Portrait – Page 25 – Natural adventures

4845. Coach and Horses

Qwynto, Coach and Horses, Bristol, November 2022

Visiting artists are always welcome in Bristol, as they bring fresh perspectives and often glorious artwork to the city. On his visit to Bristol in September this year, Qwynto left us with at least two, and I think a third piece. This one is on the far right-hand side of the Coach and Horses wall.

I believe Qwynto is based in London, but I have struggled to find out much more about the artist. There are some similarities with Kid Crayon’s style of portraits, perhaps more to do with the colourful approach. This is a fine portrait, which has managed to remain intact for a couple of months, which is pretty good going really.

4842. Brunel Way (183)

Mote, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022

I would guess that I only manage to photograph about one in three of Mote’s pieces, which might give you an indication of how prolific he has been over the last few months. This piece under Brunel Way is a bit of a departure from his regular fare.

The stylised face is not a monster, but a human portrait, although it has all the characteristics of Mote’s work. Strong lines, solid fills and fine details created with black lines. The danger of painting the familiar, as opposed to wacky monsters, is that the piece will immediately be compared to a human face, there is a benchmark that we all have and recognise, and it is easier to criticise. Stylised works like this one work well, because they are self-knowing that they are representative of a face, but not an actual face. Great experimentation from Mote.

4841. St Werburghs

Stinkfish, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022

Every now and then you get lucky, being in the right place at the right time. This is particularly true of finding street art on vehicles, and I was fortunate enough to see this Stinkfish piece on the side of a van parked up outside St Werburghs City Farm around a week ago.

Some readers might remember that Stinkfuish visited Bristol in October 2021 to tidy up a couple of his long-standing pieces in the City, and while he was here he left a few other little ‘surprises’ about the place. I imagine he painted this small portrait piece at around the same time, as it is still in great condition.

If you look carefully, you can just see a black line on the left where paint spilled over from the stencil used to create the black and yellow elements of the portrait. The decorative aspect I think light have been painted on with a brush, although it might be a stencil too, I am not sure. Finding pieces like this is so rewarding, and gives me the same tingle of excitement I get when I find a large shark tooth fossil on Bracklesham Bay beach, on my occasional trips to West Sussex.

4818. St Werburghs tunnel (318)

Pekoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022

There are a handful of artists whose work fills me with a little tingle of excitement each time I came across their work, and Pekoe is right up there with the best of them. Her portraits feel like part of the furniture of the Bristol scene, and represent what is so good about the range and diversity of the city’s street art.

This piece was another RBF contribution to Bnie’s birthday celebrations a week or so back. A three-quarter view portrait with a blue face and ginger hair… what’s not to like about this colourful piece? The downturned mouth makes the woman look a little grumpy perhaps, but there is a friendly sparkle in the eyes. Pekoe has added in some clever shading, both on the face and in the hair, to give the whole portrait depth and texture. This is another fine piece from the wonderful Pekoe.

4811. New Stadium Road (42)

Lazo, New Stadium Road, Bristol, November 2022

This piece, by Lazo, is one of the most arresting portraits I have seen in quite a while. It was painted during a Paint jam between some artists I know and some I have never heard of, including Lazo.

There is some good shading work in tones of blue, green and yellow which provide plenty of depth to the face. Although this is not the best portrait piece I have seen, and there are some things that don’t quite work for me, I think it is very good and there is something about it that compels me to look at it. Perhaps it is the expressionless face, or the hanging hair, or the colours. Whatever it is, it fascinates me. I hope to see more from Lazo.

4809. Coach and Horses

Hazard, Coach and Horses, Bristol, November 2022

It is too easy in life to take things for granted, and sometimes we need something to remind us that special places, people and events are happening all around us all the time, if only we woke up and appreciated them. I had such an awakening yesterday, when photographing this Halloween paint jam from the RBF crew on the wall of the Coach and Horses. This spot is easy to drive past, but very difficult to stop and park near, but thankfully I found some obliging double yellow lines that I occupied for five minutes.

Hazard is a phenomenon. Her work goes from strength to strength and this recent Halloween portrait is absolutely exceptional. The detail, the shading which provides depth, and the expression are flawless. I love this piece and Hazard’s work, and I do not take it for granted, rather I see it as a privilege that I get to see her work on a regular basis. Brilliant.

4799. Cheltenham Road, Boston Tea Party

Kid Krishna, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, October 2022

When you spend your spare time searching out and writing about street/graffiti art, you develop an amazing peripheral vision for noticing something different, something new, in the places that you visit most often. I was walking to the office last week (a rare occurrence these days), and from the corner of my eye I saw this bright flash of colour behind a hedge on the wall of The Boston Tea Party, where an Alex Lucas piece once proudly stood. The colour belongs to this outstanding piece by Kid Krishna, which I assume is rather new.

For me at least, this piece was an extra surprise because it is by Kid Krishna, and to date I have only seen his writing, and wasn’t aware that he painted art pieces as well. This is an unusual, but compelling portrait piece in bright colours and almost in a cubist style. Great to see that Kid Krishna has several strings to his bow, and a great addition to his portfolio.

4786. Cumberland Basin

Hika and Pekoe, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022

This is an unexpected collaboration between Hika and Pekoe… unexpected because I don’t really know much about Hika, although I do know all about RBF’s Pekoe. The two have combined nicely and there is much to like about the collaboration.

Hika’s letters might appear, on first inspection, to be a bit messy, but take a closer look and they are nice and clean with decent fills and a black 3D drop shadow. Some of the embellishments include red squiggles, and some rather nice yellow drips.

Pekoe, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022

Regulars will know how much I admire Pekoe’s work, and this is a lovely portrait piece from her. Perhaps the most unusual thing about this one is the hairstyle. Pekoe’s portraits usually host big hair full of stars and shapes, but this one has a stylish short cut that works really well on the limited height of this space. Beautiful big eyes and a customary tear – great work from Pekoe. All in all, a really nice collaboration from this pair.

4756. Upfest 2022 (53)

There are some paintings at Upfest that you fall in love with at first sight and this magnificent mural by Sphiza is exactly that. From the moment I first saw it, I knew it was something rather special.

In this piece, which makes extraordinary use of colours to create shadings and texture (a bit like a stencil might), Sphiza conveys an important ‘peace’ message via a portrait of a youngster drawing a peace symbol on a sheet of paper. I don’t know very much about Sphiza, and haven’t seen any of her work before, but am especially interested because she is from Porto in Portugal, and regulars will know how much I love the city.

4744. M32 roundabout J3 (432)

DNT, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2022

I got super-lucky a couple of weeks ago when I bumped into DNT just as he was finishing off this outstanding piece just outside the M32 roundabout. I didn’t recognise him or his work at first, until we started chatting. What an absolute pleasure it was to meet him, and although I had met him before, he didn’t recognise me. I like his work very much, and it was a privilege to be there just as he was wrapping up.

The piece, on the side of a food wagon, features a woman in an elaborate headdress with an Aztec or Mayan feel about her. It is an outstanding and vibrant piece, beautifully designed and executed, and knowing who it is by after the event, so obviously a DNT work. Superb work and a red-letter day.

	hitandrun1964 on Amnesty
	hitandrun1964 on 7502. M32 roundabout J3 (…
	hitandrun1964 on 7503. Stapleton Road
	Suzette Benjamin on 7503. Stapleton Road
	paulh121 on Amnesty

	hitandrun1964 on Amnesty
	hitandrun1964 on 7502. M32 roundabout J3 (…
	hitandrun1964 on 7503. Stapleton Road
	Suzette Benjamin on 7503. Stapleton Road
	paulh121 on Amnesty

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