Greenbank – Page 4 – Natural adventures

6690. Greenbank (150)

Mind 49, Greenbank, Bristol, January 2025

So Mind 49 gets the year off to a cracking start with this fine piece, combining two contrasting styles, demonstrating his awesome technical ability. Mind 49 has always had an activist streak, and many of his early pieces were themed along the lines of animal rights. This one appears to be more about peace, and might be a commentary on the overthrow of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria.

The character is beautifully painted, peering over a scarf that covers up the lower half of his face. The folds in the material are superbly painted. Superimposed over the portrait is a crudely drawn cartoon of a gun being snapped in half and a dove of peace flying off. The peace symbol to the right indicates quite clearly what this wonderful work is all about. I’m looking forward to a great year ahead from Mind 49, I also think it might be time for a gallery of his work.

6684. Greenbank (149)

Kool Hand, Greenbank, Bristol, January 2025

Kool Hand always brings his own very distinctive character style to the party, and has been doing so for some years now. His pieces usually feature animals, in particular, orangutans, leopards and crocodiles. His preferred approach is to have bold black outlines and string colour fills.

This piece, painted as part of a collaboration, features a green leopard wearing a bucket hat, a pretty cool character. The colours are nice and strong, and Kool Hand has used two-tone green shading to emphasise light and shade, offering a little depth to the character. It is always a pleasure to find Kool Hand pieces, and observe how he is constantly improving and evolving.

6680. Greenbank (148)

Mr Crawls, Greenbank, Bristol, January 2025

Slightly coincidentally, I published a gallery of Mr Crawls’ work this morning, which included this wonderful bird character as the most recent picture in the gallery. Scroll back eighteen months or so, and this piece feels like it is a modernised version of one of the first pieces I saw by Mr Crawls. Something that both he and his painting partner Mote have done exceptionally well is gently upgrade their styles, and this one may be setting the scene for Mr Crawls for the year to come.

The bird portrait is highly stylised, rather than caricature, and the boxy look creates a completely different sensation for the viewer. Even though the lines are straight, for the most part, Mr Crawls has managed to squeeze out some expression and emotion in the bird’s face. There is a lot to like about this style, and I’ll be interested to see if he takes us in a new direction.

Mr Crawls, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, June 2023

6675. Greenbank (147)

Daz Cat, Greenbank, Bristol, January 2025

A few years ago, Daz Cat was painting charming cat portraits, but compared to the pieces he is turning out today, they were flat and unsophisticated and his work since then has elevated several levels. He is now turning out complex pieces that tell stories and have amazing depth to them.

This cat with ginger hair and plenty of attitude contains so many interesting features and details. I love the wristwatch and the zip on the tracksuit top, small things that add so much to the story. Also interesting is the creative border, which, rather than being a solid black line, is a dynamic red interface between the character and the background. A very nice piece from Daz Cat.

6663. Greenbank (146)

Lis (Le Imposter Design), Greenbank, Bristol, December 2024

It is an interesting discussion to try and determine what constitutes graffiti or street art, and I don’t intend to go into a long essay about it right now. Within the community, there are all kinds of tribal differences, between graffiti writers, stencil artists, wheatpasters, character artists, muralists and studio artists. My take is that if it is on the street, then it all comes under the banner of street art, and I am always happy to feature it here on Natural Adventures. I’ll leave it to others to argue the finer points. I mention this because of an emerging talent, Lis (formerly Le Imposter Design), whose hand painted mushroom pieces are causing a little bit of a stir.

Lis’ illustrative style is so very different from anything else we see on the street and, in my view, adds to the richness of the street art culture in Bristol. Her talent as an illustrator is obvious, and I love the way she is occupying small spaces on walls all over the city, treating us to interesting fungus-scapes. These orange mushrooms are accompanied by some smaller toadstools and plants as well as some little white symbols around the piece. Great work from Lis and a taste of more to come in 2025 (I dearly hope).

