Tag: Manga

6262. Ashton Road

The Art of Sok, Ashton Road, Bristol, July 2024
The Art of Sok, Ashton Road, Bristol, July 2024

I think that this piece by The Art of Sok has been around for a little while, but I was pointed in the direction of it by the artist himself, which was lucky, because I don’t visit this spot as a matter of routine. It was painted as part of a collaboration with Smak, which makes sense because they are friends and share a Welsh heritage.

The Art of Sok, Ashton Road, Bristol, July 2024
The Art of Sok, Ashton Road, Bristol, July 2024

The Art of Sok has done here what he does so well; he has created an outstanding comic-book style cartoon of a young man wearing a baseball cap and smoking. The piece is perfectly clean and tight as a nut. Even the smoke coming from the cigarette is stylised, and you can see the two styles meeting where the much more wispy smoke drifts across from Smak’s adjacent piece. Wonderful work from The Art of Sok.

6244. Purdown (74)

The Art of Sok, Purdown, Bristol, July 2024
The Art of Sok, Purdown, Bristol, July 2024

After a little teaser in Bristol last year at the M32 Spot and on the cycle path with Rusk, The Art of Sok has had something of a bonanza in the city this summer, and even better than that, I have managed to catch up with the artist twice in the space of a month, and what a lovely fellow he is too.

The Art of Sok, Purdown, Bristol, July 2024
The Art of Sok, Purdown, Bristol, July 2024

This beautifully framed piece, on one of the concrete slabs in the old anti-aircraft gun emplacement, breathes new life into this historic monument, and reflects the freedoms that the nation fought the second world war for.  The Art of Sok manages to paint flawless pieces, and takes great care to ensure every detail is exactly how he planned it. I believe this could be described as a Manga-style portrait, and is one that definitely ticks all my boxes.

6234. Purdown (72)

Peanutsdeli, Purdown, Bristol, July 2024
Peanutsdeli, Purdown, Bristol, July 2024

The Purdown Anti Aircraft gun emplacement is a wartime relic which these days doubles up as a goat enclosure and graffiti spot, giving this monument a second life of sorts. Visiting this spot is always a bit of a lottery because turnover is usually pretty slow, and sometimes there is nothing new to look at, and other times (because visits tend to be infrequent) pieces can be quite badly tagged, or damaged by the goats!

Peanutsdeli, Purdown, Bristol, July 2024
Peanutsdeli, Purdown, Bristol, July 2024

On my last trip, a couple of weeks ago, I his the jackpot though, with several new pieces all in pretty good condition, including this beauty by Peanutsdeli. I have to say that he is probably the last artist I would expect to find up here, so this manga-style cartoon portrait came as a very pleasant surprise indeed. The yelling face fits the rectangular slab perfectly, and I was even able to give the character a little bit of extra hair from the tree behind. More to come from this Purdown visit soon.

5818. North Street

Peanutsdeli, North Street, Bristol, January 2023
Peanutsdeli, North Street, Bristol, January 2023

This wall is adjacent to a shop called Veeez, a name that might be familiar to regular readers of Natural Adventures, because of its close association with street art in Bristol and Weston-super-Mare. Every now and again the wall is handed over to a street artist who may be holding an exhibition of art in the shop, and I think that is the case with this brilliant piece by Peanutsdeli.

Peanutsdeli, North Street, Bristol, January 2023
Peanutsdeli, North Street, Bristol, January 2023

The artist’s style is without doubt influenced by manga comics – my first introduction to which was the fabulous TV cartoon series Marine Boy in the 1960s. This bright and colourful piece acted as a prelude to the magnificent clothes and prints that were inside the shop. I am a huge admirer of Peanutsdeli’s work and am overjoyed every time he paints in Bristol.

5455. Cumberland Basin

Peanutsdeli, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2023
Peanutsdeli, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2023

I am a huge admirer of Peanutsdeli’s work, but unfortunately he does most of his painting in the Cheltenham/Gloucester/Stroud area and only occasionally comes to Bristol, which is a real pity. This is an absolute belter, painted for Werm’s recent birthday jam.

