Tag: M32 roundabout

3501. M32 roundabout J3 (283)

There are two excellent calligraphy writers in Bristol who stand out and who throw paint at walls on a fairly regular basis. One of them is Todoaciem and the other Stivs – this is a fine piece from the latter.

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2021
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2021

I like the way that Stivs has slotted this piece of writing into a rather slim piece of wall, where the embankment rises up to the main roundabout road. The writing that spells out STIVS y nicely constructed, and as well as the regular and disciplined lines, he has also incorporated some embellishment and drips which always adds kudos to a piece. Nicely sited, beautifully painted, great work from Stivs.

3499. M32 Roundabout J3 (282)

Yet another debut artist for Natural Adventures in 2021 – they just keep coming. Lee Roy has been writing for a while, but a recent spate of pieces in Bristol has drawn him to my attention and his unique style is worthy of representation on this blog as part of the vast spectrum of talent in the city.

Lee Roy, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2021
Lee Roy, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2021

His work is loud and overt and easy to read. This is a bold statement – Lee Roy was here. His letters are framed within a bounded black background and are in an interesting font that is rather forgiving of irregularity. The fills are intricate and fun which grow on you the more you look at them. Lee Roy describes himself as a ‘lazy writer’ which I think is a little bit too modest and self deprecatory. Look out for more coming soon.

3485. M32 roundabout J3 (281)

This is the second piece I have posted by Smoke Perfume, and it is painted slap bang over his previous piece on this wall which I posted here a few days ago. I was fortunate enough to run across him as he was about half-way through his work.

Smoke Perfume, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2021
Smoke Perfume, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2021

There is something rather nice about getting work in progress (WIP) shots, because it gives you an insight into how the artists go about building up their work. Even though I have been trying to teach myself to spray paint, I still find the process counter-intuitive, but that probably stems from the fact that I have no training in art or design whatsoever.

Smoke Perfume, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2021
Smoke Perfume, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2021

I am not too sure what the letters spell out, but I am pretty certain it is neither Smoke nor Perfume. Rather like the Serm piece next to it, the organic purple and yellow lettering is embellished with white smoky flames. I’ll be on the look-out for more from Smoke Perfume.

3475. M32 roundabout J3 (280)

Many street artists and graffiti writers have dual or multiple personas when they throw paint at a wall. There are many reasons for this, for example sometimes it is to obfuscate their identity as most of this activity isn’t strictly legal, other times it is to separate out professional from personal identities. Here we have an artist who I have met before under a different name, but here he is with his new moniker ‘SERM’.

Serm, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2021
Serm, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2021

I was fortunate enough to bump into SERM when he was half way through painting this piece and we chatted for a little while. It is interesting to see how he works and that the little smoke wisps along the top of the piece are one of the first bits he paints, which is counterintuitive for a non-artist like me.

Serm, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2021
Serm, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2021

This is a very nice piece of writing with some great colour selections and the yellow 3D shadow works particularly well. I hope this is the first SERM of many.

3469. M32 roundabout J(3) (279)

The story behind this unusual and unsigned piece is that I photographed it a little while ago… I photograph most of the graffiti art that I find, and if I don’t know the artist will keep it in my archive until a moment of good fortune reveals their identity. This was one such piece.

Last week I was doing the rounds and I encountered an artist painting over this piece. Having not met him before I politely introduced myself and asked him what name he painted under, ‘Smoke Perfume’ was his reply. Furthermore he told me that the piece he was painting over, the subject of this post, was also by him. What luck.

Smoke Perfume, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2021
Smoke Perfume, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2021

The design of this piece is neat and tidy and the colours have something of a ‘look at me’ quality. The transition of the two red fills is beautifully done with dancing red flames and there is a black splatter surrounding the piece. I don’t yet know what the letters spell out, but I am working on it. I like this very much and there is another piece from Smoke Perfume coming soon to Natural Adventures.

3448. M32 roundabout J3 (278)

Just recently there has been a very welcome spate of PWA collaborations from Soap and Face 1st, including this beauty on the M32 roundabout. These two have a connection, a bit like Sheringham and Shearer, which produces great results, and when they collaborate, they often adopt the same colour scheme as they have done here.

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2021
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2021

To the left is one of those familiar smiling girls with her hair spelling out FACE. There is a lot of decoration and detail in the letters and plenty of the trademark teardrop shapes that Face 1st favours. There is a lot of energy and joy here.

Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2021
Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2021

To the right Soap has continued the colour scheme and letter style to spell out SOAP with one of his mouths in the ‘O’. This is also full of decoration and detail and fully deserves a long look to get the most out of it. The collaboration is a great example of how well these two work together. Bristol would be all the poorer without them.

3433. M32 roundabout J3 (275)

When all else in the crazy world we live in is kicking off and our landmarks and routines are blown apart, there is a beating heart, metronome-like, tick-tocking in the background and that is the quiet, modest, ever-present production line of graffiti writing from Corupt. It is rather comforting when you think about it.

Corupt, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2021
Corupt, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2021

In this outstanding piece Corupt has written STICK, which is one of the two common letter combinations he uses. His humour shines through with this “Happy New Tier” story to welcome all of us into 2021 in a lockdown situation. The letters are beautiful, the fills are beautiful and the colour combinations are beautiful. A beautiful cheery piece.

3427. M32 roundabout (276)

I have only met Hemper on one occasion and that was last summer. My first impressions were that he is an unassuming and modest fellow who has put in the effort and has a gift for graffiti writing and does it extraordinarily well.

Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020
Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020

Hemper is a freestyle writer, which means that he doesn’t paint from a sketch in a black book but rather from his imagination. Combine that natural creativity with the fine motor skills that he has developed over the years, and you get outstanding pieces like this one. A little beauty.

3424. M32 roundabout J3 (275)

This is a classic example of Face 1st doing what Face 1st does best and that is spraying an enormous face in a tunnel that is near impossible to photograph. I had toyed with the idea of not posting this piece, but that would be admitting defeat.

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2021
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2021

Face 1st seems to favour the M32 roundabout tunnels and it is rare for one of his pieces not to be present in one of the four tunnels 24/7/365. This piece is a trademark one from the artist with a happy girls face and hair composed of  the letters FACE. Face 1st and his PWA crew mate Soap typify the vibrancy and energy of the Bristol street art scene.

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!