Portrait – Page 8 – Natural adventures

6708. Sparke Evans Park (121)

Pekoe, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2025

This is yet another piece from the very well-attended birthday RBF paint jam in honour of Desi and Even back in January. It is a fabulous portrait piece by the lovely Pekoe. It has been a relatively quiet winter for Pekoe, but I am pleased to report she has definitely become more active this side of Christmas.

This portrait is beautifully finished, with superb tight lines, fills and borders. I am particularly struck by the white highlights that complete the piece superbly, on the lips, the eyes and most significantly adding a shine to the hair. The theme for the paint jam was Studio Ghibli, a Japanese animation outfit, and I don’t know if the spiders have anything to do with that or whether they are simply random additions. The other character to the left is part of Bbygwya’s adjacent combination piece.

6690. Greenbank (150)

Mind 49, Greenbank, Bristol, January 2025

So Mind 49 gets the year off to a cracking start with this fine piece, combining two contrasting styles, demonstrating his awesome technical ability. Mind 49 has always had an activist streak, and many of his early pieces were themed along the lines of animal rights. This one appears to be more about peace, and might be a commentary on the overthrow of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria.

The character is beautifully painted, peering over a scarf that covers up the lower half of his face. The folds in the material are superbly painted. Superimposed over the portrait is a crudely drawn cartoon of a gun being snapped in half and a dove of peace flying off. The peace symbol to the right indicates quite clearly what this wonderful work is all about. I’m looking forward to a great year ahead from Mind 49, I also think it might be time for a gallery of his work.

6623. St Werburghs tunnel (468)

Xavier Ren and Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2024

A little while before Christmas, this excellent collaboration appeared in the tunnel. In fact these pieces, by Xavier Ren and Hypo were two-thirds of the collaboration which included some graffiti writing by Minto, to the left, which I have already posted.

Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2024

Hypo has had an extraordinary year, and indeed has been one of Bristol’s most prolific and consistent artists since Covid. This piece underlines his fantastic eye for colourful combinations that create some stunningly vibrant work. The bright letters spell out HYPO, and he has used a clever device to ‘stitch’ the letters together. Really nice graffiti writing.

Xavier Ren, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2024

I know little or nothing about Xavier Ren and so assume he must be a visitor to Bristol, but I really like this character piece. The blue head-and-shoulders portrait piece is full of attitude and moodiness, and presented nicely. It is always great to see something a little different in the city that visitors bring with them.

Shade One

A gallery of extraordinary portrait pieces by the magnificent Shade One.

Instagram: @shad.eone

All photographs by Scooj

Heat One and Shade One, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023

Shade One, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023

Shade One, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2023

Rusk and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023

Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023

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

Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2023

Rusk and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2022

Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2022

Rusk and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2022

Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2022

Shade One, Goldie and 3Dom, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2022

Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2022

Dibz and Shade One, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, November 2021

Dibz and Shade One, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021

Shade One, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021

Dibz and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2021

Dibz and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020

Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020

Shade One and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2020

Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2020

Dibz and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2020

Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2020

6597. Upfest 2024 (56)

SEPC, Upfest 24, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024

Since the stormy and wet winter weather started up in earnest about a month ago, fewer artists have been out and about, doing what they do best, a pause which frees me up to post a few pieces from Upfest earlier in the year. This one from SEPC is an absolute beauty, and one of the first I saw at this year’s festival.

SEPC is an artist from Manizales in Colombia whose colourful work embodies the connection of people in an urban environment, and his profile on the Upfest website is well worth a read. This was one of two or three pieces that the artist painted while he was in town. I love his humble approach, with plastic bags and boxes full of paint and kit for painting.

In his own words, SEPC combines photorealism with use of colour and incorporates various contextual elements. In other words, there is a lot going on in this work alongside the main portrait pieces, and all of it superbly painted. SEPC’s work was one of the real highlights of this year’s festival.

