Tag: Graffiti

3907. M32 roundabout (345)

On environmental grounds I am not totally on-board with the trend of spray painting onto cling film suspended between two posts. The effect is a good one and it does create ‘walls’ where none exist, but the plastic waste and disposability doesn’t work for me. I have to be careful though, because spray paint isn’t particularly environmentally friendly and I could end up tying myself in knots.

Ryder and T-Rex, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2021
Ryder and T-Rex, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2021

All of that said, I do like the creativity of these mega-tag pieces by Ryder and T-Rex. These tags can be found all over Bristol, but these ones are temporary and ephemeral, and not in any danger of being over-painted. The ‘R’ character is by Ryder and the dinosaur head by T-Rex and the two fuse in the form of a true collaboration.

Ryder, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2021
Ryder, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2021

The second piece is by Ryder and typical of his ‘R’ tags. I don’t know if it is more difficult to paint onto cling film, but I expect it is not as forgiving of mistakes, but then again these artists don’t make many of those. An interesting addition to the array of street art possibilities.

3906. St Werburghs tunnel (257)

Update

Rather embarrassingly, and I had the slightest concern about this, this piece is not by Pl8o after all, although I don’t know who it is by. Everything I have written about Pl8o still stands. I will change the captions to reflect this.

An artist I used to write about quite a lot was Ysae, but he seemed to disappear off the scene for a while. Maybe this is by him, there is a signature, or is that a shout out. The dangers of thinking I know more than I actually do. It happens.

I am rather looking forward to producing a gallery of work by Pl8o and when I have collected a few more pieces by him I will do so. The reason I say this is that he has been playing with all sorts of ideas around his letters and is going through something of a script writing phase, but it is the development of these ideas that is fun to witness.

Unknown, Ysae?, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021
Unknown, Ysae?, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021

In this piece Pl8o has gone with a much more curvy and flowing script style and incorporated some drips and floating ovals to embellish the letters. The colours are perhaps not my favourite, but work well together and certainly stand out in the orange gloom of St Werburghs tunnel. A nice piece.

3905. Upfest 2021 75×75 (51)

It is always a real pleasure to welcome Dan Kitchener back to Bristol, and his work is absolutely astonishing, but for Upfest to allocate this wall to him is unfortunate to say the least. At best, perhaps the narrow space where the wall is located reflects the backstreets of a ‘Tokyoesque’ scene, but the detail and interest in this wonderful mural just can’t be fully appreciated from the street, and it is near impossible to photograph. Rant over.

Dan Kitchener, North Street, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 2021
Dan Kitchener, North Street, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 2021

These busy scenes that Dan Kitchener creates have a strong feel of ‘Bladerunner’ about them, if you know what I mean. Dark, wet, oriental streets with neon advertising and car headlights providing an intoxicating atmosphere and people with opened umbrellas busily scurrying across the traffic. Dan Kitchener gives us a complete urban nighttime landscape.

Dan Kitchener, North Street, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 2021
Dan Kitchener, North Street, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 2021

When you look closer at the work, you can see how effective the spray paint is for creating the reflections in the wet tarmac, but also in offering great detail in the neon lighting. There is a simplicity about Dan Kitchener’s style that allows your brain to work hard and fully create the scene. It is like an illusion, yes, an illusion that tricks your brain into thinking this is a real scene, a photograph or a memory. Clever stuff. Really evocative.

Dan Kitchener, North Street, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 2021
Dan Kitchener, North Street, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 2021

It is possible to photograph the wall from the roof of the bank, but I have not yet been in the right place at the right time to achieve this, and for most passers by this is similarly an impossibility. Another outstandingly brilliant piece from Dan Kitchener for Upfest.

3904. M32 roundabout J3 (344)

Daz Cat has been a rather busy boy lately as you will probably notice over the coming week or two with several posts of his work in the pipeline. This particular piece on the roundabout features two cats and some writing, which is not something Daz Cat does a lot of.

Daz Cat, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2021
Daz Cat, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2021

As always, the cats are beautifully painted, but I think this is the first time I have seen a boy and girl cat in the same piece. I know that Daz Cat has been keen to do more female cats and there has been some recent evidence of this. The writing is quite elaborate and clean and tidy, but on balance I think I prefer his characters. Some superb pieces to follow soon…

3903. Upfest 2021 75×75 (50)

Another fabulous Upfest 75×75 mural, and another beast to photograph… well, I suppose it is in a car park so parked cars are something of an expected irritation. The fun mural is by Georgie Webster, a Bristol-based artist who likes painting animals, the male nude, butts and more (according to her website).

