I am a little bit short on time for today’s posts, so this is going to be a quick one. I think that this might be the last piece in a delightful display of stencils painted by RA on a visit to Bristol, probably in July, on the columns under Brunel Way.
This incredible spider piece might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it has style and impact through its design and powerful red and black colour selection. It would be great to welcome RA back to Bristol sometime.
Asre has a new Instagram handle, @azre_returns which is a great description of his status as a street artist in Bristol. He was pretty busy a couple of years back and then abruptly stopped. Good things come to those who wait, and at last Asre has rewarded us with one of his trademark character portraits.
The character is wearing a baseball cap with the letters AEK which might relate to the Greek football club AEK Athens. Google searches didn’t give me an answer to the word ‘Trelenomai’, so the theme to the piece remains a bit of a mystery. The character itself is grimacing a little and has crosses for pupils, a tell-tale sign the piece is by Asre. Great to see him back.
Tunnel entrances are always difficult to photograph, especially on sunny days, as you can see from this light/shadow image taken at the second tunnel in St Werburghs. The poor photo doesn’t detract from the quality of the graffiti writing by Hemper.
Writing in his short-form HEMS, Hemper has provided a checked background, which is inspirational, and, using three colours, one step age and of the simple concept. The yellow letters, incorporating two characters, are outstanding, with brilliant use of black and white highlights to give 3D depth to them. The work of a genius (I rarely use the term, but in this case I believe it to be true).
Pura Decadencia has smashed it with this gorgeous piece of writing alongside the M32, behind the Black Swan. Her overall style and skill had been on an upward trajectory over the years, and she is now turning out some outstanding graffiti writing pieces.
The regular letters are filled with yellow, light blue and green with patterns reversed out from colour to colour. The letters are bordered confidently with a thick red line that helps the letters stand out. A yellow plasma line runs through the piece, and it is all presented on a black buffed wall, without which it would risk being swamped by surrounding artwork. Excellent graffiti writing from Pura Decadencia.
It has been a little while, but I think I can safely say that the painting duo of Mr Crawls and Mote are back, and painting together again, which in my book is a great thing. The pair have painted a few collaborations lately, but I have struggled to keep up with them.
On the left, Mr Crawls has painted a bird, looking rather startled, in his stylised cartoon form, in which he has incorporated a couple of Mote design ideas, such as the line through the beak and the horizontal lines on the eyes. I think the bird might be a pigeon.
To the right, Mote has gone to town with his portrait piece of a moustachioed man. The composite style isn’t one I have seen before, and I rather like it. A nice purple theme is rounded off with a chrome background, something of a signature for this pair.
This superb little character piece by Cheo was painted in celebration of Ulow’s recent birthday. Although the piece is unsigned, it looks like it is by Sled Onebut is actually one of two by Cheo. It piece depicts a cheeky spray can eating a taco. Quite why I do not know, but it doesn’t matter.
Cheo has had a busier than usual year, and it was great to see this piece, celebrating Ulow’s recent birthday. One of a number of superb pieces from a gathering of some of the best and most established artists in Bristol. Top work.
A few of the pieces that were painted as part of Werm’s birthday celebration didn’t last more than 24 hours, including a rather striking piece by Zake and some writing by 3F Fino. Fortunately, however, this character piece by DFC 1848 remained untouched.
Spot the difference
There are two differences between the two photographs, taken about three minutes apart. Can you see them? Clue, one is on the elephant, the other is not. DFC1848 continues to expand his repertoire, and this elephant is quite a beauty.
There is something about the style of this piece that reminds me of 1960s and 1970s TV cartoon shows. It is really nicely painted, with good solid fills, some great three colour shading and a superb thick border. It was really good too to be able to catch up with the artist, just as he was finishing up.
From time to time in the past I am sure I have seen the letters EMCE before, but it appears that I haven’t posted anything from the artist before, so this is, I suppose, a debut piece on Natural Adventures, and one of two, at least, painted in Bristol recently.
The overlapping letters, in a solid style with pointy bits, each have their own colour presented in a pleasing transition. Lift is provided by a thin orange border and some nicely painted white highlights,, all finished off with some decorative drips. A nice piece of graffiti writing.
Without doubt, the paint jam celebrating Ulow’s birthday was the best I have seen this year, fending off some very stiff competition. The whole wall on the western side of the roundabout was colour themed and coherent and each contributing artist absolutely nailed it.
Starting at the right hand side of the wall, the collaboration begins with this superb car piece by Minto. The old Citroen vehicle has been brought to life as an animation full of character. The van is one of those converted for street food, selling Mexican food… I love the sombrero on the roof. The words read ‘Ulow, Me, High, Tacos’, which obviously makes some kind of sense to Minto.
I managed to get a wide-angle shot of the whole wall, which I will share at the end of each post from this paint jam. A real humdinger.
I said a week or two back that I would try to feature Bags from the No Frills crew more often, and true to my word, here is another piece by the graffiti writer. I am writing this post yesterday, because at the time of publishing, I will be somewhere in the air between Bristol and Madeira.
As with the last piece I featured by Bags, He has separated the BA and GS of his letters with different colour regimes, a device that sems to work rather well for him. The solid fills are decorated minimally by some reversed out circles and a white star. Bags has added a little extra interest with some red zigzags that look like they have come from an oscilloscope (does that age me?). Addressing underrepresentation one day at a time.
Please excuse the next week of posts, they are likely to be a little haphazard while I am on holiday.
Natural adventures 