Peanutsdeli, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2023
Peanutsdeli, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2023

The slim characters that Peanutsdeli creates, look like they are straight from a comic book and have something of a Manga style about them. In this piece, we have a vibrant heroine, complete with red hair and blue cape. The character is outlined with a thin black line, a trademark feature of Peanutdeli’s work. Loads of movement and beautiful detail in the piece, which obeys ‘house’ colours of blue and pink selected for the collaborative paint jam wall. I would love to see much more of Peanutdeli’s work in Bristol.

3500. Purdown HAA Battery (18)

Up at Purdown there are several walls painted by Zace, it certainly seems like he enjoys practising his craft on the square concrete walls. Among the customary alien faces is this outstanding manga style profile portrait.

Zace, Purdown, Bristol, February 2021
Zace, Purdown, Bristol, February 2021

This is an eye-catching piece and one that I like a lot. There is a simplicity of composition about the whole piece, but it comes together nicely, and I’d love to see more like this coming out of the rather productive Zace stable. Shame about the mud splatters on the face.

2087. Dean Lane skate park (200)

Regular readers will know how excited I get when visiting artists leave behind a little gift for us to enjoy, and so I thought it fitting to write my 200th Dean Lane post about Italian artist Filippo Mozone.

Mozone, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2019
Mozone, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2019

The piece is so obviously not in the style of any of the Bristol artists I am aware of and for this reason was a real curiosity. The character appears to be painted in the manga style and has a sketch-like quality to it. The large eyes remind me of ‘Marine Boy’ a cartoon I loved as a child. I am quite pleased with myself spotting the Japanese link, because I have just read in Mozone’s website biography that he was ‘was dazzled by Japanese cartoons in the 80’s and graffiti in the early 90’s‘.

Mozone, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2019
Mozone, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2019

This piece was a lovely surprise (and I like surprises) and is one of my favourite pieces of the year so far.

2014. The Bearpit (173)

It has become a rare thing indeed to find much new work in The Bearpit, which is why finding this lovely piece by Skor85 was such a nice surprise. I’m afraid the quote is a little lost on me, but it feels like there is an interesting story behind this piece.

Skip forward about fifteen minutes and I have found some stuff on the Interweb that probably explains the background to the piece, and it would seem to be linked to an art project by Pierre Huyghe and Philippe Parreno.

Skor85, The Bearpit, Bristol, January 2019
Skor85, The Bearpit, Bristol, January 2019

I am pleased that I had spotted a Manga connection and was going to comment on it, but feel a little fraudulent writing about it, knowing that I have been able to confirm my hunch subsequently. I love Skor85’s work which nearly always has a dream like narrative to it. It has been a long time since I have seen anything by her.

 

 

1599. Raleigh Road, Tobacco Factory (13)

Well now, here is another fabulous stencil by Stephen Quick, and due to its location in a car park is almost impossible to photograph, so I will rebrand these images as ‘arty’ on account of the fine reflections on the shiny black bonnet of the annoying car parked in front of the piece.

Stephen Quick, Raleigh Road, Bristol, July 2018
Stephen Quick, Raleigh Road, Bristol, July 2018

Once again Stephen Quick spoils us with an image of an iconic figure in the shape of Totoro. The piece is called ‘I bet you’re Totoro and is a direct reference to a massive manga film I have never seen, made in 1988, ‘My Neighbour Totoro‘. Exposing my ignorance even further, I am not sure who the lady in the picture is, but I am sure she is probably famous. I am not very good with Iconic references and usually do really badly on those online quizzes you see from time to time. Now ask me something about natural history and I am onto a winner.

Stephen Quick, Raleigh Road, Bristol, July 2018
Stephen Quick, Raleigh Road, Bristol, July 2018

This is a really fabulous and intricate stencil and I know that Stephen spends many hours preparing for these pieces. Maybe one day he could give me some basic tips for my ambitions one day to join the ranks of Bristol street artists.