Georgie Webster, Myrtle Road, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21
Georgie Webster, Myrtle Road, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21

In this piece Georgie Webster has painted a festival of roller skating and dance, from the waist down. The legs are full of variety – is that a pair of grraffe legs? – and vibrant colours, something of a speciality of the artist.

Georgie Webster, Myrtle Road, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21
Georgie Webster, Myrtle Road, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21

It was a pity that I haven’t yet been able to get a good photograph of the whole wall, but I think you can get the idea from the pictures posted.

Georgie Webster, Myrtle Road, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21
Georgie Webster, Myrtle Road, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21

I particularly like the little the little guinea pig, which was hidden behind a car and took me several attempts to photograph it because the car was so close to the wall and I had to hold the camera out to one side between the wall and car. The whole mural is a splash of colour and a statement of joy, and a little view of the world from the bottom half, which makes a refreshing change.

Georgie Webster, Myrtle Road, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21
Georgie Webster, Myrtle Road, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21

3902. M32 roundabout J3 (343)

Here we have another classy piece of writing from Benjimagnetic on the roundabout. Although he is going through a simplification of his rather busy and frenetic style, the work is so unmistakably his.

Benjimagnetic, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2021
Benjimagnetic, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2021

The colour selectionsare rather nice, with the pale blue border and 3D shadow working well with the red letters. The shapes of the letters are rather pleasing, and the shadings, both blue and red are very nicely crafted. Another fine piece of graffiti writing from Benjimagnetic.

3901. M32 Roundabout J3 (342)

This is an absolutely wonderful piece from Oma, and her first appearance on Natural Adventures. Oma’s style is something so refreshing and different in Bristol and definitely feels like the work of a studio artist transitioning onto the street – I don’t know if that is the case or not, but that is how it comes across to me.

Oma, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2021
Oma, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2021

This portrait depicts an elderly man (an unusual subject in street art) using a magnifying glass to look at something. You can see the shading influences of Zake in this piece, which is no surprise as Oma usually paints alongside him and I believe he is coaching her along the way. The colours and bold and stand out, but it is the overall subject and style that I find fascinating. I am so looking forward to seeing a whole ton more work from Oma.

3900. M32 Cycle path (138)

As if things weren’t busy enough on the streets of Bristol, I take a week’s holiday, and the turnover of pieces has been phenomenal. Possibly the pick of the bunch (but I am biased) is this door piece from Laic217.

Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, August 2021
Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, August 2021

Laic217 seems to have settled into a pattern of painting that I can just about keep up with, roughly a couple per month, which seems sensible to me. This piece is perhaps a little more unsettling than some of his skeleton pieces, because of the satanic references. The face is a design idea I have not seen from Laic217 before, but it has a horror film feel about it.

Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, August 2021
Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, August 2021

As always the execution of the piece is first class and the detail in the character’s coat, the creases and yellow cord, are fabulous. The blue smoke too is nicely done. Laic217 keeps on turning out brilliant work, no fuss, no bother.

3899. M32 roundabout J3 (341)

An artist who seems to be going from strength to strength with his superb caligraffiti is Stivs, who I always think is slightly underrepresented on Natural Adventures, a situation that I must remedy.

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2021
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2021

I went back to this spot yesterday to re-photograph this gorgeous piece, because my original pictures are slightly out of focus. I haven’t processed the new pictures yet, but when I do I will replace the originals. The brush-stroke calligraphy spelling out STIVS is sensational, and the colour selections of black and red will always draw attention. A very fine piece indeed.

3898. Upfest 2021 75×75 (49)

Another artist whose work I very much admire and who is no stranger to Upfest is Envol, and he returned to Bristol to paint one of his distinctive pieces just off North Street. I was lucky enough to meet him while he was painting this and he stopped for a while for a great chat. It turns out that he is good friends with Fanakapan, another very talented London artist and one who has also painted at Upfest in the past.

Envol, North Street, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21
Envol, North Street, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21

While I managed to photograph the piece as a work in progress, by the time I came back to photograph the final finished piece it had been vandalised, along with several other Upfest murals, by some misguided (and probably ill) idiot. Thankfully the piece was fully restored and is as good as new.

Envol, North Street, Bristol, August 2021, Upfest 21
Envol, North Street, Bristol, August 2021, Upfest 21

Envol creates these sharp and clean pieces incorporating parts of the body with abstract shapes and patterns, and sometimes disrupting them with white space. They are quite surreal, and at times remind me a little of Giorgio de Chirico fused with Matisse’s cut outs. Beautiful to look at and thought-provoking. This piece is another fabulous contribution to Upfest’s 75×75 event.