Here’s another EAT crew (SPZero76 and Kid Crayon) collaboration on the side wall of Domestic Drain Services. Maybe once or twice a year, this company invites artists to paint the walls in return for free paint – or so I understand.
SPzero76 and Kid Crayon, Millpond Street, Bristol, May 2018
One wall was painted by Paul Monsters and featured on this blog a little while ago. This wall has been crafted into a comic strip which was described by Keith Hopewell, AKA SPZero76 on his Instagram account as follows:
‘This comic tells the tale of a race to find the Holy Grail in a post apocolyptic giant robot wasteland. Biker woman vs the pigs of doom (and their herder). Who will find the treasure first?’
SPzero76 and Kid Crayon, Millpond Street, Bristol, May 2018
The biker woman and robot wasteland are by SPZero76 and the pigs and their hereder by Kid Crayon. I still find this pairing of artists a little unusual, because their styles are so different, but somehow they pull it off every time they work together.
SPzero76 and Kid Crayon, Millpond Street, Bristol, May 2018
I particularly like the book end characters – Biker woman and the pig herder who reminds me a little of Woody or Andy his owner from Toy Story. The whole piece is crazy, imaginative and inspiring. I love it when these two get together, you just never know what will happen.
Sometimes in life things come together to create a story. Some stories are good and others not so good. This wonderful piece by Kid Crayon provides the perfect backdrop to a good story.
Kid Crayon, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2018
Kid Crayon, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2018
Some of you who read this blog regularly will know that I recently lost my father and although we were not especially close, he was my father and that means something. Going back to work was a struggle so I made sure I kept up my lunchtime walks as a kind of mindfulness opportunity. On this day, 20 April, I decided to visit Dean Lane to see if there was any new work there, which is pretty much a certainty if I am honest. As it turned out, the place was really busy, with several artists at work.
Kid Crayon, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2018
Some of the artists, including Kid Crayon, were there to mark 420, the long standing campaign to legalise cannabis (now perhaps you see what his artwork is all about). I spent a long while photographing all the works in progress and having a great natter with the artists. Realising I couldn’t spend all day there, although it would have been fun, I set off back to work.
Kid Crayon, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2018
Then I had one of those moments where an inner mini me took over and marched me back to Kid Crayon. As I approached him I apologised for my cheekiness and asked him if he could do something really special for me…I asked if he would spray a little tribute for my dad on this piece. Kindly he said he would…if he remembered. I thanked him and went on my way.
Kid Crayon, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2018 (photograph: Street Art Bristol)
The next time I saw the piece was on Instagram, posted the next day (but pictured on the evening of completion) by Street Art Bristol (see above). And there in the bottom left corner is the tribute. I welled up when I saw this, lots of emotions going on. However there are a couple more twists to the tale. I also saw several other Instagram posts taken which showed the piece had been dogged (some people have no respect) probably only hours after the picture above was taken. I asked Street Art Bristol if he could send me a clean copy of the piece and explained why it was important to me – he did so without hesitation for which I am hugely grateful.
Kid Crayon, RIP Gledders, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2018
I managed to make it down to Dean Lane later on the Saturday (the day after it was completed) and to my surprise, somebody had restored the piece – I don’t know who, It might have been KC or somebody else, but it is great to know there are some good guys out there. If you look at the featured image at the very top of this post, you can make out some of the white markings of graffiti under the green background.
Kid Crayon, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2018
I have always liked Kid Crayon’s work, indeed it was largely down to him and JPS that I started blogging about street art in the first place. Through the kindness of Kid Crayon, this was my little way of marking the passing of my father. RIP Gledders.
Once again I have been doing a little bit of cleaning up of my archives, and I came across this rather unusual Kid Crayon piece from Kid Crayon last July. I am finding that Bristol art from July is often under-represented in my posts, because they get hijacked by Upfest and will remain unshared and unloved in my July folder.
Kid Crayon, The Bearpit, Bristol, July 2017
This piece reminds me very much of the wheatpastes he used to do and which I used to take great pleasure in hunting down when I first became interested in all this malarkey. A classic Kid Crayon work.
In the partial light of one of the tunnels leading out of The Bearpit a little while back, there was this rather lovely collaboration between Kid Crayon and Ugar. I had caught up with Ugar a few days later and he talked about his collaboration partner most fondly and touchingly called him Crayon Kid. Well it works for me.
Kid Crayon, The Bearpit, Bristol, November 2017
It is not often that Kid Crayon takes to writing, but I guess this was one of those days. What is lovely about his piece here is that he has included his signature crayon, which has been missing (and much missed) of late.
