Tag: Graffiti

2576. Cheltenham 2019 (21)

Anyone who made their way into Cheltenham for the Paint Festival from the station along the Honeybourne Line would have seen this utterly striking piece by Fink. Three stylised faces in bright and beautiful colours on a brick wall between the two tunnels. If you look carefully you will see that within each of the faces, there is a background of countless more faces. Fink creates these faces in one single spray movement.

Fink, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, Bristol, September 2019
Fink, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, Bristol, September 2019

I don’t know too much about Fink other than that at one time he used to spray little characters in Bristol and I assume he used to live here. I have seen on his Instagram account that he is currently working in Dubai, so I guess his visit to Cheltenham was combined with a trip home. A great opener for the festival.

2575. Cheltenham 2019 (20)

I have come across RTC a couple of times at Upfest in Bristol and really like his stencil work. This piece featuring Stephen Hawking reinforces my admiration. Many regular readers will know that I consider multi-layered stencils to be a highly skilled art form, and one that is probably misunderstood in terms of the hard work that goes into a piece like this one.

RTC, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
RTC, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

I believe RTC is a local Cheltenham artist, so it must be especially pleasing for him to be able to do a piece at the festival. I am guessing that RTC is referencing one of several books by Stephen Hawking in this piece, and most likely ‘a Brief History of Time. This is a truly excellent stencil piece.

2574. M32 Cycle path (39)

When I first started posting street art on Natural Adventures about five years ago I thought that it might be dominated with 45RPM and RichT pieces, because at that time I would come across them all over the city. I don’t know if, as my interest has increased their activity has waned, or whether there is some other explanation, but I just don’t get to see enough from these artists.

RichT, M32 cycle path, Bristol, October 2019
RichT, M32 cycle path, Bristol, October 2019

I was watching RichT as he was prepping the brown letters for this piece, but because I didn’t know him, I thought I’d let him just carry on without disturbing him. I think the letters say LUIS, but I can’t be certain, but the star of the piece is the schoolboy cartoon face, done in the great style of Beano, Dandy or Beezer comics – I just love it.

I regret not introducing myself to RichT and 45RPM while they were painting this wall together, but I’m sure there will be another time.

2573. M32 Cycle path (38)

Down on the M32 cycle path is thisrather nice quick one from Hypo that rather cleverly brings about some symmetry to his letters HYPO. I suggest that this is a quick one because although creative and imaginative, it is not perhaps as clean and crisp as it might be. This might sound like harsh criticism, but it is not, it is an observation only. Added to that, even pieces with a few ragged edges are hugely difficult to do and I always doff my cap in the direction of these artists.

Hypo, M32 cycle path, Bristol, October 2019
Hypo, M32 cycle path, Bristol, October 2019

Hypo, although not a regular on Natural Adventures does appear once in a while and as far as I can make out is one of the more established Bristol artists. I’m reasonably pleased with these pictures because with the overhang, the top half of pieces painted here are often in shade and I seem to have overcome that on this occasion. More nice work from Hypo.

2572. Cumberland Basin

I think I said this last time I posted a piece by Nevergiveup but I will say it again because it is still pertinent… gone but not forgotten. I discovered a new (to me) graffiti spot in the Cumberland Basin recently, and one which I think Nevergiveup also discovered a little while before he left Bristol.

Nevergiveup, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2019
Nevergiveup, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2019

This rabbit looks like it has had a little dose of nuclear radiation, but apart from the extra eyes ears and tooth it seems to be in the rudest of health. I love the location of this rabbit and for me it really adds to the quality of the piece. Still plenty to come from #followmyrabbits.

2571. M32 roundabout J3 (179)

More great graffiti writing from Smak on the south side of the M32 roundabout on a stretch of wall he has painted many times. As one would expect his letters are beautifully designed and presented and the colour patterning really cleverly used in each one.

Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2019
Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2019

Smak really sets the bar for this style of writing in Bristol and rarely drops below this exceptionally high standard. It is the care and attention to detail that raises the quality of the piece, for example the darker colours on the background are carefully worked and in synchrony with the letters where he could have just presented the whole thing on a dark plain background. Lovely piece.

