Tag: M32 cycle path

5581. M32 Cycle path (231)

Lupa, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2023
Lupa, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2023

The Resting Bitch Face crew is an all female crew largely, but not exclusively, centred around Bristol. There are quite a few members of the crew, and it is always a joyous occasion when they congregate for a paint jam. This piece, by Lupa, was painted at one of two paint jams over the last month.

Lupa, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2023
Lupa, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2023

Lupa has a very distinctive style in which she usually makes a feature of the letter ‘U’, which she has done to good effect here. Her letters are large and bold, and everything about her work is quite raw. While there is definitely room for improvement, I am not so sure if that is what Lupa is all about. I get the sense that her work is mostly about joy and happiness and decorating a wall, and that enthusiasm comes across in bucket-loads. A fun and uplifting piece by Lupa.

5578. M32 Cycle path (230)

Bean, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2023
Bean, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2023

A normal week wouldn’t be a normal week without posting something by Bean, and so here is this week’s offering. This one is something a little different from Bean, and he certainly gets tons of credit for constantly dreaming up new characters, no two pieces being alike.

Bean, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2023
Bean, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2023

It is high time this wall was refreshed, and Bean has done it in style with this weird butterfly graffiti writer wearing a basketball shirt (naturally!?) and spraying pink dollops on either side of the piece. Creative and imaginative, I still think that his work would really benefit from a little bit of prep work with a buffed wall to help his pieces stand out even more.

5571. M32 Cycle path (229)

Wispa, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2023
Wispa, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2023

A visit to Bristol by Wispa is always very welcome, and pretty much always unexpected as she seems to travel about the country quite a lot, and you can never be sure when she will be in the area – unpredictable I think you’d call it.

Wispa, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2023
Wispa, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2023

This is an absolute belter of a piece of writing from Wispa, painted as part of an RBF paint jam alongside the M32 motorway. There are two things that stand out in this piece for me, the first is the unbelievable sharpness of the lines, and outstanding finishing and the other is the bold colour selection, transitioning through a range of bold and strong colours. Bravo!

5566. M32 Cycle path (228)

The Mole, M32 Cycle path, Brisol, October 2023
The Mole, M32 Cycle path, Brisol, October 2023

Although an infrequent visitor, The Mole is in Bristol often enough to usually make it into the pages of Natural Adventures, and into the galley pipeline. The Mole has used some sumptuous colours for this piece and presented them on a black background, which I think works, although I have been trying to imagine if any other colours might have been better and have drawn a blank.

The Mole, M32 Cycle path, Brisol, October 2023
The Mole, M32 Cycle path, Brisol, October 2023

The writing/mole character combination is a winner, but the star of the show is surely the fills. The three horizontal colour tones progress really nicely, and thin lines and designs bleed from one horizontal band into the one above. Very nicely thought out and beautifully finished, this is a great piece from The Mole.

5510. M32 Cycle path (227)

Haka, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, September 2023
Haka, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, September 2023

Haka has had a very busy year with painting walls, although his work rate has dropped a little during late summer, so it was fabulous to find this new piece on the M32 Cycle path recently. This joyful piece combines writing with a children’s picture book character, and this time it is the turn of Mog, the forgetful cat, by Judith Kerr.

Haka, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, September 2023
Haka, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, September 2023

Although this reproduction of Mog is not as faithful as some of Haka’s other picture-book recreations, it is very much recognisable and worked into his own style. There is a lot of joy in the piece, which is brought about by great use of a colourful underlay. The letters are really tight – not always the case with Haka’s writing – and the whole thing is a rather charming (I don’t like using that work because it sounds patronising) work. Great to see.

5494. M32 Cycle path (226)

Lee Roy, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, September 2023
Lee Roy, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, September 2023

I happened to meet Lee Roy yesterday, while he was chilling with his dog beside the river, and we got chatting. I spoke to him about this wonderful new piece on the cycle path that runs alongside the M32, and commented on how different it felt to his other recent work. He said that he was trying something a little bit different, and although he couldn’t put the changes into words, he used hand gestures to describe how this new approach is a little more curvy and free of blocky letters.

Lee Roy, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, September 2023
Lee Roy, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, September 2023

The piece spells out Leeroy, although the letters are far more cryptic than we are used to. The modest colours, similar to the kind of muted colour palette that Dog Bless the Band tends to use, sit nicely on the grey buffed wall, and the green flashes keep the eyes busy. I am looking forward to seeing where this new direction takes us. A lovely piece from Lee Roy.

5458. M32 Cycle path (225)

Desi, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August 2023
Desi, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August 2023

Ooh! I love this recent piece from Desi, whose work just gets better and better. This time she is writing VEIL, one of her two variants, but with joined up script writing, which is a new and exciting development that works rather well.

Desi, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August 2023
Desi, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August 2023

I have often been quite critical of artists who don’t buff walls before they paint, because the underlying graffiti can often be distracting, but Desi, whether by design or luck, has managed to pull it off with this piece. The background somehow complements her writing and helps it to stand out. Beautiful curvy letter shapes are accompanied by great blue and pink fills (that B/P combo again), perfectly blended. I think that this might just be my favourite piece from Desi yet.

5430. M32 Cycle path (224)

Bnie, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2023
Bnie, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2023

It feels a little bit repetitive banging on about how good Bnie’s work is, given that I say so every time that I post her work, but it is pretty much impossible not to do so. Bnie has been pretty busy this summer, not only on the streets of Bristol, but on the festival circuit too.

Bnie, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2023
Bnie, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2023

Bnie has played with her font a little in this piece, with a slight relaxation on the form with some arrows and pointy bits at the base of the letters. The letter fills are clever, looking almost reflective, as though dappled sunlight is bouncing off the piece. The letters are lifted with tidy 3D drop shadows and yellow and orange borders. Painted as part of an RBF paint jam.

5419. M32 Cycle path (223)

John D'oh, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2023
John D’oh, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2023

John D’oh has been a little quiet in Bristol lately, so it was great to find this new piece in one of his favourite spots underneath the M32 motorway. One thing that John D’oh is never short on is humour, and this Judy Garland Wizard of Oz stencil reinforces that point.

John D'oh, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2023
John D’oh, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2023

The writing says (from the scarecrow) “Dorothy I can smell weed, urine and spray paint. I think we must be in Bristol”. Of course that made me smile, but for any potential visitors out there, this is a rather tongue-in-cheek, myopic view of our fabulous city. I rather hope to see more from John D’oh, as his artwork adds variety to the everyday fare of street art and graffiti in Bristol.

5407. M32 Cycle path (222)

Dog Bless the Band, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2023
Dog Bless the Band, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2023

Dog Bless the Band is a curious street artist I have yet to meet. I say curious because his pieces are unlike pretty much anything else in the city right now. Curious also because of his name and because of the letters he writes – MOTEL, I mean what is it all about?

Dog Bless the Band, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2023
Dog Bless the Band, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2023

The large monolithic letters have a very earthy feel about them which is exaggerated in this piece by the muted colours, especially the green dusting, which gives the appearance of algae or moss on rocks. I’m not sure if that is the effect he was aiming for, but it is how it comes across to me. To the right there is a toadstool.

Dog Bless the Band, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2023
Dog Bless the Band, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2023

I wasn’t entirely sure whether the toadstool was painted by Dog Bless the Band or by a friend alongside, but have decided it is his own work, perhaps a study, because of the same colour selection and proximity. There are no other signatures or marks that would suggest another artist, simply the surprise of seeing the toadstool. Perhaps this signifies him straying into accompanying his letters with other work.