Graffiti – Page 294 – Natural adventures

4738. Greenbank (56)

Laic217, Greenbank, Bristol, September 2022

This morning I bring you your regular dose of Laic217 and this fiery piece on the Bristol to Bath cycle path. The days of this spot are numbered, as the housing development completes, sections of hoarding will be removed and replaced with flimsy iron railings… arguably more in keeping with the housing, but I will mourn the loss of this fantastic graffiti spot.

As ever, this piece contains many of the key attributes we would expect to see in a Laic217 piece; a skeleton beautifully painted fabric, a touch of menace, a chain, a hat and fire. Always a pleasure seeing one of his pieces.

4737. M32 roundabout J3 (431)

Desi, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2022

I have already said in previous posts how much I am enjoying seeing Desi thrive and improve from piece to piece. Not only is her technique and finished product getting better all the time, but her confidence of selecting where to paint is migrating from the margins to more mainstream spots.

This piece is pretty tight, with nice sharp borders and some nice colour transitions in the letters. There are a few decorative elements and interest in the fills. I continue to enjoy her journey, and I can’t be too far away from publishing a gallery of her work.

4736. Greenbank (55)

Conrico, Greenbank, Bristol, September 2022

The next few posts willl be necessarily quite short, as I am about to take off for my annual fishing trip to Cornwall, and although it is a short break from work, we manage to fill our days, leaving not a lot of time for me to write. At this moment I am packing, ironing, looking for a reel I have lost, having breakfast, walking the dog, dropping my daughter off at school before leaping into the car for the three hour journey.

This piece by Conrico is a belter. Everything about it is brilliant; the composition, the weirdness and the execution left me spellbound when I saw it. There are some pieces you see and you forget, there are others that remain in the memory for a long time or forever and this is one of those pieces. Fabulous work from Conrico.

4735. Dean Lane skate Park (530)

Full Time Ghoul, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2022

Full Time Ghoul (FTG) is an artist who paints variants of the same interlocking ghoul head and who is poorly represented on Natural Adventures. I have many unpublished photographs of his work in my archives, and really need to dig them out and share them. This is a recent small piece on the reverse wall of one of the ramps in Dean Lane skate park.

Here we have three ghouls whose upper heads are reminiscent of a kind of Celtic cross design, with interwoven parts in a plait. The ghouls have red eyes and a black nasal cavity. The designs are simple but impactful, and FTG has made his mark all over the city.

4734. Sparke Evans Park (57)

Mest, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, September 2022

I like Mest’s writing a lot. His letters are clear bold and the word have no links to anything, so there is no inherited preconception… what I mean by that, for example, is that if his name was HAND, or LION, you would expect to see a hand or a lion in the work. Actually, come to think of it, I can’t think of any writers who are called what they paint, other than the letters – except perhaps Face 1st, who always includes a face. Enough tittle-tattle.

This is a fabulous piece of graffiti writing, and possibly Mest’s best to date. The letters, looking like pieces of ironwork with cracks through them and the colour transitions at the edges are beautifully done, and the wisps of smoke complete the overall work. One of my favourites.

4733. Greenbank (54)

Face 1st and Chill, Greenbank, Bristol, September 2022

Pirate Wall Art (PWA) has been quite a dynamic crew over the last couple of years, with the inclusion of Nightwayss and Chill, and then the departure of Nightwayss (not from the crew, but from Bristol). Chill has embraced the group of friends with gusto, and regularly paints collaborations, often in the company of Face 1st, who I get the impression is always up for a paint.

Chill, Greenbank, Bristol, September 2022

The collaboration is beautifully presented on a grey buffed background with green foliage, flowers, clouds and a little bird by Chill. His cartoon character is wonderful, but it is the hand gently holding the flower that works so well… some real tenderness.

Face 1st, Greenbank, Bristol, September 2022

Face 1st has reverted to his girl with FACE for hair, written in a chunky block script. The shading on the letters F and E gives them a 3D effect, while the A and C are flatter, sitting back. It shows you what you can do with shading to make elements of a piece stand out. Of course, the girl is smiling, and the piece is a happy one. This is a fine collaboration from the PWA pair.

4732. Chatterton Square (6)

Werm and 3F Fino, Chatterton Square, Bristol

Chatterton Square is a stone’s throw away from Bristol Temple Meads station and boasts two stretches of wall that tend to be relatively untouched by tagging, and it is a great place for artists to go to town with ‘special’ pieces. This is a rather nice collaboration between two LRS artists, Werm and 3F Fino.

The writing is by Werm and spells WE-RM. It is technically very well done, with a great colour transition in the fills and a deep drop-shadow that has a central vanishing point. The rather intimidating character, perhaps loosely based on the ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’, is by 3F Fino. Although the proportions of the character are a little inconsistent, it is well painted and certainly conveys an element of fear.

4731. Purdown (47)

What I really like about Mote’s approach to street art is that he is a very tidy artist. He likes to have a buffed wall to paint on, so that there are no distractions, and he keeps everything clean and tidy. Nice solid fills and crisp sharp lines. I am guessing he is a bit of a perfectionist.

This charming monster piece up at Purdown is a wonderful doodle character, with some nice colour fills and details. The eyes and eyelids work well, and the shadow cast onto the wall lifts the piece out. Altogether this is a rather good piece, one of many.

4730. Cheltenham 2022 (15)

I have only once before come across Madderdoit, and that was a column stencil piece under Brunel Way in Bristol, so it was good to see a couple more pieces by the artist in the skate park for the Cheltenham Paint Festival, of which this is one.

Madderdoit, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2022

The kid sitting among a bunch of spray cans reminds me a little of an early Dice67 piece, and is nicely done. The brightly sprayed heart is also a nice touch, without which the whole thing would be duller. I like the spread of spray cans, but would have created two or three stencils for these and perhaps coloured the tops – but there I go again nit-picking. This is a nice fresh stencil from Madderdoit.