Ugar, The Bearpit, Bristol, November 2017
I am really enjoying finding Ugar pieces around the place. As a relatively new entrant into the Bristol scene, his work adds to the incredible diversity of street art that the city has to offer. He mostly works with the letters of his name, although not always, and here gives us an UG, beautifully filled and decorated. Nice collaboration.
I don’t know an awful lot about Lopes…I think I have sen his name once or twice around Bristol, but can’t be sure. His burner here is nicely executed, but it is the Kid Crayon character to the left that makes this wall.
Kid Crayon and Lopes, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2017
I am not sure if this was a deliberate collaboration or if Kid Crayon added his work afterwards. I suspect the latter. However it came about, the KC character with his funny accent in the speech bubble adds so much to the writing of Lopez, bringing the most out of it by drawing attention to it.
Kid Crayon and Lopes, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2017
This is a witty and fun piece and so very typical of the understated brilliance of Kid Crayon. Perfect.
At the Ashton Gate Upfest site, which was opened up for the first time in 2017, there was a very long wall running down the entire side of the stadium. Certain sections of this wall were allocated to crews, who sprayed together to create their pieces. This one is by Kid Crayon who was joining up with the Lost Souls crew and Eat.
Kid Crayon, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
I am a big fan of Kid Crayon’s work, and it was his wheatpastes that originally stoked my interest in Bristol street art in the first place, so I have a lot to thank him for. This is a wonderful and colourful piece of a big fish in a sardine can. I don’t know the meaning of the piece, but I know I like it a lot.
Kid Crayon, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Anything to do with fish tends to tick my box, so street art with a fish is a bit of a bonanza.
Let me introduce you to an artist realtively new to the Bristol scene, who has worked in collaboration with Kid Crayon to produce this rather fun piece in The Bearpit. His name is Ugar and he comes from Budapest, Hungary.
Kid Crayon and Ugar, The Bearpit, Bristol, November 2017
I first became aware of Ugar about three months ago, when I saw some of his lettering in Dean Lane, and then was lucky enough to meet him there a couple of weeks ago on one of my lunchtime walks. He told me he wasn’t very pleased with this piece (he did the dog on the right hand side) but that he really enjoyed working with Kid Crayon.
Kid Crayon and Ugar, The Bearpit, Bristol, November 2017
I rather like this collaboration and I certainly look forward to seeing more from this pairing.
Kid Crayon is a busy man at the moment, and seems to really be enjoying his work and his collaborations. This piece was sprayed the day after his rain-interrupted exertions at Upfest 2017. A little bit of decent weather and he creates this fantastic blue face.
Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2017
I really like this piece, and two things stand out for me. The first is the crazy eyes – like ping pong balls and an interesting take on the iris. The second is the signature, that looks rather different from ones I have seen before…perhaps he is experimenting with it.
Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2017
This is a fun, creative piece that, for me at least, shows Kid Crayon’s enthusiasm for his art. Love it.
This piece was one of a series of ‘quick ones’ from Kid Crayon, and if I understood correctly, part of passing his skills on to another aspiring street sprayer. I love the way the community has a social structure of its own where artists respect and look after one another. Of course, like any society, it is not all easy; there are codes, ‘territories’, legality, status and hierarchy and so on to contend with every day.
Kid Crayon, The Bearpit, Bristol, July 2017
This is a really nice simple piece by Kid Crayon, and something of a reversion to his wheatpastes that were so influential in getting me interested in all this stuff in the first place. Respect.
Another fine piece at this relatively new location at Temple Meads station. This is a lovely work from Kid Crayon featuring a group of people and their obsessions with their mobile phones. Possibly representative of the crowds of people departing from and arriving at the station each and every day.
Kid Crayon, Lower Approach road, Bristol, June 2017
I am not sure if any of these characters are based on real people, but the fellow on the right eating his phone has an uncanny resemblance to Paul Monsters (Paul Roberts) who painted a collaboration with Copyright just around the corner.
Kid Crayon, Lower Approach road, Bristol, June 2017
Somehow no Kid Crayon piece feels complete without purple or blue-faced people, and here he offers lashings of them. The young girl actually looks quite sinister, reminiscent of the character from The Addams Family played by Christina Ricci.
Kid Crayon, Lower Approach road, Bristol, June 2017
Quite who the pretty lady with the squinty eye at the centre of the picture is I don’t know, but I love the detail of her necklace and freckled nose. All in all this is a superb piece from Kid Crayon…full of stories and beautifully executed.
Kid Crayon, Lower Approach Road, Bristol, June 2017
Natural adventures 