot I have managed. This is not the first time Kin Dose has painted this wall, but I think that this might be his best piece yet, simply in terms of the complexity and detail in the artwork of the dragon.

The wall belongs to the Little Chinatown restaurant and I guess that this mural is a commission piece. There is a lot of movement in the piece, much of it created by the way the fur (hair?) on the head waves about. There is a whole lot of detailed work that has gone into the scales and the way thee light catches them.

The main subject of the dragon is set on an exquisite background of flowers and blossoms. To the top right, a rather creepy eye is keeping watch over the dragon. Words aren’t really good enough to describe this piece, which is one of the best of the year so far in Bristol. As a little reminder, here is a gallery of some of the great work by Kin Dose.

6090. Upfest 2024 (17)

Rainbo, Hen and Chicken, Bristol, Upfest 24, May 2024

This vertical rectangular wall outside the Hen and Chicken has played host to a number of wonderful Upfest murals over the years, and this one by Rainbo is yet another super example. The piece I believe is called ‘Etherial Cloud Drakes’ and is a rather cheerful looking dragon painted because 2024 is the Chinese Year of the Dragon.

Rainbo comes from Hong Kong, and her artistic style reflects her heritage to some extent. To understand what I mean, you can look at more of her work from this gallery on her website. Interestingly her use of the word ‘drake’ in the title of the piece is actually a European name given to a particular type of dragon in legend and heraldry (had to look it up). Overall this piece is nicely thought out to fit the space and beautifully executed with some sumptuous colours and fine detail.

5898. Elton Street (28)

Used Pencil, Elton Street, Bristol, February 2024 — UsedPencil, Elton Street, Bristol, February 2024

The ‘gallery’ in Elton Street, on the side of the Lost Horizons Arts Centre, is always worth a look. There are five or six framed boards raised above the street (ladders required for the artists), curated by the Arts Centre, and which are rarely, if ever, tagged or overpainted. This board, on the end of the building has been painted by Used Pencil, a Bristol artist whose work I have only once seen before at Upfest 2022.

This piece is painted with a combination of spray paint and brushes, which helps to give it that texture and detail, and you can find a video of its creation on Used Pencil’s Instagram feed. It is a piece that is easy on the eye and has a kind of mystical feel to it. Although the style is recognisable from his Upfest piece, the subject matter is quite different.

Usedpencil, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

5890. Cumberland Basin

Andy Council and Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2024

You can definitely tell that spring is in the air when Acer One and Andy Council start teaming up with their wonderful collaborations, and this is one of a couple of recent walls they have painted in the Cumberland Basin area. Their contrasting styles are blended together perfectly in this piece, which really is an outstanding work.

Andy Council’s dragon, stitched together out of hundreds of detailed component parts, is on its own quite stunning, but when combined with Acer One’s geometric 3D cube and double impossible triangles, is utterly magnificent. This piece is a triumph, even by the high standards of the two artists, and has been painted in a spot that is likely to remain undisturbed for a while, so if you live in Bristol it is well worth a visit.

5607. Cumberland Basin

Sled One, Cumberland Bain, Bristol, October 2023

I have known about and photographed this piece by Sled One for quite a long while, but have had to wait until now to get anything worth posting. The problem is that it is painted on a wall in a yard that is used to store building materials including large wooden cable bobbins that were placed in front of it obscuring the view of the artwork. On my most recent visit, I was able to move the bobbins a little bit out of the way, and get the best pictures I am likely to get.

The piece reminds me a little bit of The Luck Dragon in the film NeverEnding Story. It is a typically creative and imaginative character piece by Sled One, but painted in a place I wouldn’t ordinarily expect to find a Sled One piece to be. Beautifully painted and finished, the piece is one of Bristol’s hidden gems.

5521. Brunel Way (231)

Bean, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2023

Bean has more than made his mark in Bristol, and his characters have livened things up a great deal. He is on a roll and there doesn’t seem to be any stopping him. This colourful piece under Brunel Way, featuring two characters and some writing, shows how the young artist is quickly growing in confidence and improving his technical skills.

The characters that Bean paints have a very distinct look in a cartoon style that relies on using two tones of each colour in each section of the piece, light and dark, to create some depth. There isn’t much blending of colour or use of highlights, that some artists use to create depth. Bean’s writing is free in form, and very nicely filled. This is an artist who seems to be in a hurry and is turning out imaginative pieces at an alarming rate.

4815. New Stadium Road (43)

Enn Kay is an artist who appeared on the scene about a year ago and has been very busy ever since. His characters can be found all over Bristol, and his artwork improves with each one.

Enn Kay, New Stadium Road, Bristol, November 2022

Enn Kay’s latest favourite character appears to be this dragon/crocodile figure, which seems to have superseded his octopus character. It is always good to see artists move on and develop ideas, especially character artists who can at times be seduced or locked into producing a single character and adapting it with decoration or colour or details. A nice piece painted during a paint jam in the grubby underpass.

4771. Horfield skate park

Enn Kay, Horfield skate park, Bristol, October 2022

This piece from Enn Kay (NAK) demonstrates just how far the artist has come in a relatively short space of time. There are qualities in this piece that are not present in some of his earlier works, which provide texture and depth, rather than a flat solid monster with an outline.

This sophistication advance can be seen in the shading on the ‘dragon’ character, with different tones of green creating more of a 3D effect. The whole piece has more of a pastel feel to it and is less harsh on the eye than a solid fill monster. I love the way the character is spraying a little monster on the edge of the piece. A great work from Enn Kay.

	paulh121 on 7352. Cumberland Basin
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	paulh121 on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	Sheree on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	paulh121 on 7350. Hillgrove Street (9…
	Bill Bisgood on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…

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