6378. M32 Roundabout J3 (623)

Corupt, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2020
Corupt, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2020

This is the last archive round up for the time being, and a few wonderful pieces of graffiti writing  that missed the boat back in March 2020, just around the time of the first Covid lockdown in England – what strange times those were. First up is this fabulous STICK piece by Corupt, complete with ‘panels’ and ‘rivets’.

Corupt, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2020
Corupt, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2020

Another piece by the same artist, this time using his KORUPT letters. In this chrome lettering, there is more than immediately meets the eye, with some patterning in the fills, with two very subtle colour variants. Nicely done.

Trafficity, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2020
Trafficity, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2020

It is always great to find Trafficity pieces, but to find an unpublished picture in my archive is extra rewarding. The letters ZIOM are filled with chrome, but unlike Corupt’s piece above, the patterning in this one is created by the piece beneath coming through (I think). Unusually, Trafficity has gone with a single tone, when I am more accustomed to seeing two or three horizontal colours through the piece.

Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2020
Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2020

It is very unlike me not to post Rusk pieces as and when I find them, so this one from the archive is a rare gem. Great graded fill, nice orange border and green drop shadow… what’s not to like?

Phour, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2020
Phour, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2020

Rounding off this selection of ‘lost’ pieces from March 2020 is this bright and cheerful piece by Phour, whose writing is consistently neat and tidy. He has gone with some interesting colour choices in the fill, which work really well and feel quite joyful.

That’s it from the archive for a while. Back to normal with my next post.

6371. M32 roundabout J3 (622)

Fudge, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2024
Fudge, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2024

Ooh, it looks like we have another writer on the streets in Bristol, possibly two, and the subject of this post is Fudge. I think I may have spotted her getting ready to paint this piece (slightly controversially covering up Haka’s wonderful Pooh Bear piece, but I think she is new in town, so that is ok), with a friend (Mare?), but as they didn’t have any paints out of their bags, I didn’t approach them, because that might have seemed a bit weird (one of the challenges of being a white male of a certain age, I’m afraid).

Fudge, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2024
Fudge, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2024

I have to say that this combination piece ticks a lot of my boxes. Full of fun and joy a large-eyed character appears to be blowing a bubble gum FUDGE, or at least pursing her lips are pursed in the direction of the letters. The character is well drawn and the letters, fills and borders indicate a certain amount of experience. I am very much looking forward to seeing more from Fudge, and have at least one other piece ready to post.

6336. M32 roundabout J3 (621)

Saor and Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
Saor and Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

Oof! what a belter of a collaboration. Sometimes fortune smiles upon you, and on the day I found this outstanding piece, the artists, Saor and Kosc had literally just finished and were packing up their stuff and saying their goodbyes. Just looking at this collaboration, you can see that it oozes class.

Saor, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
Saor, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

Saor, to my mind, is the perfect antidote to losing Epok, an artist who no longer paints in Bristol (alas), because his style is similar, crafting pieces of such precision and disguising his letters, SAOR,  perfectly. The colour palette is beautifully thought out and parts of this piece remind me of the work of the great Miro conflated with the Cubist movement. Wonderful stuff.

Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

Kosc opted for a skull on this occasion, and told me that he finds it easier to paint skulls than fully-fleshed portraits, because the viewer is less familiar with the anatomy of a skull than of a face, which allows for more wiggle room regarding accuracy. Funnily I found that slightly counterintuitive, but maybe that is my naturalist background. Anyhow it is a great piece and such a contrast with Saor’s piece. Chalk and cheese.

6327. M32 roundabout (620)

Grimes, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
Grimes, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

It is becoming a most welcome and wonderful thing, finding new pieces by Grimes, and this recent wildstyle writing on the M32 roundabout is an absolute belter. His bright and vibrant style is becoming established as a regular sight in the Bristol scene.

Grimes, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
Grimes, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

In this piece Grimes has written his letters and filled them with kind of fruits of the forest colours, bordered with yellow, and featuring an electric blue plasma spark running through the whole piece. There is a rather curious and slightly off-topic background of blue spheres, which, if I am honest, I am not sure add anything extra to the piece. More to come from this rising star.

6318. M32 roundabout J3 (619)

Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

It can be a little confusing when one artist writes the name of another artist, but in this case Kosc writing Mudra was unlikely to cause misidentification due to their very different styles. I think that Mudra had been expected to join Kosc and Stivs painting this wall, but he didn’t make it, so Kosc gave him a rather large shout-out.

Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

Kosc’s writing style is so cleverly done, with a midline through the letters, and shading either side of it, creating an amazing 3D effect, a device used by many graffiti writers, but mastered only by a few. The grey tones create an almost metallic sheen to the letters and the starbursts around the outside add to the shiny effect. A very nice piece of writing from Kosc.

6309. M32 roundabout J3 (618)

Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

Oof! This is an absolutely outstanding framed piece of writing by Smak, which stands out ‘poster-like’ from the long wall of the M32. Rather well concealed, the letters spell out SMAK, and there is an overwhelming sensation of a tropical island landscape conveyed by the palm trees and a possible reference to a bright sun.

Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

The way the piece is pulled together has a collage appearance, as if a youngster had cut up pictures from a holiday brochure (remember those?) and stuck them onto a rectangular piece of paper. This is a truly memorable piece by Smak and something a little special.

6301. M32 roundabout J3 (617)

Kid Crayon and I Am Ian, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
Kid Crayon and I Am Ian, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

You’ve got to grab the opportunities when you can, and that applies equally to artists as it does to me. Kid Crayon and I Am Ian have been out and about a few times this summer, and knowing that they are busy people, it is great to see them painting walls and enjoying themselves.

Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

This recent collaboration on the M32 roundabout wall showcases their artistic skills beautifully. kid Crayon has produced one of his light-hearted writing/character combinations, which I have to say is really good. It is always nice to see the floating crayon, KC’s signature symbol, in front of the character’s mouth. There is a little shout-out to the Gums and Tongue crew on the character’s baseball cap.

I Am Ian, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
I Am Ian, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

I don’t think I have ever seen any writing from I Am Ian, I don’t think it is his thing, but his characters are always interesting and usually humorous. This rather forlorn character at least is able to comment ‘What a beautiful day!!! I Am Ian’s pieces are often accompanied with the words ‘sit up’, although I am not entirely sure of their significance. A wonderful collaboration from these two fabulous artists.

6297. M32 roundabout J3 (616)

Mr Crawls, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
Mr Crawls, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

Two things I really enjoy about Mr Crawls’ work are his desire to grow and develop his ideas, while underpinning them with his magic style and the frequency with which he paints, constantly keeping the interest going in locations all over the city.

Mr Crawls, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
Mr Crawls, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

I haven’t seen anything quite like this from Mr Crawls before, although the head, hat and chrome background are reasonably familiar themes. It is the bottom half of thee piece that introduces a whole new aspect that is different and one which it will be interesting to see if he replicates or uses again. Definitely an eye-catching design in a great spot.

6287. M32 roundabout J3 (615)

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

Stivs is something of an enigma, you never really know quite what you are going to see from him next. He is both an accomplished portrait and scene artist, as well as an exceptional calligraffiti writer. In this piece, he has created a wonderful cartoon book style portrait.

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

I took this photograph on my second trip to the wall, because the sun wasn’t quite right on my first visit. Unfortunately, by the time I returned, YSAE and Solar (one of them) had tagged it. At least they were respectful enough not to go over the portrait itself. The piece is called (I presume) ‘moody boys start wars’.

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

The artwork itself is exceptional, and it is one of the best renditions of comic-book style artistry I have seen, and at scale too. I have included a photograph I took on my first visit, which has no tags, but bright vertical strips of light where the sun has caught the wall and corresponding shadows. Phenomenal stuff from Stivs.

6273. M32 roundabout J3 (614)

Chill, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
Chill, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024

It is nice to be able to single out a piece by Chill, without having to share the post with other PWA crew artists, which is usually the case. It feels like a while ago when I first came across Chill’s cartoon character work, in St Werburghs tunnel, if I recall correctly. Back then, he tended to work in black and white with a red background. Over the months and years he has massively developed his characters, his colours his detailed background accessories, and continues to grow with each new piece, which cannot be said for all artists, for sure.

Chill, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
Chill, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024

I wouldn’t say that this was my favourite piece that Chill has painted, but it carries all the hallmarks of the tattoo artist. The black lines (ink lines) create plenty of detail around the ear and eyes. The eyes themselves are interestingly presented where the pupils have a wedge cut out of them and there are larger white circles above them, which in this piece I don’t think work all that well. There is plenty of colour dividing up the different elements of the face, which really is a huge contrast from his early pieces. Nice and slightly weird work painted alongside Zake’s equally weird piece posted a few days ago.