Tag: Portrait

5317. Upfest 2022 (75)

Giulio Rosk, Upfest 22, Bristol, Upfest 2022
Giulio Rosk, Upfest 22, Bristol, Upfest 2022

As with any street art festival, there will always be a ‘wow factor’ and one of the artists who brought this to Upfest was Giulio Rosk with this magnificent writing and portrait combination piece just off North Street.

Giulio Rosk, Upfest 22, Bristol, Upfest 2022
Giulio Rosk, Upfest 22, Bristol, Upfest 2022

What is great about festivals is that there is a good chance that you will get to meet and chat with thee artists, when they have a little downtime. I managed to grab a few minutes with the artist and his agent/friend, and discovered that as soon as Giulio Rosk finished this piece they were jetting off to Italy for another festival, so we were lucky to have them here in Bristol.

Giulio Rosk, Upfest 22, Bristol, Upfest 2022
Giulio Rosk, Upfest 22, Bristol, Upfest 2022

The piece is a clever one where the subject – I think it is a self-portrait – is penning the name ROSK as if on a pane of glass. The photorealistic artwork is exceptional and the whole thing, one of the highlights of Upfest. Unlike the temporary boards, this piece is still there for all to see, and is likely to remain until Upfest 2024 next year.

5315. Upfest 2022 (73)

Jack Lack, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Jack Lack, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

Jack Lack is an artist who is based in Stuttgart, and was one of the international artists who made the trip over to Bristol to paint at Upfest 22. This portrait piece is a beauty and requires a little bit of time to pause and take it all in.

Jack Lack, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Jack Lack, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

The blurred background is a great technique that helps to bring focus to certain aspects of the piece, which also gives the viewer a bit of a challenge in ‘filling in the gaps’ that are not crystal clear. The bird on the subject’s shoulder looks like a bee eater of some kind to me, and once again the blurring, in a curious way, draws attention to the bird. Does the baseball cap belong to the bird, or is it blowing about in the distance?

Jack Lack, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Jack Lack, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

This is a fine piece from Jack Lack, who I don’t recall seeing at Upfest before. I would be more than happy to see him return some time in the future though.

5297. St John’s Lane (2)

Shade One, St John's Lane, Bristol, June 2023
Shade One, St John’s Lane, Bristol, June 2023

This is the second piece I am posting from an outstanding collaborative ‘wall’ on a new hoarding in St John’s Lane. This breathtaking portrait piece is by Shade One and is significant in so much as it demonstrates so clearly how over the last couple of years he has developed his style from high-end cartoon portraits to a photorealistic style.

Shade One, St John's Lane, Bristol, June 2023
Shade One, St John’s Lane, Bristol, June 2023

The sunglasses woman is painted in greyscale, which works really well when set against the colourful cosmic, cloudy background. When working in greyscale, particular attention has to be paid to light and shade, and Shade One has done this well, particularly in the folds of the fabric of the woman’s top. This is one of several outstanding pieces painted during a high-class paint jam a short while ago.

5271. St Agnes

David Puck, St Agnes, Bristol, May 2023
David Puck, St Agnes, Bristol, May 2023

I am inherently lazy, or at least that is a self-perception reinforced by years of my mother and teachers telling me so when I was in my teens. A self-fulfilling prophecy? Maybe. I took this picture about a week ago, but am not too happy with it because of the dappled shadow cast across it. I am posting it now, however, because it is a great piece from David Puck, and I am not sure that I can be bothered to return to get a clean shot of it. There is also the factor that I rarely walk around this spot, and have other places that I prioritise.

David Puck, St Agnes, Bristol, May 2023
David Puck, St Agnes, Bristol, May 2023

I haven’t posted many pieces by David Puck, but he (they) is a Bristol artist (I think) who has painted wheatpastes in the city and some murals too. While they don’t paint a lot on the streets, their portraits are always rather attractive and engaging, and this one is a beauty. I have a feeling it might have been here for quite a while as it references Astrozeneca, which is sooo last year. A fine piece indeed.

5266. Weston-super-Mare

Hazard, Weston Wallz, Weston-super-Mare, May 2023
Hazard, Weston Wallz, Weston-super-Mare, May 2023

A little tricky to photograph, but wonderful to behold is this beauty by Hazard which was painted in 2022 for Weston Wallz. The atmospheric portrait piece was painted last year, but I think it was probably after my visit, so this was the first time I got to see it.

Hazard, Weston Wallz, Weston-super-Mare, May 2023
Hazard, Weston Wallz, Weston-super-Mare, May 2023

Hazard has adopted her duplicate portrait theme, with a second ‘ghost’ face hidden in the hair, and she has cleverly incorporated the sea and waves into the piece, in keeping with the maritime location. The rich tones used in the piece are very easy on the eye, and there is a serenity and calmness to it. Weston Walz brings so much to the town… imagine how bland and indeed rather depressing this wall would have looked before Hazard painted it. It is no wonder that the citizens of Weston-super-Mare are so proud of their murals.

