1529. Dean Lane skate park (130)

This is a fine three-way collaboration on the long wall at Dean Lane between ‘No Frills’ stablemates, Slimpickings, Biers and Howl. Whatever your views on writing, this is an incredibly neat and tidy collaboration which is really easy on the eye.

Slimpickings, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2018
Slimpickings, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2018

I don’t know much at all about Slimpickings, but have seen quite a lot of his work around the place recently (to follow). I haven’t seen enough of his work or had the opportunity to meet him to be able to decypher his writing. I think it says TEB, but I am not confident.

Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2018
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2018

Biers I have featured a fair bit in this blog and I continue to enjoy his style immensely. There is something about the design of his letters that really chimes for me, I don’t know if there is a retro thing going on or what, but it feels comfortable.

Howl, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2018
Howl, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2018

Finally, the right hand side of this collaboration is by Howl, and he is another artist with a very distinctive style, that often incorporates a dog, as in this example. This one is a real cutie with an orange swirl on his tummy.

All in all this is a cracking example of a top writing collaboration. Great work from No Frills.

1412. M32 cycle path (12)

I think this might be the third piece I have posted by Howl since meeting him a couple of months back. His style of writing is something quite different and has a unique character. Of course, the little dog character is like a signature and adds to the uniqueness of Howl’s work.

Howl, M32 cycle path, Bristol, February 2018
Howl, M32 cycle path, Bristol, February 2018

I particularly like the deep shadow in this piece with its blue dots, which contrasts nicely with the rest of the writing. I am pretty certain the whole thing spells out ‘HOWL’ although I must confess I have a little difficulty seeing it myself.

1266. Dean Lane skate park (104)

Still delving back into my archives, I have dug this piece out, because I met the artist a couple of weeks back, and now what I’m looking for and looking at. The artist is called Howl and often works in tandem with his collaborator Gumbo.

Howl, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2017
Howl, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2017

I met them at the M32 east side of the roundabout and enjoyed a long chat while they were waiting for paint to dry. I said at the time that I didn’t know who they were, but that I probably had unidentified photographs of their work, and I was right.

Howl, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2017
Howl, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2017

Both artists belong to the What crew, which includes 45RPM, but they said that the crew was fairly dispersed these days. This piece is in my view beautifully executed. It spells out Howl and incorporates some clever shading and filling. The colour selection works really well with the contrasts bringing the piece to life. I am guessing the ‘O’ is a dog howling, it would rather make sense. All good, and nice to publish this one at last.