Phour is one of those artists who regularly burns his letters onto any surfaces that he fancies. Some of his pieces are quick and dirty throw-ups and some, like this one, are more polished and accomplished.
Spray painting over existing graffiti without buffing the wall first means that your piece needs something special to stand out from the crowd. Phour has achieved this with flying colours (literally) in this absolute belter.
One of the things I am looking forward to when we return to a new normal is that some of the artists who have had a quiet lockdown may return to the streets more frequently, in particular artists like Laic217 who has been, relatively speaking, on a bit of a go-slow.
This is a nice little skull piece, picking up on some themes used by Laic217 in the past, most notably the brickwork structure of the skull. The folds and textures of the clothing is once again masterfully handled. Always so good to see.
Bnie has been painting quite a lot with her RBF crew recently and it is always great to see her nicely balanced letters and fills, and beautifully decorated 3D shadows that are a trademark feature of her work.
I don’t know if this wall was painted for a special occasion or whether it was part of a general paint jam, but there was a great turnout of artists and some fine work laid down. For me, this one from Bnie might just have been the pick of the bunch, it feels like her work is improving each time I see something new from her. The time for a gallery must be fast-approaching. I am really enjoying the incorporation of a mouth in the ‘B’.
The incredibly busy and talented Pekoe painted this piece a short while ago along with several of her RBF friends on a section of wall that was long overdue for a refresh. The wall at this particular point is in a narrow stretch of cycle path and very difficult to photograph without being totally over-faced by it.
Pekoe has been producing so many top drawer pieces of late and this is another one to add to her catalogue, although there is something about it that I am a little uncomfortable with, I’m not sure what, but I think it could be the mouth. The feature image gives you an insight into the length of this wall, and the size of the collaborative paint session (all the yellow-background pieces). Still more to come from Pekoe’s purple patch.
The sleeping giant has definitely woken, and Subtle has been out and about creating some superb pieces across Bristol. I think he has a stock of pink paint that he wanted to use up, because a lot of his recent stuff has majored on pink.
Subtle uses a technique that involves quite a lot of roller-brush work. Most of the solid fills and the background are all roller work, with the outlines and details added on with spray paint. This is for both ease and economy. Emulsion is so much cheaper than spray paint. The result of his labours is this wonderful SUBTLE in pinks and reds on a green background with blue decorations. Eye-catching and fun.
In the world before COVID-19, if you can remember that far back, Decay was painting walls at will, and the high frequency of his new pieces at times made it difficult to photograph and post them. Then everything changed and we entered into a dystopian present overseen by charlatans. There seems to be such a strong correlation between demagogue leaders and appalling mis-handling of the health crisis.
Apart from a few pieces over the last year, Decay seems to have gone to ground a bit.
This recent piece is something of a rarity, not only because Decay hasn’t painted much, but also because of the introduction of a new design. Chuck, the little character, remains. This is another Kill the Bill piece, which stands up for the rights of people who live in mobile accommodation, which Priti Patel appears to want to crush, along with a whole raft of other human rights. She really is a dreadful person in every way. Looking forward to seeing more from Decay as things improve.
Soker is an incredibly versatile writer, managing to conjure up no end of extraordinary styles for his usual SOKER letters, but this piece is, in my view, an extra special one produced during a recent birthday celebration paint for Sled One.
The colourful letters are framed within a beautiful flowery border that oozes pure class. It doesn’t take much more than the slightest glance to see that this is a masterful piece with an outstanding overall design, beautifully crafted fills and superb finishing. A supreme piece of graffiti writing.
I haven’t posted many pieces by Evey, mainly because I haven’t actually seen all that many. She tends to paint with other Resting Bitch Face (RBF) crew members, including Pekoe and Bnie, which was the case on this wall.
What I particularly like about Evey’s work is its simplicity and femininity (without being girly, if that makes sense). Her letters are nice and organic, but it is her fills, which are so often full of happiness, that show off her creativity. Although her work is still developing, there is something about it that I find incredibly attractive.
There have been few, if any, visiting artists during lockdown periods over the last year, which is what you’d expect, but the recent easing of lockdown measures has resulted in a little bit of movement. This fabulous collaboration by Big Inuk and Big Birdie is a welcome recent addition to this wall which hadn’t seen much in the way of turnover for ages. Sometimes it takes a non-local to get walls moving again.
On the left is a fine piece of writing from Big Inuk who has visited Bristol before in recent years with equally impressive pieces. His skill is clear to see in this INUK writing, with some beautiful decorations and features.
To the right is some equally impressive writing from Big Birdie who I have not featured on Natural Adventures before, so it is a big welcome to her. Again, this is the work of an accomplished graffiti writer, tight and clean, just what we like to see from visitors. I’m not sure where she is from but she is welcome to return any time.
This piece was part of an ASK paint jam that I believe had been organised to celebrate Sled One’s birthday. What a great way to spend the day, painting with your friends and being creatively active. This is a classic surreal character piece from Sled One and illustrates perfectly his extraordinary ability to tell stories with his art.
A seaside scene in which a crab is eating a mint choc-chip ice cream, or at least was, but the ice cream has toppled off and has been replaced by seagull poop, which is all rather disgusting. The gull, not content with providing his own Mr Whippy, is also breaking wind. Charming. The characters are beautifully painted, and the crab shadow lifts the whole piece from the wall. Fabulous, seaside humour.
Natural adventures 