Lobe

A gallery of stylised portrait pieces by Lobe, an artist who used to live in Bristol where she painted regularly between 2019 and 2020.

Instagram: @lobe_ita

Lobe, Montpelier, Bristol, April 2020
Lobe, Montpelier, Bristol, April 2020

 

Lobe, Armada Place, Bristol, February 2020
Lobe, Armada Place, Bristol, February 2020

 

Lobe, M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2020
Lobe, M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2020

 

Lobe, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2019
Lobe, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2019

 

Lobe, M32 cycle path, Bristol, November 2019
Lobe, M32 cycle path, Bristol, November 2019

 

Lobe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019
Lobe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019

 

Lobe, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2019
Lobe, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2019

 

Lobe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2019
Lobe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2019

 

Lobe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2019
Lobe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2019

 

Lobe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2019
Lobe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2019

 

Lobe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2019
Lobe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2019

 

Lobe, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2019
Lobe, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2019

 

 

 

5256. Upfest 2022 (66)

Anthroe, Upfest 22, Bristol, June 2022
Anthroe, Upfest 22, Bristol, June 2022

Such has been the productivity on the streets over the last year combined with my attempts to post as much as I can, I have completely neglected my Upfest 22 posts, which really isn’t very impressive. I will try to squeeze in as many as I can whenever I can, because there was so much quality art to see from what was a very successful couple of days at the end of May 2022.

Anthroe, Upfest 22, Bristol, June 2022
Anthroe, Upfest 22, Bristol, June 2022

I had to have several goes at photographing this magnificent piece by Anthroe, but it is the damn cars that make it so challenging. The piece itself is a fabulously colourful portrait of a woman holding a bouquet of flowers, with what looks like a petrol pump (surely not) in her left hand. The whole piece is set on an abstract patterned background. This is one of my favourite pieces of the festival by an artist I don’t know at all, but I believe that he lives and paints in Los Angeles, so it is great to see this piece here in Bristol.

Anthroe, Upfest 22, Bristol, June 2022
Anthroe, Upfest 22, Bristol, June 2022

5255. M32 Spot (164)

Skor85, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2023
Skor85, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2023

How truly wonderful to see a Skor85 piece for two big reasons; the first is that I haven’t seen any of her work in an absolute age, and secondly, she is one of the nicest, kindest and most bubbly artists in Bristol. Even better is that this is one of two pieces she painted during this paint jam organised in the M32 Spot by Conrico.

Skor85, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2023
Skor85, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2023

The column piece looks like a mash-up of a portrait with a design idea, and kind of comes in a top and bottom half. The portrait below seems to portray happiness, but is somewhat at odds with the deer design above, which is more stylised and looks ready to go onto the front of a Christmas card. I am puzzled by the rune on the deer’s forehead… is it an expression or is it a tag? I think the former. The whole thing is a welcome return from Skor85.

5252. Lighthouse Community Garden, London (10)

Vane MG, Lighthouse Community Garden, London, April 2023
Vane MG, Lighthouse Community Garden, London, April 2023

Here we have another wonderful portrait piece from the Lighthouse Community Garden in London, this time from an artist called Vane MG. She is an artist and designer originally from Colombia, but is now living and working in London. The following is from her excellent website:

She worked in the Design world from 2009 & in 2015 she started working on projects which focussed on highlighting the importance of Latin American women. Her objective is to attempt to reclaim elements of the cultural past, integrating it with the present and creating new images that help to define a lost identity.

Vane MG, Lighthouse Community Garden, London, April 2023
Vane MG, Lighthouse Community Garden, London, April 2023

The portrait of a young girl is exquisitely painted in lilac and turquoise tones, creating depth with clever light and shadowing. A child’s windmill is in front of the girl, whose expression is slightly haunting, with the glimmer of a smile hiding a sadness – at least that is how I see it. A truly lovely piece for another artist who needs to be snapped up for the next Upfest festival in Bristol.

5251. Lighthouse Community Garden, London (9)

Elno, Lighthouse Community Garden, London, April 2023
Elno, Lighthouse Community Garden, London, April 2023

One of the things about finding street art in a place that isn’t your home, is that you will come across artists that you are unfamiliar with, and that is certainly the case here with this fabulous portrait piece by Elno at the Lighthouse Community Garden in Stratford.

Elno, Lighthouse Community Garden, London, April 2023
Elno, Lighthouse Community Garden, London, April 2023

Elena Gonzalez Nieto also known as ELNO, is a Spanish visual artist based in London since 2014 (taken from her fabulous website) who it would seem specialises in stunning portrait pieces elaborated with bright colourful backgrounds. Although painted last year, the piece looks fresh and vibrant – definitely a candidate for Upfest I would have thought.