6477. Dean Lane skate park (771)

Rusk and Elvs, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, October 2024
Rusk and Elvs, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, October 2024

Getting into full swing with Halloween-related pieces, I bring you this magnificent collaboration from two great graffiti writers, Rusk and Elvs. Neither of these artists seem to be quite as productive as they have been in the past, but their presence is always good news, because of the quality of their work.

Rusk, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, October 2024
Rusk, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, October 2024

Dark colours, predominantly purples and blues, are the order of the day, or should I say night. Rusk has opted for a combination piece including both graffiti writing and a little cartoon Count Dracula character. The letters are clear and obvious and given emphasis with a layered 3D drop shadow. The character is a fabulous accompaniment and I wonder why Rusk doesn’t do more character pieces than he does. The piece is set on a spooky haunted house style background, which stretches across both pieces.

Elvs, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, October 2024
Elvs, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, October 2024

To the right is a sensational piece by Elvs, whose work is utterly unique. Watching Elvs paint his pieces is fascinating because he starts with the fill shape, and then adds in all the borders and detail, bringing the letters ‘ELVS’ to life. The colour choices are amazing and work superbly well, that green drop shadow doing a great job. A wonderful spooky collaboration.

6476. Cumberland Basin

Kid Crayon, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2024
Kid Crayon, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2024

Kid Crayon has launched himself headlong into the Halloween season with this mildly creepy scene, underpinned with his CRAYON letters, that perhaps resemble stone carvings. I can’t really explain what the ladder and chair are doing, but they act as good bookends to the piece.

Kid Crayon, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2024
Kid Crayon, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2024

The spooky atmosphere is provided by the leafless dead trees in the background, and the long-haired character emerging from a well… what is happening here? The same character (?) is seen reflected in a mirror. There is a story, and a creepy one at that, without even a whiff of a pumpkin in sight. Well done KC.

6475. Dean Lane skate park (770)

Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2024
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2024

Anyone who knows me will know that I am not a fan of ‘over-celebrating’ Halloween. The festival is so commercialised and has veered away from the modest affair that it used to be when I was a child. It is a generational thing, I know, but it doesn’t really ‘do it’ for me. One aspect that I am prepared to get excited about, rather predictably, is the Halloween-themed street art that always appears around this time of year, starting with this ghostly piece by Biers.

Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2024
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2024

Biers has been writing his WD40 moniker quite a lot recently, although without his accompanying characters, which is a bit of a pity, because his combination pieces are part of his USP. The graffiti writing is accompanied on this occasion by a cute-looking ghost who looks a little embarrassed, judging from his red cheeks. The whole piece is nicely finished and achieved without the need for borders, which is great to see.

5815. North Street

Cheo, North Street, Bristol, January 2023
Cheo, North Street, Bristol, January 2023

Sometimes you just can’t see the wood for the trees. I don’t understand how I missed this wonderful piece by Cheo, both on social media and in situ. I am guessing that it is a Halloween piece, or at least it looks that way (Fact check: it was painted around mid-October for Halloween), and got lucky, because it was painted over a few days after I took these pictures. Even though I think I have my eyes open, I still manage to miss things.

Cheo, North Street, Bristol, January 2023
Cheo, North Street, Bristol, January 2023

There is some real depth to this piece, which looks more like a painting than a piece of street art. I think it was painted at ground level and then placed in this elevated spot outside The North Street Standard with the help of Upfest. All the ingredients for a Halloween piece are there, a cat, a pumpkin, a cauldron, some wispy ghosts, a witch and a skull and bones, all given the special Cheo treatment. A lovely piece.

5680. Brunel Way (248)

Dibz, Fade and Smak, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2023
Dibz, Fade and Smak, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2023

Here we have yet another classy collaboration between Dibz and Fade only this time they are joined by Smak in this Halloween extravaganza. The wall, as I have mentioned several times in the past, might be great fun to paint, especially if it is raining a little, but it is a devil to take decent photographs of unless the light conditions are perfect.

Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2023
Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2023

On the left, Dibz has painted a creepy ‘zombie’ hand clutching at a spray can, putting a finishing touch on the writing to the right of it. The letters are beautifully worked, and Dibz has adopted the traditional colours of Halloween pieces, namely, Orange, purple and black.

Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2023
Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2023

In the middle section, Fade has kept things simple with sticking to writing only with what looks like FADER, but could be something else altogether. All is neat and tidy with the piece as we’ve come to expect.

Smak, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2023
Smak, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2023

On the right-hand side, Smak has joined in with the festive fun with some very fancy letters and a skull character peering over the K to the right. The backdrop to the whole thing is a wonderful spooky silhouette of dead trees and towers, finished off with some autumn leaves sweeping across the entire length f the wall. A classy collaboration from three fabulous writers.

5669. M32 Cycle path (238)

Jak MCS, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2023
Jak MCS, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2023

This is an unusual piece, which I think was probably a Halloween celebration, by an artist I have not encountered before, Jak MCS. No pun intended, but this is without doubt an eye catching piece, and I would have posted it sooner had I known who the artist was.

Jak MCS, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2023
Jak MCS, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2023

I would like to think that the writing says something, but the only thing I can come up with is voodoo, although it looks more like goo goo. Each of the elements of the piece, the eyes, the letters and the background are well done, but for me, there is something not quite right and it might be something as simple as the thinness of the yellow paint. Great to see yet another artist painting in Bristol.

5665. M32 roundabout J3 (529)

Bloem, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023
Bloem, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023

Almost a month late, but better late than never, I am sharing this wonderful Halloween piece from Bloem (Hiccup). Bloem has brought something different and rather special to the streets of Bristol, with her simple, yet creative ideas beautifully crafted.

Bloem, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023
Bloem, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023

What’s not to like about a spooky skeleton hand, complete with pink nails (of course), holding a fused pair of devil cherries with a smiley face on each. Slightly bonkers, but also great fun. I am very much enjoying Bloem’s contributions and look forward to the next ‘surprise’ she has in store.

5652. Dean Lane skate park (659)

Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023

Although Halloween was quite some time ago, I still have several ‘horror’ pieces in the pipeline, including this beauty by Biers. I met the artist about a week after he painted this one, and he said that he didn’t like it very much. I quite often find that artists can be their own most ferocious critics. From my perspective, I think this is a great piece, very much in the Halloween spirit of things.

Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023

The writing spells out WD40, which is difficult to pick out unless you know, and follows Biers’ usual format of writing his letters and incorporating a character in the ‘0’. The character in this instance is Chucky from the Child’s Play franchise – films I have never actually seen myself – horror is my least favourite genre of films… they scare me. Wonderful work from Biers. Boo!

5649. M32 Roundabout J3 (525)

Dun Sum, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023
Dun Sum, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023

I usually associate Dun Sum with the spot in Lawrence Weston (L Dub), because that is where I have seen most of his work, but lately he has painted a couple of times in Bristol proper, this being a Halloween piece painted alongside Hypo, Zeks and DJ Perks. Unfortunately, by the time I got there, Hypo had already overpainted his own piece. I was lucky enough to bump into Dun Sum, Hypo and Zeks a couple of weeks later on the other side of the roundabout, and it was the first time I had met any of them. What lovely people.

Dun Sum, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023
Dun Sum, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023

Dun Sum is a wonderful artist in my view. He creates some incredibly original pieces usually with animals and usually full of imagination. In this Halloween piece, a bug of sorts seems to be powering up a pumpkin, but I guess the story is open to interpretation. The artwork is brilliant, and it is interesting to note that the way Dun Sum applies his paint looks much more like brushwork than spray paint due to the way he blends his colours throughout his work. I absolutely love this piece.

5639. Sparke Evans Park (85)

Smak, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
Smak, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023

This was the piece by Smak that I had intended to post yesterday, but my system (a bit like a production line) got all into a muddle. This is a really classy piece with some hints of 1930s design in some of the letters, given a contemporary twist.

Smak, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
Smak, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023

The piece was painted alongside a mammoth Halloween paint jam from two all-female crews, RBF and FKB (Full Killer Burners). Note to self – post the FKB pieces in a single post. Smak’s work is simply so classy, both in his overall design and in his extraordinary talent and skill. The colours used in this piece are rich and sumptuous, giving a commanding and confident aura to the piece. Brilliant work from Smak.