Haha! I love this three character piece by Mr Crawls. A simple, and rather curious design of characters that conveys emotions and humour in equal measure. As you might expect, the threesome are painted onto a chrome background, one of the signatures of Mr Crawls and his painting pal Mote.
Mr Crawls, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2025
The characters have plenty about them, even though they are composed mainly of eyes and shoulders. The middle one has a rather expressive mouth, and the shading in the eyes of the green ones gives the impression that they are looking inwards. I rather like these abstract beings that Mr Crawls has developed, and I think he likes them too.
This little wall (the remains of a waterworks outbuilding) can be seen from the Brunel Way flyover, and so it is quite easy to spot when it has been repainted. I confess that when I first saw the piece from a distance, I thought it was by Mote, having many of the characteristics of his artwork. On closer inspection, though, I had doubts and considered it might be a Mote/Mr Crawls combo. It turns out that it is a Mr Crawls solo piece.
Mr Crawls, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2025
The character is unlike anything I have seen from Mr Crawls before, and the hatching in the pupils of the eyes (a Mote thing) definitely caught me out. The ghostly character looks slightly downbeat, but has something about it that makes it quite compelling. It will be interesting to see if this is an idea that Mr Crawls will develop further.
Mr Crawls and Mote have been at it again with these tunnel-end pieces on each side of the archway. The pigeon by Mr Crawls is his latest character favourite, and is getting better with each rendition.
Mote, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2025
On the other side, Mote has painted this unusual moustachioed character. I haven’t seen too many people portrait pieces by Mote, and it is interesting to see how his style comes through. Looking forward to seeing more of these sophisticated pieces from him.
Mr Crawls and Mote, Peel Street Green, Bristol, September 2025
The ‘dynamic duo’, Mote and Mr Crawls, are back in a spot that they have painted together before in Peel Street Green. It is a smaller bit of wall at the right-hand end of the spot, and is the prefect size and shape for one of their collaborations. The pair of birds are painted in their own unique styles, but there are some obvious ideas that read-across both artists.
Mr Crawls and Mote, Peel Street Green, Bristol, September 2025
Mr Crawls has been developing his pigeon character and here he is in all his resplendent glory. The colours of pigeon plumage lend themselves to street art (note to self: do a pigeon special gallery) and are present here – I wonder if he will start to work in more of the iridescent greens and purples in future pieces. Mote presents a rather weird looking bird monster, which those of you with a natural history interest will appreciate can’t possibly be a bird due to the presence of nipples, a mammalian characteristic. In Mote’s defence, it is a monster and from his imagination so it can be whatever he wants it to be – that is the joy of character pieces. Great to see these two collaborating again.
Mr Crawls and Mote, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2025
It has been a little while, but I think I can safely say that the painting duo of Mr Crawls and Mote are back, and painting together again, which in my book is a great thing. The pair have painted a few collaborations lately, but I have struggled to keep up with them.
Mr Crawls and Mote, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2025
On the left, Mr Crawls has painted a bird, looking rather startled, in his stylised cartoon form, in which he has incorporated a couple of Mote design ideas, such as the line through the beak and the horizontal lines on the eyes. I think the bird might be a pigeon.
To the right, Mote has gone to town with his portrait piece of a moustachioed man. The composite style isn’t one I have seen before, and I rather like it. A nice purple theme is rounded off with a chrome background, something of a signature for this pair.
Kool Hand, Mr Crawls and Bean, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2025
Well this is an unusual trio, but nonetheless a very welcome collaboration from Kool Hand, Mr Crawls and Bean. On closer inspection, I am guessing that it is actually two distinct pieces, a collaboration from Kool Hand and Mr Crawls and an independent piece by Bean, which is perhaps why it looks like an unusual coming together.
Kool Hand, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2025
Kool Hand has been painting a lot this year, spreading his time between writing and characters. This piece is a profile of his famous orangutan character, which is synonymous with the artist. Constantly improving, Kool Hand has added more detail with shading and complexion.
Mr Crawls, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2025
Mr Crawls just keeps on going with his gulls, and I just keep on going with photographing them when I see them. This is a nice one painted in his stylised cartoon format – nice and sharp. Difficult to read the expression on this one.
Bean, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2025
Finally, Bean, who has made a quiet comeback in recent weeks, has painted this exquisite piece with two characters in blue tones spraying the wall. The larger character looks like he is ‘high’ floating on the fumes from the paint can. They have been busy painting the letters BEAN. This is beautifully presented, and it is a great pity that some wally has plastered mud on the piece – what is wrong with some people? A refreshing wall, that didn’t last to long.
Mr Crawls and Kool Hand, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2025
Mr Crawls and Kool Hand have been painting together more regularly of late, and it is good to see. Their character styles, although quite different do complement one another rather well.
Mr Crawls, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2025
Mr Crawls has painted one of his ‘skeleton’ bird characters, which look slightly creepy if I am honest, but are very much part of his repertoire. He has shown another side to his talent here though, with some very nicely presented writing, spelling out JIM. I expect that this is a shout out to a friend/family member.
Kool Hand, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2025
Kool Hand presents his orangutan character, who over the years has developed and become ever so slightly more sophisticated. The solid fills haven’t changed much, but the clean lines have improved and the overall shape of the head has softened. Some nice white flashes add to the 3D appearance of the character. A rather nice collaboration.
Mr Crawls and Mote, East Street, Bristol, April 2025
On my wanderings in the East Street area of Bedminster, looking for Tian Paste ups, I came across this hoarding with a few treats on it. I think that this collaboration was painted last year when Mote and Mr Crawls were in full flow, painting together frequently all over the city.
Mr Crawls, East Street, Bristol, April 2025
To the left, the Mr Crawls character is quite unlike anything I have seen from him before, although his underlying style is unmistakable. The rather strange monster, in great green tones, is perhaps most notable for its psychedelic eyes, and ‘puckered’ upper lip.
Mote, East Street, Bristol, April 2025
Mote is no stranger to painting monsters, and here he has assembled five one-eyed beasts is some of his favoured colours. The chrome background for the collaboration gives me a pretty good date range (a little bit like carbon dating), which they first introduced at the end of 2023. A satisfying find.
Oh dear! Mr Crawls’ gull is looking a bit glum in this piece on the long hoarding at Greenbank. Painted on a favoured chrome background, the usually happy or cheeky gull looks like he is down in the dumps. It is clever that Mr Crawls can portray different emotions with tweaks to his ‘archetypal’ bird.
Mr Crawls, Greenbank, Bristol, March 2025
The stylised cartoon character has a downturned (mouth) bill and heavy-lidded eyes, dripping with sadness. The piece is really well presented and clean and tidy, and another in a wonderful series of character pieces by Mr Crawls.
Mote and Mr Crawls, BB Gallery, Bristol, March 2025
I rarely venture along the Bristol to Bath cycle path to the BB Gallery, because turnover tends to be very slow there, but I was pleased to find this collaboration from Mote and Mr Crawls on my last visit there.
Mote and Mr Crawls, BB Gallery, Bristol, March 2025
It would seem that the collaborative pair are spending some time focussing on their own pieces at the moment, and that the joint pieces have dropped off over the winter. On the left is a fine monster character with all the trademark doodles and markings we would expect from Mote. To the right, Mr Crawls has painted one of his monster characters wearing a hat, the style of which first appeared on the streets about a year ago now. Nice work from the pair.
Natural adventures 