2570. M32 Cycle path 37

Ahh! Lobe with another exceptional, bold, stylised, portrait, this time of an unshaven man with spectacles and woolly hat. I have only seen a few of her pieces, but every single one of them has brought a smile and I get a real sense of excitement each time l find a new one.

Lobe, M32 cycle path, Bristol, November 2019
Lobe, M32 cycle path, Bristol, November 2019

It is funny how different graffiti spots in Bristol can undergo peaks and troughs in terms of turnover. The cycle path has been quite dead for a while and then suddenly over the last couple of weeks it has kind of got busy again, this being one of several recent pieces. It just shows that constantly patrolling each of these favoured graffiti spots is utterly worth it.

 

 

2569. New Stadium Road (21)

Another fine collaboration, this time from Conrico and Crafty Cicada, with a strong oriental theme going on. While I have posted many pieces by Conrico, this is the first from Crafty Cicada who I can only presume was on a visit to Bristol and kindly left us this beautiful work.

Conrico, New Stadium Road, Bristol, November 2019
Conrico, New Stadium Road, Bristol, November 2019

The left hand side of the collaboration is unmistakably by Conrico and as always is more than just a piece of artwork because his work always has such a strong narrative, a story going on. In this piece a cartoon character is serenely sitting cross-legged, as if meditating on the back of a very large catfish – so what’s the story?

Crafty Cicada, New Stadium Road, Bristol, November 2019
Crafty Cicada, New Stadium Road, Bristol, November 2019

The other half of this collaboration by Crafty Cicada is an altogether more stylised with a fish (of unknown genus and species), a rising sun, some bamboo and some Japanese Kanji characters. There is a peace and tranquility here, and on seeing this, I would be very interested to see more from the artist.

A lovely and unexpected collaboration on a wall favoured by Conrico.

2568. M32 roundabout J3 (178)

It took me three visits to this wall to be able to get some decent photographs of the fine collaboration from Laic217, Ugar and Cory. The solution to my photography problems was to visit the spot on an overcast day. On Autumn sunny days, there is a high risk of shadows from the trees and shrubs being cast across the wall.

Laic217, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019
Laic217, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019

Laic217 has once again excelled with this fabulous skeleton with a boogie box over his shoulder, a common motif for his pieces. He has once again shown his mastery of painting materials and fabrics with the skeleton’s jacket. Lovely work.

Ugar, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019
Ugar, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019beautifully filled piece of graffiti writing.

Ugar, who pretty much always paints his name, even though I have seen a couple of character pieces some time ago, has given us characteristically brilliantly filled letters, something that he excels at.

Cort, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019
Cort, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019

The third piece in this collaboration is by Cort and rather like Ugar’s piece is creatively and imaginatively filled and decorated. His letters though are a bit of a moveable feast and in this instance he has spelled out CORTOS.

Laic217, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019
Laic217, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019

From my perspective the Laic217 piece wins the day, it is simply so good and the artist just gets stronger and stronger.

2567. Dean Lane skate park (263)

When I saw this little collaboration from Tasha Bee and Stupid Stupid Meathole, my first thought was that it looked a bit old and weathered, and I wondered if I might have overlooked it on previous visits to Dean Lane… in other words I have absolutely no idea when it was painted.

Tasha Bee, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2019
Tasha Bee, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2019

The collaboration is bookended with two beautiful faces from Tasha Bee and filled with what looks like the word ‘meat’. These two have collaborated before in the past, but not for some time. In fact I don’t recall seeing much from Stupid Stupid Meathole for quite a long while.

Tasha Bee, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2019
Tasha Bee, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2019

I’ll always have time for Tasha Bees stylised faces and am equally fond of SSM’s rather grotesque figures. This piece of writing though is quite uncharacteristic because there is lots of colour, not just the single pink SSM usually uses. A nice low-key collaboration.

Stupid Stupid Meathole, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2019
Stupid Stupid Meathole, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2019