Tag: M32 roundabout

5473. M32 roundabout J3 (506)

Sled One, M32 roundbout, Bristol, August 2023
Sled One, M32 roundbout, Bristol, August 2023

I would have to say that seeing new artwork pretty much every day of my life fills me with deep pleasure, but there are some artists that max out that feeling and one of them is Sled One. Possibly better known for his wild and surreal character pieces, Sled One is a fantastically accomplished graffiti writer too, as this piece on the roundabout demonstrates.

Sled One, M32 roundbout, Bristol, August 2023
Sled One, M32 roundbout, Bristol, August 2023

I guess the thing that stands out in this beautifully crafted piece is the fill in the letters SLED1. To me the fill looks like an old stone wall with a choppy sea alongside. Whatever it is meant to be, what is remarkable is that it is contiguous throughout the letters, creating a scene to be viewed through the letters. Some mint-green flashes add further interest. This is a masterful piece of writing from one of Bristol’s best.

You can view a gallery of Sled One’s extraordinary work here

5464. M32 roundabout J3 (505)

Hiccup, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
Hiccup, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023

I saw this gorgeous piece a little while ago, but kept it on file until I found out who it was by. It turns out that it is by Hiccup (Bloem) who is a rising star in the Bristol street/graffiti art scene and whose works are popping up all over the place. There is something very special about the red/grey/white/black combination of colours that works exceptionally well, and which Decay built his early works on, to great effect.

Hiccup, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
Hiccup, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023

The piece in Hiccup’s Instagram is called Speaker Flowerz, and in doing so says what it is. The piece is creative, striking and nice and clean. For an artist who has only recently been painting walls, Hiccup has hit the ground running and fast becoming one of my favourite new artists. This piece is right up my street, and I am very much looking forward to seeing what new creations she comes up with.

5442. M32 roundabout J3 (504)

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2023
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2023

Face 1st going solo, perhaps none of his PWA friends were free to paint or maybe he simply fancied painting on his own for a change. It looks like Face 1st needed to scratch an itch and managed to do just that with these two pieces on the roundabout.

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2023
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2023

The red/orange and green colours of the first piece work exceptionally well and have a rather natural feel about them. The piece takes us back to the standard form for a Face 1st piece, that is a laughing girl (with gloop) and the letters FACE making up her big hair. I suspect Face 1st could probably paint these in his sleep.

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2023
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2023

The second piece is not dissimilar in its overall form, but the smiling girl is more of a toothy girl and her hair has sprinkles and candles, which makes me wonder whether this is a quick birthday celebration piece for somebody close to the artist. Both pieces are full of fun and mischief, as we would expect from the prolific PWA man.

5432. M32 roundabout J3 (503)

Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2018
Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2018

You’d need to go back to 2018 to remember this beauty from Soker. I don’t know how, but this piece got stranded and forgotten deep within my archive, and a quick delve has unearthed it for me to post today. Soker is one of the very best writers in Bristol, which is why it is a little surprising that I never posted this one.

Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2018
Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2018

The first thing to grab the attention is the classy colour palette. The fills in the seamlessly intertwined letters are of the very highest class, drifting from which, through yellow to oranges with consummate ease. The letters spelling SOKEM are pretty much perfect, and so cleanly finished. The buffed wall helps the piece to stand out and the pink and purple spots the cherry on the top. As close to perfect wildstyle writing as you will see.

5428. M32 roundabout J3 (502)

Pekoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
Pekoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023

There is never a time when I am not thrilled to find a Pekoe piece. She belongs to a small handful of artists who define the Bristol scene and ones that I always keep a special eye out for. This modest piece on the M32 roundabout marks a return to her portraits, which have been playing second fiddle to here writing recently.

Pekoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
Pekoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023

This pink faced girl with green hair is in three-quarter profile and is glancing out of the side of her eyes, giving her a slightly irritated or angry look. With great lips and the signature tears, this small piece reminds us what a great artist Pekoe is. It is amazing that she has found the time to paint this piece, given her bust summer festival itinerary.

5409. M32 roundabout J3 (501)

Dopes, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
Dopes, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023

Dopes is another artist whose presence in Bristol has been fairly intermittent for some time, so it was great to see this wonderful piece on the roundabout a couple of weeks ago. When one sees a piece like this, it demonstrates just how powerful and important it can be to buff a wall first to bring out the best in the work.

Dopes, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
Dopes, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023

This piece is dazzling and has a great energy about it, with the yellow light bursting out from behind the purple and pink filled letters. I’m not so sure about the golden pattern on the background, which looks rather flat compared to the vibrancy of the rest. This is a really classy piece from Dopes, I only hope we don’t have to wait so long for the next one.

5396. M32 roundabout J3 (500)

Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023

I am celebrating 500 posts from the M32 roundabout J3 with this magnificent graffiti writing piece by PWA’s Soap. My eye was drawn to it immediately, and for a fraction of a second I thought that Liverpool artist Lost Hills might have been in town for a visit. I thought this because Lost Hills Features Jake the Dog from the animation series Adventure Time in all of his work. But no, this was a Soap piece for sure.

Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023

Soap has been developing his writing considerably over the last three or four years, and incorporating cartoon characters into his letters has been central to his look. The letters are usually fairly flexible, adding to the overall artwork of the piece, rather than being the central focus. Plenty going on here, lots of fill patterns and a general feel-good factor. Great colours too.

5393. M32 roundabout J3 (499)

Lee Roy, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
Lee Roy, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023

Lee Roy was just finishing off this piece when I turned up on my ’rounds’ and he made plenty of time to chat with me before packing up, which was kind of him. On the two occasions I have been lucky enough to meet him, I can honestly say he is one of the most gentle and likeable characters on the street art circuit (although to be honest, nearly every artist I have spoken to over the years have been thoroughly decent and generous with their time).

Lee Roy, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
Lee Roy, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023

There is so much to like about this one. The blood-red background is the perfect backdrop to contrast with the lighter greeny blue letters. Lee Roy’s letters are that strange combination of being quite regimented in his own style, while at the same time being disorderly and anti-style in nature… he carries off this effect perfectly. There are plenty of fills to enhance the letters, and a fabulous selection of drops in greens and orange. I like this one a lot.

5391. M32 roundabout J3 (498)

Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023

Kosc is surely one of Bristol’s most talented and versatile artists painting at the moment. Whether he is painting portrait pieces of graffiti writing in a collaboration or alone, his work is always immaculate and extraordinarily creative.

Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023

This piece on the M32 roundabout is in his metallic/greyscale style and presents the letters KOSC with a little bit of disintegration between the S and K. Some trademark rivets in the letters add to the metallic look of the letter panels. A nicely thought out and executed piece from Kosc.

5389. M32 roundabout J3 (497)

SkyHigh, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
SkyHigh, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023

A rather nice bit of bubble writing, but what’s so special about that you might ask. The first thing that you might notice is that it is beautifully finished and much less crude than most throw ups painted in this kind of style. In short the piece has class.

SkyHigh, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
SkyHigh, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023

Perhaps the reason it stands out is that it is by the superb SkyHigh, and if you look carefully the letters, with the tiger print pattern, read SKY! with the word ‘high’ written in black script in the middle. I guess that the artist was passing through, as he often visits Bristol with Roo to visit friends/relatives. Often we are treated to a large SkyHigh wall with his unique style of high-end block lettering, but not this time. Great to see all the same.