Tag: Portrait

3109. Brunel Way bridge (52)

Just when you think you have got your head around all the new artists in Bristol, more seem to appear out of the ether. Some will be one-off visitors, some will be emerging new talent some may have been around for a while but I just haven’t picked up on their work yet. I am not sure which category Elv8 fits into, but this is a lovely recent piiece from under Brunel Way bridge.

Elv8, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2020
Elv8, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2020

The portrait piece is really striking probably due to its fantastic use of bold colours, the dark blue and red making a very strong statement – no wallflower this piece. There is a simplicity that is attractive, but also some complexity in the white shading that offers some relief on the girl’s face and shoulders. Great to see and I hope there will be more.

3105. M32 roundabout J3 (245)

You will know that I have a very large soft spot for the work of Kid Crayonm, and what makes it extra good is that he is a seriously nice bloke too. I managed to catch up with him while he was painting this trpical protrait piece at the M32 paint jam back in July.

Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020
Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020

We stopped for a while to chat and KC told me that this section of wall is a little tricky for him because of his height and he needs to stand on stuff to reach the top. I love the way that over the last couple of years, the party hat has become almost as much of a thing in his work as the crayon, both featured here.

Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020
Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020

I have enjoyed this little spate of pieces from KC and am looking forward to hunting down a collaboration piece he has just finished with SPZero76. There are some things that have been great about this summer and this is one of them.

3076. St Marks Avenue (9)

I was walking in Easton last week, without the dog, which meant I was able to extend my range a little further and go a bit faster than normal. I decided to visit St Mark’s Avenue to see if anything had changed since I last visited a few months ago. Much was the same, but there were a couple of these bright colour portraits which I didn’t recall seeing before.

Unknown, St Marks Avenue, Bristol, July 2020
Unknown, St Marks Avenue, Bristol, July 2020

Regular readers will know how I rarely post pieces by unknown artists, but sometimes they simply deserve to be written about and maybe I’ll get lucky and find out who the artist is in due course. The white face is decorated with colourful makeup and looks as if it is prepared for a festival of some kind. I think the portrait definitely looks better viewed from the right than from the left – amazing how different it can look from different angles. I have pictures of another piece by the same artist which I will post in due course – I hope with the artist’s identity.

Update 21 August 2020 – I believe this piece is by Rosalita

3051. M32 roundabout J3 (229)

Here she comes again, the magnificent Pekoe with one of her eye-catching portraits. This one was painted recently during a weekend paint jam by the great and the good of Bristol. Pekoe is another artist who has been very active since the easing of lock down. We are getting very spoilt by our street artists at the moment.

 

Pekoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2020
Pekoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2020

There are several aspects of this piece that signify it as a Pekoe piece… the bright colourful face, big hair with beautiful patterning and a third eye that adorns several of her pieces. She has been an active supporter of the Black Lives Matter campaign and is orchestrator-in-chief of the RBF crew. Love this one.

2960. Wilder Street (40)

Ah what joy, a fabulous new piece from Hazard in the middle of St Paul’s. I understand the piece has been painted in lieu of the St Paul’s carnival, which of course won’t be happening this year.

Hazard, Wilder Street, Bristol, May 2020
Hazard, Wilder Street, Bristol, May 2020

Hazard has painted a stylish and colourful face with an incredibly ornate headdress loaded up with feathers and flowers. It is a really stunning piece and sits right up there with some of her very best work.

Hazard, Wilder Street, Bristol, May 2020
Hazard, Wilder Street, Bristol, May 2020

I sometimes have to pinch myself when I see her work here in her home town, we are truly blessed and privileged to see her pieces around us and in our manor. I suspect that unlike much of her work, this one will be around for a long while. An outstanding beauty from Hazard.

2907. Shoreditch, London

I’m not entirely certain that this wonderful piece by Zabou is strictly speaking in Shoreditch, but it was certainly on the way on a very long walk I took back in November 2018. It is on Kingsland Road on the wall of the By the Bridge café beside the Regent’s Canal, I think the area is called Haggerston.

Zabou, Shoreditch, London, November 2018
Zabou, Shoreditch, London, November 2018

Zabou’s protrait pieces are rarely matched by anyone in both scale and quality, she really is a street artist at the top of her game, and finding her work is always such an exciting thrill. I think the piece was painted in April 2018 and features the model Yara Shahidi. Beautiful.

2904. Shoreditch, London

Street art posts in Natural Adventures are dominated by Bristol artists, I know and understand the culture (a little) in the city and feel comfortable writing about the art I see. The same cannot be said for other places. I tend to hold back on writing too much about the work I see on my trips outside Bristol because there are other chroniclers who do it so much better with so much more knowledge. Most of the photographs I take in London never get posted, but the break in new art in Bristol imposed by lock down means that I can visit my London archives and share some nice art with you.

Mr Cenz, Shoreditch, London, November 2018
Mr Cenz, Shoreditch, London, November 2018

This is a gorgeous piece by Mr Cenz in Shorditch that I photographed in November 2018, and I have a feeling that it was still pretty fresh and clean and probably not that old. Everything you expect to see from a Mr Cenz piece is here and it is absolutely stunning. It would be great if he could pay us a visit in Bristol some time – we’d have to find him a good wall though.

2883. Shoreditch, London

This picture was taken in August 2016 during one of my reasonably infrequent trips to Shoreditch. I am beginning to think I need another trip there, but for the moment I’ll be staying put. This gorgeous piece is by Mr Cenz, whose etherial portraits are emblematic of the London street art scene.

Mr Cenz, Shoreditch, London, August 2016
Mr Cenz, Shoreditch, London, August 2016

There is something about the colors green and purple that work so well together and Mr Cenz has worked his magic in this piece, creatinng a metallic sheen to the whole thing with carefully positioned white highlights.. The strange thing about this piece is that the familiar female features are held together by shades and abstract shapes that on their own wouldn’t look like anything. Clever work.

 

 

2882. Shoreditch, London

I have encountered Zabou’s work in London, Bristol (at Upfest) and in Cheltenham at last year’s paint festival, where I was lucky enough to meet her and have a quick chat, in which I basically gushed about her work and probably made a bit of a fool of myself. I seem to recall that I said I would send her some posts I had written about her work, but typical of my general uselesness I haven’t done it.

Zabou, Shoreditch, London, August 2016
Zabou, Shoreditch, London, August 2016

This is a fabulous piece in Soreditch of two angelic figures looking like they are going to get up to no good with spray cans at the ready. The piece has a kind of ’50s retro feel about it, maybe it is the hairstyles. If one took a look at it today, it might be easy to assume that the masked ladies were protecting themselves from the Coronovirus with their facemasks. It is interesting how things can be seen in different ways depending on the context or socio-political landscape.

2870. Stokes Croft

This piece, in the heart of Stokes Croft came as a complete surprise to me on one of my Covid-19 dog walks last week. It is by the wonderful Pekoe and painted over one of her previous pieces here, and from that I can guess that this is one of her favoured spots.

Pekoe, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2020
Pekoe, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2020

There is always a lot of emotion in Pekoe’s pieces, sometimes happy, often sad, but this one look different particularly downcast. Maybe the sadness is reflective of the Coronavirus pandemic and all the baggage that comes with it.

All the trademarks are here, a colourful face, big hair in multi-colours with lots of symbols in it and a tear. Another fine piece from Pekoe.

Pekoe, Stokes Croft, Bristol, January 2018
Pekoe, Stokes Croft, Bristol, January 2018