Tag: RAW

2493. Brunel Way Bridge (23)

Always neat and tidy, Rusk has painted yet another lovely piece of graffiti writing this time under Brunel Way. I never get to see as much of Rusk’s work as I’d like to, nor meet him often enough, as he is a really decent bloke who is great for an in-depth chat about his and other artist’s work.

Rusk, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2019
Rusk, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2019

If I ever get even remotely good at spray painting, I’d like to think I’d have a similar approach to is as Rusk. He is meticulous in his work and will take time to get his lines perfect and his brilliant blended fills just right, stepping out from his work to get a good look at it and then going back to tweak it. Back and forth with love, care and attention.

2468. Dean Lane skate park (250)

It always feels a little unusual finding a T-Rex piece in Dean Lane probably because she doesn’t paint here as often as in North Bristol, so coming across this rather nicely done piece of writing was a pleasant surprise.

T-Rex, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019
T-Rex, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019

This piece oozes with confidence and competence. The letters are beautifully done, the character dinosaur with its cheeky grin, the leopard spot and giraffesque fills in the letters and the 3D blue shadowing are all masterfully created with what appears to be total ease. She really is a fabulous writer and we are lucky to have her brightening up the streets of Bristol.

2393. New Stadium Road (18)

This is the second part of a four-way collaboration in the foot underpass at New Stadium Road between T-Rex, Tasha Bee, Decay and Ryder. The first half (the boy’s end) was posted here. As I always say about this location, the light was not helpful for getting good photographs, but you can still see the quality of the work.

T-Rex, New Stadium Road, Bristol, August 2019
T-Rex, New Stadium Road, Bristol, August 2019

On the left is a beautifully colourful piece of writing from T-Rex with some wonderful and varied fills and her trademark dinosaur character rounding off the ‘X’.

Tasha Bee, New Stadium Road, Bristol, August 2019
Tasha Bee, New Stadium Road, Bristol, August 2019

On the right is a very nice piece by Tasha Bee (Keep it Colourful) which reaches the very high standard I am used to seeing from her. Tasha Bee’s work never disappoints, and although she pretty much always paintsthese soulful styalised portraits, each one is an absolute beauty. All in all, it looked like these four artists had a great day out.

2288. M32 Cycle path (30)

There is no stopping Smak these days and this is another corker of a piece tucked under the M32 along the cycle path. This was painted alongside a whole bunch of other artists who had made the trip over the Severn Estuary from Wales to leave their mark in Bristol. There was a bit of a theme of  ‘zebra’ stripes in the pieces that were painted.

Smak, M32 cycle path, Bristol, June 2019
Smak, M32 cycle path, Bristol, June 2019

As Smak pieces go, this one is not as complex as some of his pieces, but it is wonderfully crisp and the neon pink A is to die for. In recent pieces I have noticed that Smak is enjoying giving the A a bit of special treatment and some of them have been outstanding, this one included.

2237. M32 Cycle path (27)

Another tremendous piece of writing from Smak along the M32 cycle path from a few weeks back. In some of his more recent pieces I have noticed that he is going for this style of blocking out letters in different ways, along similar lines to SkyHigh, and here, the M and A in particular are outstanding.

Smak, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2019
Smak, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2019

All the letters are blended and yet individual, clever work, but for me the jewel in the crown is the box around the A and circle around the M which make this piece extra special. I had difficulty photographing this piece, because it was very bright every time I visited, and the way the light falls in this alleyway makes photography really tricky. Yet another outstanding work from Smak.

2227. M32 roundabout J3 (145)

This is one of my favourite Smak pieces of the year so far, and my goodness there are a lot to choose from. This is another of his ‘double vision’ pieces where he has written SMAK twice and in this instance has played around with fonts and styles reminiscent of another brilliant graffiti writer, SkyHigh.

Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2019
Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2019

Often when photographing street art, I am confounded by parked cars or wheely bins that wind me up a treat. It is funny how I am somehow much more forgiving of a tree obscuring the art, although being a naturalist at heart it shouldn’t be a surprise. Wonderful piece by Smak on a great wall.

2215. St Werburghs tunnel (83)

This was one of so many pieces created during a paint-jam in St Werburghs tunnel a couple of weeks ago. Happily I can report that they are all still there, but with the turnover in the tunnel being quite high I expect that they won’d last much longer. This piece is by Rusk, a RAW stalwart.

Rusk, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2019
Rusk, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2019

I must confess to being slightly troubled by this piece, because there is something about it that just isn’t quite right for me. I hold Rusk in very high regard indeed and in fact in my view he is the most conscientious graffiti writer I have met. I think my problem (and I am really nit-picking here) is with the grey lines across the bottom of the letters, they just don’t appear to match up across the piece. Having said that, I am using Rusk’s own work as a very high benchmark against which to measure. It would take me a hundred years to get this good.

2203. St Werburghs tunnel (80)

It is not often that you see a nicely painted van in Bristol, even though there are a great many vans with spray paint on them… sadly most of these are fairly rubbish throw ups or tags that frankly are untidy.

Rusk, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2019
Rusk, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2019

This is a lovely piece of 3D writing from Rusk which appeared near the entrance of St Werburghs tunnel recently. Since I took this picture, the other side has been sprayed by Soker, so this is one classy van. I have not seen writing like this from Rusk before, nor have I seen any kind of scenery work like this, so this is a bit of a collector’s item. Nice to witness the versatility of this great Bristol writer.

2202. St Werburghs tunnel (79)

A couple of weeks back there was a large paint jam in St Werburghs tunnel, and it would seem that it was something of a RAW (Read and Weep) get together. This collaborative piece included the T-Rex burner that I featured a few days ago, which was just to the right. These two are Ryder and Jaksta.

Ryder, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2019
Ryder, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2019

I don’t need to repeat myself, although I constantly find myself doing so, by telling you that Ryder is an incredibly accomplished writer, and here he has created something rather special in shades of gray with blue highlights. Having started trying to paint a little in the garden I realise how much I have to study what these guys do to understand tricks and techniques. Paint big was an important piece of advice I was given – smaller pieces are more difficult.

Jaksta, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2019
Jaksta, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2019

When I have been in the tunnel, it seems everyone notices the pig – he really stands out and the kids that walk past love him. Jaksta is a master of the character piece and his work often joins up pieces of writing like it does here. It is the details I love in this piece, the black shading and white highlights that give a 3D feel to the whole thing, and the two shades of pink that make it look like the light is coming from the right (which in this part of the tunnel it actually does). Great work.

2196. St Werburghs tunnel (78)

I’ve not posted anything by T-Rex for a little while now, but was lucky enough to come across this wonderful piece in St Werburghs tunnel recently. It was painted during quite a large paint jam a week or so ago alongside work by other RAW artists.

T-Rex, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2019
T-Rex, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2019

Having just bought some spray paint and tried out a little in my garden, I can’t begin to explain how difficult this is and what exceptional talent and experience is needed to produce a piece like this one. The shapes of the letters, the incredible fill patterns and sharp lines, not to mention the expressive dinosaur, are so well worked. I don’t really understand how these guys do it. T-Rex, I doff my cap. The sooner I pack away my paint the better.