6656. Greenbank (145)

It isn’t all that often that you find graffiti writing by 3Dom, and I had to do a double take when I saw this piece to remind myself what his writing looks like. One of the very first pieces I posted by 3Dom was a piece of writing not unlike this one.

The letters spell out the artist’s moniker and are elaborately filled with intricate patterns and incredible detail that 3Dom specialises in. The colour palette is nicely chosen and cleverly distributed within and around the letters. A wonderful surprise on one of the last walks I had before going off on my holiday.

3Dom, Princes Place, Bristol, February 2016

6585. Greenbank (144)

Klashwhensober, Greenbank, Bristol, November 2024

Klashwhensober gets a lot of practice with painting walls, which directly leads to improvements in his work. Over the last few years he has managed to develop his style, which has gradually developed into a sophisticated blend of writing the letters SOBER with animated fills that ooze out from them.

This piece illustrates really clearly how the fill tells its own story, or has its own place, and you could almost imagine a scene unfolding, but you only get to see that scene within the confine of the letters. There is always a lot crammed into Klashwhensober’s work, perhaps an indication of a busy mind. This is a nicely executed and finished piece.

6581. Greenbank (143)

Daz Cat, Greenbank, Bristol, November 2024

When the Greenbank hoarding is eventually dismantled, I wonder what will happen in the other spots. Will turnover increase, or will some new hoardings become an oasis for graffiti/street artists? I, for one, will miss this place and its colourful gallery. Daz Cat has painted a few memorable pieces here, but this one is a little bit special.

As with many of Daz Cat’s larger pieces, there is a story unfolding here. A girl, wearing a bird costume, is sitting on a log in a wood, and beside her is a cat spirit. I don’t know what the conversation they are having is about, but it feels earnest and important. There is a lot of spirituality in this colourful and beautifully illustrated piece.

6576. Greenbank (142)

Subtle, Greenbank, Bristol, November 2024

With this magnificent piece, we welcome back Subtle, who has been away from our streets for far too long, indeed the last piece I posted by the artist was way back in March 2022. He has marked his comeback with a really strong statement piece… no need for fancy embellishment or fiddly bits. This burner is far from subtle.

The chrome letters SUBTLE sit boldly on a dark background, and although there is a drop shadow, it is almost as dark as the background and difficult to see (more so in the photographs). I sincerely hope that this isn’t a one-off and that we get to see more of his work, and just to remind you what his work looks like, here is an updated gallery for you to enjoy.

6572. Greenbank (141)

Le Imposter Design, Greenbank, Bristol, June 2024

Street art takes many forms, and encompasses so much more than graffiti writing and spray-painted portraits, characters or scenes. It is a broad church that encompasses murals using spray paint or other painting materials, paste-ups and installations large and small. Hardcore followers like to stick with spray paint work, but I like to find and write about all forms of street artwork, and this wonderful toadstool piece by Le Imposter Design is a perfect example of a modest hand-painted tiny mural.

I have posted all the Le Imposter Design pieces that I have found (three so far), because I feel they help to represent this vast spectrum of street art in Bristol. Most of her work features plants or fungus, and this is a particularly nice example, with a purple-capped toadstool and some rather pretty ground plants and flowers. She has added some little stars, to add a little bit of context and atmosphere. The piece is small and low down on the hoarding. Blink and you would miss it. More to come from Le Imposter Design.

	China Dream on Thursday doors – 12 Febr…
	bushboy on Thursday doors – 19 Febr…
	skat on Mozart balls
	Suzette Benjamin on Thursday doors – 19 Febr…
	Dan Antion on Thursday doors – 19 Febr…

	China Dream on Thursday doors – 12 Febr…
	bushboy on Thursday doors – 19 Febr…
	skat on Mozart balls
	Suzette Benjamin on Thursday doors – 19 Febr…
	Dan Antion on Thursday doors – 19 Febr…

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