3418. M32 roundabout J3 (274)

Over the last three or four months, Slakarts has been rather busy with his three-quarter profile throw-up character, and probably produced more of these than his regular and rather more complex faces. This one is on one of the tunnel entrances of the M32 roundabout. There is an interesting artefact of photography, light and paint in this piece… in the feature photograph you can see the ghosts of old graffiti underneath the white parts, but in the content photograph below, the white fill is simply white. Curious.

Slakarts, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020
Slakarts, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020

I rather like this one from Slakarts because it is a little bit more finessed than some of the others in this series. The black lines are clean and the blue outlines work very well indeed. More of these in the archive!

3414. M32 roundabout J3 (273)

Here is a recent fun piece from Ryder down at the M32 roundabout featuring characters from the Willo the Wisp children’s TV programme from the 1980s. There is always something that makes me smile about incorporating children’s characters into the subversive world of graffiti art.

Ryder, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020
Ryder, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020

The writing is, as always, perfectly painted, with nice letter shapes and horizontal colour fills that complement each other well. The 3D shadow has a vanishing point in the centre of the piece which is less common than the shadow going in one direction.

Ryder, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020
Ryder, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020

The piece is bookended with characters from the show, with Willo on the right and on the left Evil Edna, the TV set. A very nice holiday piece from Ryder.

3409. M32 roundabout J3 (272)

I’ve had this Dott Rotten SPOILT piece in my queue for a little while, mainly because I thought I’d already posted it… turns out I hadn’t. It is yet another demonstration of this artist’s graffiti writing skills. I’d like to make comparisons with other artists in Bristol, but I have decided not to simply because we are so very fortunate in having so many outstandingly talented graffiti writers in our city. There surely cannot be another city in the world with such a collection of top drawer writers… suggestions please…

Dott Rotten, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020
Dott Rotten, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020

In this piece Dott Rotten spells out SPOILT in fabulous letter shapes with his trademark spots adding interest to the fills. The piece is complex, with joins overlapping one another… I don’t quite know how he keeps on top of it, and the subtle shadows add to the overall 3D effect. The piece doesn’t stop at the red boundary, but is set on cosmic cloudy background. Brilliant.

3385. M32 roundabout J3 (271)

Coming across a Soker piece is never disappointing and when it is a variation away from his usual letters SOKER or SOKEM it is especially noteworthy. This wonderfully colourful burner spells out Super FREAK. I don’t know what the reference is, but I do know that the result is superb.

Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020
Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020

I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there is something about Soker’s style that is uniquely his and that makes identification relatively easy… maybe it is the curves in the letters or the 3D shadow, I don’t know, but most of the time it is possible to get it right. The fills in the letters are to die for, and overall this is the work of a craftsman at the very top of his game.

3375. M32 roundabout J3 (270)

My heart sings when I find a new Rusk piece, especially when I discover it without knowing about it in advance. It feels like quite a long time since I last saw one of his pieces of graffiti writing so this was a real bonus.

Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020
Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020

The colour scheme in this one works incredibly in my view with the green matched with the yellow and oranges, and the way he has integrated them is so easy on the eye. Surprisingly, the pink and black 3D shadow works really well too – who’d have thought? Some expert white highlights and blue drips finish the piece nicely.  A pleasure.

3368. M32 roundabout J3 (269)

One of the pleasures of photographing street art and graffiti is that you get to meet many artists as they paint their creations. Most will make time for a quick chat, and over time you become acquaintances and sometimes friends. This was the first time I had met Any and indeed it was the first time I had seen his work in Bristol, which is not all that surprising as he has only recently come to Bristol from Poland. It is great to welcome yet another artist from Poland to join the merry throng in Bristol.

Any, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2020
Any, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2020

Any is a graffiti writer who freestyles his work, which means that he paints from his head rather than a sketch in a black book. He said that it gives him freedom. I like the way that he has prepped the wall first and has taken care with this bright piece. The short word ‘ANY’ means that his pieces can take on an abstract look and I rather like that. There are some elements that are similar to Benjimagnetic’s work, particularly the triangles with single-line outlines.

Any, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020
Any, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020

Although this was the first piece I have seen by Any, I have noticed a couple more in the Stokes Croft area, which leads me to believe he probably lives in North Bristol somewhere. Welcome to the city of street art.

3365. M32 roundabout J3 (268)

Well this just about sums it up – another in the series of ‘Shite Year’ pieces by Turoe, this time on the M32 roundabout. When I first saw this piece I was a little bit miffed because it had been painted over a wonderful EAT collaboration piece from January this year, but then I thought, hey, it is about time something new was painted here.

Turoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020
Turoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020

The way the two halves of the piece have been written gives the impression that this is a collaboration between two artists, but it is in fact the work of a single artist.

Turoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020
Turoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020

Since returning to painting after a period away, there has been no stopping Turoe, and there are more pieces from this theme still to come. Let’s hope for everyone’s sake that next year brings a little more joy and peace. At least Trump won’t be in power to destabilise things further.

SPZero76 and Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020
SPZero76 and Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020

3362. M32 roundabout J3 (267)

There has been a renaissance of sorts in Bristol over the last couple of years or so with the arrival of a merry band of Spanish artists, several of whom are outstanding graffiti writers. Front and centre of this throng is Todoaciem whose near-perfect writing form is a joy to behold.

Todoaciem, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020
Todoaciem, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020

This piece on the M32 roundabout is typical of his structured ornate calligraphy style which spells out CIEM1, although it takes a trained eye to work this out – I am still learning. The colour selection works well and this combination of shades of pink and blue are often used by street artists because they make a piece stand out. Great graffiti writing.

3325. M32 roundabout J3 (264)

It says Biers and that makes me happy. Biers went through a phase over the last 18 months or so of writing OhYeah, but reverted to Biers at some point during lockdown. His Instagram handle is Jimothy_Cool_Aid, but Biers will do.

Biers, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2020
Biers, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2020

This is a nice little piece tucked around the corner on the M32 roundabout and includes a little ghost for good measure. The piece has the heading high spirits, which is a word play on the ghost smoking a spliff. The letter shapes are great and the fills ‘to die for’. A nice modest one from Biers.

3322. M32 roundabout J3 (264)

Wow, just wow. This is a very bold and attractive piece from Mest that cries out for attention, and interestingly received loads. Many of the Bristol Street art Instagrammers posted this outstanding piece, not surprisingly, but have a tendency to overlook this prolific artist. It just shows what an eye-catching piece can do.

Mest, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2020
Mest, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2020

I have to say that I love this piece and have been enjoying his work of late – I guess I only became aware of him a few months ago, but even in that short time I have seen some real progress. The lesson here is that if you want to be noticed use black yellow and red – nature’s warning colours.