Tag: Old school

7050. L Dub (74)

Turoe and Veks, L Dub, Bristol, June 2025
Turoe and Veks, L Dub, Bristol, June 2025

This is a wonderful old school combination piece painted at the L Dub spot by Turoe, although I think that the character might be by Veks. Everything about this oozes class and experience.

Turoe and Veks, L Dub, Bristol, June 2025
Turoe and Veks, L Dub, Bristol, June 2025

The character wearing a baseball cap has been buffing the wall with a roller, thus indicating a form of self-portraiture. The letters, spelling STYLE are perfectly filled with blended horizontal shades transitioning from purple through red and orange to brown. A striped 3D drop shadow rounds off this piece off nicely and create a metallic sheen effect.

6498. Dean Lane skate park (773)

Bean, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2024
Bean, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2024

What a wonderful surprise to find this modest piece behind the swimming pool railings in Dean Lane skate park. Blink and you might miss it. Bean has been absent from Bristol for a long period, away at university studying hard I expect.

Bean, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2024
Bean, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2024

This character piece is really interesting, because it looks like modern take on an old school archetype. Bean has synthesised this very well and he has an ease and competence about his work. I expect this was a quick one, and I didn’t see any others around the time this was painted. I am very much hoping to see more from him after he graduates.

5782. Dean Lane skate park (681)

Sake, Dean Lane, Bristol, Dacember 2023
Sake, Dean Lane, Bristol, Dacember 2023

Sake is an old school graffiti artist who only paints occasionally these days, but who has been painting for a long time. It has been great to see this wall, one of my favourites, getting quite a lot of attention recently, but having said that, nothing seems to last very long, and I think this piece disappeared quite quickly.

Sake, Dean Lane, Bristol, Dacember 2023
Sake, Dean Lane, Bristol, Dacember 2023

The writing, and fill in particular, are reminiscent of early New York graffiti writers, something that Sake carries off with authenticity and style. The letters are nicely presented and the driop shadow really good, but it is the pink stars running through the letters that win me over in this cracking piece.

4408. Dean Lane skate park (486)

Unusual and unexpected, this writing in Dean Lane is an untypical piece from Inkie that appeared about a week ago, at the same time as a Rusk piece on a nearby wall (coming soon). At first glance, the writing is not obviously Inkie’s and certainly doesn’t have many of his trademark elements.

Inkie, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022
Inkie, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022

Take a closer look though and certain motifs are there. The quality of the piece is outstanding and although it might look a bit busy and eclectic, everything that is there is carefully placed, like the green hoops, the purple bubble writing around the edges and the shout-outs. This is a skilfully painted piece designed to look a bit raw, and Inkie has carried it off perfectly.

3053. M32 roundabout J3 (230)

Is it at all possible that this piece is all by one artist? Well not only is it possible, it is in fact true. The extraordinary piece is by extraordinary artist Taboo and is an old school/new school style split work.A piece like this really shows off the obvious talent of the artist in some style.

Taboo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2020
Taboo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2020

On the left hand side of the piece is a wonderful old school piece of wild style writing with a superb character smoking and sporting a fine red hat. The letter shapes, shading and fills are superbly done and appear to be being sucked into a contraption  converting the artwork into something altogether more modern.

Taboo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2020
Taboo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2020

On the right hand side, the piece is altogether more surreal and eclectic and perhaps reflects a more new school approach to graffiti writing. I have no idea what is going on here but there might be a clue to Taboo’s approach which is the little note at the bottom ‘find your own’. This is a really interesting piece from an artist who would seem to have had a new lease of life.