Tag: Elvs

7333. St Werburghs tunnel (550)

Elvs, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2025
Elvs, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2025

The number of trips that Elvs makes to Bristol has dramatically dropped off over the last couple of years, which is a real pity. This happens quite a lot as artists, like the rest of us, have life changes that determine how much time we have to do the things we must do (work, household etc) and the things we’d like to do. As we get older, the balance tips in favour of the former (in my experience).

Elvs, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2025
Elvs, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2025

This lovely piece of writing was yet another tribute to Minto on the occasion of his big birthday paint jam. The letters form a solid block, broken up with fine lines and a drop shadow around the edges and the central gaps. The style is quite different from most writers, and requires a different way of building the piece. Great stuff from Elvs.

6796. M32 roundabout J3 (633)

Elvs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025
Elvs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025

I haven’t seen Elvs for an absolute age, and his visits to Bristol seem to be on the scarce side, so coming across this wonderful piece of graffiti writing last month was a real treat.

Elvs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025
Elvs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025

There are a few artists that I have seen about the UK who use a similar style to Elvs, but he is the only one I know of in the Bristol area. His solid letters are broken up by fine lines that provide the letter shapes, and the fill is a nicely joined pair of red colours that bleed into one another without fuss. Elvs has painted a rather nice contrasting blue drop shadow, and of course the whole thing is finished with a clean and crisp black border. I look forward to the next one.

6738. Unity Street

Bnie, Smak and Elvs, Unity Street, Bristol, January 2017
Bnie, Smak and Elvs, Unity Street, Bristol, January 2017

This is the third piece ‘rediscovered’ from dipping into my archive, and it is a fine collaboration from Bnie, Smak and Elvs. Once again, I am mystified by how it got left behind in the archive, but at least I am rectifying the situation by publishing it now.

Bnie, Unity Street, Bristol, January 2017
Bnie, Unity Street, Bristol, January 2017

Bnie’s work is always a joy. Her letters somehow work really well for graffiti writing – some combinations work much better than others. Here she has paid particular attention to some highly intricate fills, which I can only think were achieved using stencils. However they were realised, they are wonderfully technical and beautifully presented.

Smak, Unity Street, Bristol, January 2017
Smak, Unity Street, Bristol, January 2017

The middle piece is by Smak, whose work pretty much defines the ‘Bristol school’ of graffiti writing. Superb colours and a strong sense of flow through the piece, combining curves and straight lines skilfully. Simply an outstanding writer.

Elvs, Unity Street, Bristol, January 2017
Elvs, Unity Street, Bristol, January 2017

To the right is a fine piece by Elvs, whose work is so unique and distinct. He has worked so long and hard on his letters ELVS, that I would love to see what he could do with some other letters in his style – that would probably present a serious challenge and take him a little out of his comfort zone. Brilliant work from all three graffiti writers, demonstrating what their art form is all about.

6477. Dean Lane skate park (771)

Rusk and Elvs, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, October 2024
Rusk and Elvs, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, October 2024

Getting into full swing with Halloween-related pieces, I bring you this magnificent collaboration from two great graffiti writers, Rusk and Elvs. Neither of these artists seem to be quite as productive as they have been in the past, but their presence is always good news, because of the quality of their work.

Rusk, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, October 2024
Rusk, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, October 2024

Dark colours, predominantly purples and blues, are the order of the day, or should I say night. Rusk has opted for a combination piece including both graffiti writing and a little cartoon Count Dracula character. The letters are clear and obvious and given emphasis with a layered 3D drop shadow. The character is a fabulous accompaniment and I wonder why Rusk doesn’t do more character pieces than he does. The piece is set on a spooky haunted house style background, which stretches across both pieces.

Elvs, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, October 2024
Elvs, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, October 2024

To the right is a sensational piece by Elvs, whose work is utterly unique. Watching Elvs paint his pieces is fascinating because he starts with the fill shape, and then adds in all the borders and detail, bringing the letters ‘ELVS’ to life. The colour choices are amazing and work superbly well, that green drop shadow doing a great job. A wonderful spooky collaboration.

6261. M32 roundabout J3 (611)

Elvs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
Elvs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024

I have been suffering from Elvs withdrawal symptoms… it seems such an age since he regularly visited the city, although this is his second piece painted in July, so there is some hope, I guess. This piece feels like classic Elvs, and I think I know what I mean when I say this, because his writing remains similar from piece to pieces, but there is something here that reminds me of some of his older work.