6568. M32 roundabout J3 (642)

Astrea, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2024

One of the most rewarding things about writing a blog on street art and graffiti is that if you do it for long enough, you get to see new artists burst on to the scene and develop their ideas and improve their technique. An artist who has recently caught my eye is Astrea (formerly HNH), whose distinctive black and white designs are becoming more frequent and elaborate.

This is the first time I have seen Astrea add a portrait to her abstract patterns. The central character is a little bit unsettling, with star eye makeup and a tongue sticking out. The tongue looks like it has stitching running through it. The surrounding swirling design is very much in keeping with what we have seen before from Astrea. Great to see her gaining in confidence.

6562. Ikea Wall of Fame (2)

Posea, Zaki Dee and BG183, Ikea Wall of Fame, Bristol, October 2024

This is the second section of the long and exciting new wall of fame at Ikea. DJ and Record producer brought together street art and graffiti talent from Bristol and around the world to celebrate 30 years of his record label, Metalheads.

In this section we have an extraordinary split portrait piece by Posea. The vertical line separates the faces of DJ Doc Scott, and a version of the tin man from the Wizard of Oz, picking up the yellow brick road theme of the whole collaboration production. Posea’s skills are perfectly showcased in this contrasting portrait.

Posea, Ikea Wall of Fame, Bristol, October 2024

The mushrooms and flowers are courtesy of Zaki Dee and the skyline and flying monkeys (I think) are by BG183. More from this unique wall in due course.

6560. Brunel Way (303)

Conrico, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2024

In the furthest southern tip of the Brunel Way spot, is a DIY skate spot and this wonderful recent combination piece from Conrico brightened up this dark spot. It is usually pretty tatty around this wall, where materials for building ramps etc. for the skate park are scattered.

The writing is nicely done, set on a swirly patterned background, but it is definitely the portrait accompanying the writing that catches the eye. I think that it is the woman’s hair which draws the eye – it is a really nice and happy portrait. Not long after Conrico painted the combination piece, the council came along and buffed the wall, although they decided to keep the portrait, which is curious really, because it is all illegal graffiti.

I believe that the buffing is done by gangs of people doing community service for some misdemeanour or other. The problem, of course, is that this is a completely fruitless exercise, and waste of grey paint, because a buffed wall is a blank canvass.

6551. Cumberland Basin

Abbie Laura Smith, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2024

This is the second paste-up that I managed to find in Abbie Laura Smith’s latest blitz, and although I only found three pieces, I am sure that there would have been more. A little bit bedraggled, reflecting the damp conditions when I photographed this piece, the paste-up features a black and white image of a woman, reversed out in this instance, with writing incorporated throughout.

As with the last of her pieces that I posted, I can’t quite make out all the writing, but can pick up the odd line here or there, such as “The only chance left was goodbye” and “Keep that…”. Once again these might be sad or morose, but out of context it is difficult to know. Poignant pieces printed off on paper and pasted up in special places for the curious to look at.

6549. Dean Lane skate park (782)

Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2024

Prompted by the racist riots (#farageriots) earlier this year, Pekoe initiated this series of pieces, which present a complete rejection of racism and fascism in a cool and humorous way. I love it that Pekoe expresses herself in this way and in doing so helps people like me to know that I am not alone in feeling sadness at the lurch to the far right many citizens of the UK have made.

The combination piece features a Pekoe portrait, and the words “hot girls hate fascists”. The colours yellow and purple are an interesting combination, and they are actually colour opposites on a colour wheel. I love this series from Pekoe, and I hope she drops more of them… as she says, lest we forget.

	scooj on Thursday doors – 5 Febru…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 5 Febru…
	scooj on 7449. Greenbank (180)
	skat on Thursday doors – 5 Febru…
	Dan Antion on Thursday doors – 5 Febru…

	scooj on Thursday doors – 5 Febru…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 5 Febru…
	scooj on 7449. Greenbank (180)
	skat on Thursday doors – 5 Febru…
	Dan Antion on Thursday doors – 5 Febru…

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