6654. M32 roundabout J3 (650)

Sub, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024
Sub, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024

The Bristol City Council have continued on their mission to buff some of the popular graffiti walls, probably as a community service offer for offenders. It is a futile exercise, creating new clean backdrops for graffiti writers and street artists, let alone taggers and bombers. Sub moved in on this spot reasonably quickly, marking it out with a couple of drafts, reserving the space, before painting this large piece.

Sub, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024
Sub, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024

Sub is working really well to improve his work, and it is certainly paying off for him. His colour selection for this piece is wicked, his 3D drop shadow effective and his plasma cloud is a nicely worked feature, but I feel that with such large flat letters he needs to experiment a little bit more with fills or decorations. This is a fine eye-catching piece, and I fully expect to see further development this year.

6653. M32 roundabout J3 (649)

Kid Krishna, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024
Kid Krishna, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024

This pair of walls at one of the tunnel entrances on the M32 roundabout has been used before in this way not so long ago by Daz Cat. This time it is the turn of Kid Krishna, and a couple of his classic CRIE pieces.

Kid Krishna, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024
Kid Krishna, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024

These distinctive roller-brushed pieces can be found all over Bristol, and on their own might not appear to be all that impressive, but as a collection, they most certainly are. The two pieces here are similar but not the same, each differing in detail. It has been a pretty busy 2024 for Kid Krishna, and I expect 2025 to be much the same.

Kid Krishna, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024
Kid Krishna, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024

6644. M32 roundabout J3 (648)

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024

Not much time to talk about this fun piece from Face 1st in one of the short tunnels under the M32 roundabout. So here it is.

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024

6633. M32 roundabout J3 (647)

Zake, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024
Zake, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024

This cartoon portrait piece by Zake embraces the spirit of Christmas in the subtlest way, with a tiny little Father Christmas hat jauntily perched on the character’s head. It was painted as the central part of a PWA Christmas celebration triptych, sandwiched between Face 1st and Soap.

Zake, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024
Zake, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024

As ever, Zake has achieved an incredible 3D effect in this piece using his well-practised skill of using light and shade, and in this example, using different colours to achieve these contrasts. As a result, the face pops out from the wall in an incredible way. I am really pleased that the PWA crew took the time to spread a little joy this Christmas.

6629. M32 roundabout J3 (646)

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024

Although Face 1st has moved away from Bristol, he is still making trips to the city and leaving behind some lovely pieces, including this Christmas piece which he painted alongside Zake and Soap.

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024

This is a sumptuous piece of graffiti writing, in the block style that Face 1st likes to paint from time to time. The ‘gold’ colour is created using two tones, which provide shading and depth. The writing is wrapped up in a festive red ribbon – the perfect Christmas present. Face 1st is, and always be welcome in Bristol.

6625. M32 roundabout J3 (645)

Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024
Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024

I haven’t seen quite as much from Soap this year as I would have liked, perhaps he has been working hard, but he has made plenty of regular appearances alongside his PWA friends. This wonderful Christmas piece was painted alongside Zake and Face 1st.

Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024
Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024

This year was a very quiet year for Christmas themed pieces, so it was nice to see this PWA paint jam. soap has spelled out his name in this combination piece, with a rather creepy skull-face Father Christmas making up the ‘O’ of SOAP. The gold lettering with red accents and a ‘ho, ho, ho’ add to the festive appeal of the piece. Some nice work from Soap.

6615. M32 roundabout J3 (644)

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024

Stivs has had a fabulous year with both his calligraffiti and his character pieces, and this recent beauty is on the west side of the M32 roundabout. This piece is a rather faithful rendition of a teenage mutant ninja turtle, although I couldn’t tell you which one.

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024

It doesn’t really matter what Stivs does, characters or writing, because they always turn out well and are prefectly executed. Short one today… too many things to do before the big day tomorrow.

6602. M32 roundabout J 3 (643)

Scrapyardspec, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2024
Scrapyardspec, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2024

One of the important functions of Natural Adventures is to represent the broad spectrum of graffiti and street art that I encounter on my walks in Bristol, and sometimes other cities too. I could concentrate on high-end murals or throw ups and tags, but that all becomes a bit niche and exclusive, and my intention is to share the full spectrum of free art on the walls of my adopted city.

Scrapyardspec, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2024
Scrapyardspec, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2024

The distinctive pieces by Scrapyardspec are part of this amazing offering, and this quirky three-eyed monster character is demanding to be looked at and enjoyed. It is more than simply a bit of fun, it is part of a series of pieces that, combined, form a presence and familiarity around the place. I like what Scrapyardspec does and how he does it.

6568. M32 roundabout J3 (642)

Astrea, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2024
Astrea, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2024

One of the most rewarding things about writing a blog on street art and graffiti is that if you do it for long enough, you get to see new artists burst on to the scene and develop their ideas and improve their technique. An artist who has recently caught my eye is Astrea (formerly HNH), whose distinctive black and white designs are becoming more frequent and elaborate.

Astrea, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2024
Astrea, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2024

This is the first time I have seen Astrea add a portrait to her abstract patterns. The central character is a little bit unsettling, with star eye makeup and a tongue sticking out. The tongue looks like it has stitching running through it. The surrounding swirling design is very much in keeping with what we have seen before from Astrea. Great to see her gaining in confidence.

6558. M32 roundabout J3 (641)

Sub, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2024
Sub, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2024

Sub paints his large three letter pieces reasonably often, but I have been waiting for one that has the ‘wow’ factor, and with this enormous piece on the roundabout, I think he has pretty much got there. I first saw this piece on Instagram, before I photographed it, and was actually really keen to go and see it for myself.

Sub, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2024
Sub, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2024

I think that the buffed wall really helps in this instance, and the colour selection of orange and blue works really well. Sub has paid great attention to the dimensions of the drop shadow, which drifts off to the left. There is a fusion of his letters, through which the blue fill bleeds across the piece. The thing I like the most is the thin line patterning, which is just about right. Any more decoration and it would look fussy, any less and it would look bare. In my view, this is Sub’s best piece to date.