Elvs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
Elvs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024

The colour selection, including the background colours, just seem to work so well together, with the break in red tones disrupted through the central section. The writing spells ELVS and the letters are created with the thin highlight lines, so typical of Elvs’ work. There is a lovely grey drop shadow with a central vanishing point which rounds the piece off nicely and without which it would all look pretty odd. Excellent stuff from Elvs.

6178. Dean Lane skate park (730)

Elvs, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
Elvs, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024

Another quick rifle through my archive turned up this beautiful chrome piece by Elvs in Dean Lane from March this year. There was a time not so long ago that Elvs was a regular visitor to Bristol from his native Wales, but his appearances have dwindled lately, and I guess he has other things on his plate that makes travel and painting more challenging.

Elvs, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
Elvs, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024

I like to think that this wonderfully elaborate graffiti writing is archetypal Elvs, a complex and beautifully picked out design simply delivered. Everything here is on point, a fine chrome fill, superb fine line detail, great black 3D drop shadow, tidy light blue border, white starbursts, a bubble background set on a blue buffed wall and a little yellow halo to finish with. Certainly worth waiting for.

5924. M32 roundabout J3 (562)

Elvs and Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024
Elvs and Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024

This is a wonderful collaboration from two brilliant artists, Elvs and Rusk. I’m not sure I have seen these two painting together since Upfest 22, so this came as a very nice surprise indeed. Elvs has had quite a quiet year painting in Bristol and I would like to think (hope) that this piece signals a few more visits for 2024. Elvs’ writing is so incredibly unique and recognisable – I don’t think that I know of anyone that writes large block letters etched out with thin black lines in this way. Fine writing.

Elvs and Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024
Elvs and Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024

I would say that Rusk is better known for his writing or writing/character combination pieces, so this ghetto blaster hip-hop character is something of a rarity. The old-school style character has all the hallmarks of street art/hip hop culture and Rusk carries it off brilliantly. A rather nice silhouette of an urban skyline polished the collaboration off nicely. Great collaboration.

5321. Upfest 2022 (79)

Elvs and Smak, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Elvs and Smak, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

I don’t think that I would have predicted that Smak and Elvs would have teamed up to paint an  Upfest collaboration, and yet that is exactly what they did. What I really like about the piece is that it is an integrated collaboration, with elements from each artist woven into the whole.

Elvs and Smak, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Elvs and Smak, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

I had a little chat with Elvs, just as he was finishing packing up, and rather irritatingly (for him) I pointed out a little mistake, which he then felt obliged to correct. It was only a small thing, but once seen, it couldn’t be unseen. In the picture above, the mistake is that the yellow body of the character didn’t quite align behind the blue triangle. The image below shows Elvs making the necessary alteration.

Elvs and Smak, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Elvs and Smak, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

The whole piece is brilliantly painted, with some fine blue and pink letters (the perfect colour combo) by Smak and a dog/cat character playing around behind the writing. This is a fun piece that really captured the atmosphere and vibe of the festival.

5199. Dean Lane skate park (596)

Elvs and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2023
Elvs and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2023

I’m not sure that I have seen an Elvs/Dibz collaboration before, so this one in Dean lane recently is a bit of a rarity. The two have combined to share a colour scheme and theme, which I think is based on Disney’s Beagle Boys characters. These characters are familiar to me, but I don’t think I have ever read or watched anything with them in.

Elvs, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2023
Elvs, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2023

You can always tell a good collaboration when you don’t know who has painted certain bits of it, and while it is obvious who painted the writing, it is not so clear with regard to the characters. My guess would be that the two around the ELVS were by him, and the one popping out over the top of DIBZ was by Dibz. As always, Elvs’ writing is first class, and instantly recognisable with his very fat, elaborate lettering. The fill fades are pretty decent too.

Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2023
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2023

Dibz is no stranger to writing/character combinations, and his skills are on show here. His wildstyle graffiti writing can be difficult to decipher if you don’t know what it says, but usually it is DIBZ, so you are on fairly safe ground. Talking of safes, there is a story in the piece, which involves the cracking of a safe using explosives. The character on the left is plunging the detonator, while the one on the right blocks his ears… the cartooniest of cartoon plots. This is a fabulous collaboration from two immensely talented artists.

4952. St Werburghs tunnel (337)

Elvs, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2022
Elvs, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2022

So many of my recent posts of archived work from 2022 begin with a disbelief or confusion about how I managed to not post/publish the piece in question. However, that opening is becoming a little clichéd and although it is tempting, I will not begin this post that way.

Elvs, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2022
Elvs, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2022

I love this piece from Elvs – Beautiful writing and a Garfield… my life is complete. There are some pieces that speak loudly enough for themselves, and this is definitely one of those. I’ll leave you to enjoy it.