Tag: Profile

6947. Dean Lane skate park (835)

Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2025
Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2025

I am used to seeing Zake character pieces that tend to be head-on round faces in a cartoon style with lots of light and shade creating depth, so this is something a little different.

Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2025
Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2025

The profile portrait of an androgenous person draws more on a realistic version of a character than the cartoon style I am used to from Zake. The hair, in particular (most of his characters are bald), is great to see, demonstrating that Zake is far more than simply a one-trick pony. Definitely an unusual piece from one of the most prolific artists painting in Bristol at the moment. I have updated my gallery of Zake’s work so you can see what I mean.

6732. St George skate park (23)

Mind 49, St George skate park, Bristol, January 2025
Mind 49, St George skate park, Bristol, January 2025

I missed this piece by Mind 49 last year, so it is looking a little worse for wear, although, given that it is in a skate park, it has worn well. I love the way that it has been painted onto a cracked ramp, which makes it feel like an organic part of the park, that it has always been there, kind of.

Mind 49, St George skate park, Bristol, January 2025
Mind 49, St George skate park, Bristol, January 2025

Mind 49 has been one of the great talents to emerge from the Bristol scene and has developed from a precocious talent, via an activist, into a fine painter of photorealistic portraits. Here, the beautiful profile with soft tones marking out light and shade of the face contrasts with the half-finished look of the shirt and hat. A truly fabulous piece.

5807. St Mark’s Avenue (9)

Sako and Zake, St Mark's Avenue, Bristol, January 2024
Sako and Zake, St Mark’s Avenue, Bristol, January 2024

Photographing this piece in a narrow alley in Easton was never going to be easy. I had to remove (and replace) three heavy wheelie bins, just to get sight of the collaboration by Sako and Zake. There are other bits and bobs obscuring the piece, but I am an archivist, not a blooming street cleaner.

Sako and Zake, St Mark's Avenue, Bristol, January 2024
Sako and Zake, St Mark’s Avenue, Bristol, January 2024

I really enjoy Sako’s work, which has more than a hint of mystery and intrigue. Using his favoured blue and purple tints, he has created a gangway leading into a tunnel, with a giant hand emerging from the water and a tiny figure standing on a finger. Wistfully looking on is a profile portrait piece by Zake, which is quite unlike his more usual larger-than-life exaggerated cartoon portraits. A beautiful face and beautiful hair.

This is a fine collaboration from the pair of artists, and has left me wondering what it is all about. The sooner I get to meet Sako, the better.

5660.M32 Cycle path (236)

Rusk and Theartofsok, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2023
Rusk and Theartofsok, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2023

There are times when you need to keep your eyes open and think rather than make assumptions. When I first saw this modest Rusk piece I raised an eyebrow, because it was obviously a ‘quick one’ but that the incorporation of a face was something a little different from rusk. My assumption was that this was a solo rusk piece but deeper thought brought me to the conclusion that it was a collaboration, and then the penny dropped that Theartofsok had painted a piece only a stone’s throw away at the same time and the face was in his style. This was a collaboration.

Rusk and Theartofsok, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2023
Rusk and Theartofsok, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2023

Rusk has been quite busy painting in Bristol lately, which is great to see, because he does tend to go through quiet periods, or paints in unusual and faraway spots. The writing here is classy as ever, beautifully filled and bordered. The profile face to the right-hand side by Theartofsok is outstanding, and its beauty is in its simplicity. A very fine and unexpected little collaboration, which I can’t imagine anyone saw coming.

4071. M32 Cycle path (147)

I cannot help but absolutely love this recent portrait piece from Pekoe, for lots of reasons. Of course, I am a big fan of her work in any case, but the wonderfully stylish haircut absolutely does it for me, and it is a major departure for Pekoe whose portraits normally have big and sometimes disorganised hairstyles.

Pekoe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, November 2021
Pekoe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, November 2021

Pekoe has been doing a lot of full front or three-quarter face portraits, and the difference here is that she has gone for a profile, and I think it works really well. I like it all – the grey face and pink cheek, the blue hair and lips and the yellow border. This one is definitely a keeper.

3690. M32 Spot (113)

What an absolute pleasure it was meeting Daz Cat again while he was painting this very nice column piece a week or two back. He was out with CD.TC who I met for the first time and also seems to be a really decent fellow.

Daz Cat, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2021
Daz Cat, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2021

Daz Cat was using his ladder (I want one of those) to add some finer detail to the main structure of the cat he had painted. He came down to chat and said he felt a bit heady. I asked him if it was the paint fumes and he said that it was not, that he was simply rather hungover… good on him.

Daz Cat, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2021
Daz Cat, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2021

I consider this piece to be very good indeed. Not only has he used the column dimensions really well, but the sharp detail on the piece is very well crafted. Furthermore the cat is in profile orientation rather than face on, and so we see a different aspect and depth to the cat’s face. This is one of my favourite pieces of his to date, although there are so many outstanding ones to choose from.

3439. Cumberland Basin

As gentrification in the city picks up pace, traditional graffiti hot spots are becoming fewer and fewer – there is often a stay of execution while hoardings go up around a development, but eventually these come down revealing pristine new student accommodations or other unaffordable housing, inappropriate for the communities that live near these developments. One of the knock-on effects is that the turnover of street art/graffiti on the remaining walls has increased considerably. This wall in the Cumberland Basin is a great example of a wall that is changing more and more frequently.

Slakarts, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2020
Slakarts, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2020

Slakarts gives us a double-vision version of his smiling three-quarter profile mega-tag in this happy piece alongside Rezwonk, just to the right. Slakarts has been turning these out on a reasonably regular basis over the last six months or so but they all face the same direction – it would be interesting to see if he could replicate them looking the other way. There is something quite seductive about this piece – it is unusual and set in a vibrant context. Expect more like this before too long.

Balance

 

Opposing forces

wrestle with tricky issues

seeking good outcomes

 

by Scooj

 

  • A difficult meeting at work today, where the desires for profile opportunities and reputation enhancement could risk fabulous public outcomes. I have a philosophy and it is this.

Never seek to be seen to be doing the right thing. Do the right thing and you will be seen.

2641. Cheltenham 2018 (7)

What an absolute beauty and unmistakably the work of Inkie (he really doesn’t need to sign his works, nobody does it like him). I managed to snap this one up when I visited Cheltenham Paint Festival for the very first time in September this year. The joy of the Cheltenham festival is that most of the walls are preserved from previous years, and this magnificent piece was painted for the 2018 festival.

Inkie, Paint Festival 2018, Cheltenham, September 2019
Inkie, Paint Festival 2018, Cheltenham, September 2019

Situated right in the centre of the shopping district, this piece gets a phenominal footfall – I wonder how many of the shoppers realise how lucky they are to have such a great artwork in their town centre, and it isn’t the only one, the place is blessed with dozens of them. A seriously classy piece from the Bristol maestro.

2496. St Werburghs

Taking the dog for a walk does have its plus points… just occasionally you walk down a different street – often the dog’s choice – and discover something new. Finding vans with street art is such a sweet pleasure because being mobile, the perception is that seeing them is something of a rarity. Finding a van as beautifully painted as this one by Inkie is a real treat.

Inkie, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2019
Inkie, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2019

Looking a little bit like the Scooby van, the artwork here by Inkie is simply exceptional and features two of his stylized beauties, one on each site of the van, and the hair curls swirling around all over. Great colour combinations and the skill of a brilliant artist make this van highly desirable, I mean who wouldn’t want it, even if only for a day?