Well here we have a fine piece from RAW’s Smak in Raleigh Road. His wildstyle writing realy is out of the top drawer and this work really showcases his skill. set on a blue background, which was probably prepped for this paintjam, his subtle blue lettering is lifted by the yellow and red accents and of course by the cheeky mushroom skull character.
Smak, Raleigh Road, Bristol, January 2018
I fear that this set of pieces may be some of the last at this site, which has hosted some remarkable work over the last 18 months or so, but the building work is nearing completion and it will not be long before the hoardings come down. We need some new sites to make up for it.
I met Rusk the day before he sprayed this magnificent piece in Dean Lane, while he was prepping the wall with black emulsion. We chewed the fat for quite a while, mostly talking about the street art scene in Bristol and some of the things that go on. He told me that he would be spraying the wall with a couple of friends the next day, I think it was a Saturday, and this is the result. I will post the other pieces in time, but felt I should do this one first.
Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2018
As always with Rusk’s pieces, a lot of care and thought has been put into this. It has lovely clean lines and the gradient of colours from top to bottom is skilfully done. Definitely one of my favourite writers in Bristol, and one who makes time to talk about his and other people’s work. A nice piece.
There is quite a lot of development work going on around this spot, and the cycle path has been diverted. As a result, this spot has become a bit of a backwater recently, but it is always worth taking a quick look.
Smak, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2017
On one of my visites, I came across thuis wonderful Smak piece, that personally I think is really classy. I know that wildstyle writing is a fairly acquired taste, but the more you look at it and the more examples you find, the more absorbed you become. The skill needed to create pieces like this I think is vastly underestimated by the casual passer-by, indeed, many consider it messy and unartistic. I do not count myself amongst those people. I love this piece.
Writing about street/graffiti art in Bristol is a fun thing to do. Sure it is time consuming and can become a little obsessive, but like any pursuit it brings happiness. When the happiness stops, then I will stop doing it.
One of the rewards of doing what I do, is when you can put names to pieces that you see or have seen in the past. It is about observation and recall. It is about knowing things intimately. It is about connecting with your environment. There are parallels with being a nature boy too. Observation and connection.
Jaksta, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2016
I first saw this piece in May 2016, but didn’t know the artist (it is by Jaksta), so the pictures remained in my archives. Then, while doing some research for the RAW Upfest wall, I came across Jaksta’s Instagram account, and in his images was this piece at the M32 roundabout. Although I still know precious little about the artist, I do know what to look for in his art and how to recognise it. I also know I have more of his work in my archives. The point is I now feel comfortable posting his work.
Jaksta, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2016
The piece makes reference to the film scarface, and is a brilliant charicature, although every time I look at it I see Peter Beardsley, former Everton and England footballer. Is that bad of me? More to come from Jaksta.
No RAW wall would be complete without a T-Rex charging at it from one side or other. This lovely ‘herd’ of dinosaurs by T-Rex was on the far right hand side of this six-artist wall and rounded it off really nicely.
T-Rex, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
T-Rex is a classy artist and seems to have waltzed into spraying these creatures straight from home, in fine clothes and bag over her shoulder. A no fuss approach to street art that is rarely seen. No mess, no overalls and in this picture I can’t even see any spare spray cans…maybe she borrowed them from Ryder. What a way to end this sequence of posts on the RAW wall at Upfest – a real highlight of the festival.
The fifth RAW piece on this Upfest wall is by Ryder, whose work is just going from strength to strength at the moment. His use of colours in this piece is exceptional, and the wildstyle writing is everything I have come to expect from him.
Ryder, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
There is so much going on in this piece, and the different letter styles combined with different colour schemes is somewhat reminiscent of the work of Sky High. I cannot emphasise enough how much I am enjoying the work of Ryder, I’m just surprised at how long it took me to properly register his stuff.
Ryder, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Ryder was sandwiched between Jaksta and his trusty painting buddy T-Rex…a good place to be.
The fourth piece looking from left to right on the RAW wall at Upfest is by Jaksta, who has sprayed a great caveman character sandwiched neatly between Rusk and Ryder. I don’t know an awful lot about Jaksta, but I think he comes from Swindon. I have seen a few of his pieces around the place in Bristol, but I don’t think I have yet posted any.
Jaksta, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Jaksta is clearly held in very high regard by his RAW peers, as each of them told me how good he is when I spoke with them. I think by the time I got to see his work here, he was already working on another piece nearby. I will try to dig out more of his work.
I think that RUSK is probably the most diligent street artist/graffiti writer I have met so far. He takes his time with his work and adjusts it until he is satisfied. He was still spraying and revisiting this piece long after the rest of the RAW crew had packed up and left.
Rusk, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
In this piece, the third from the Upfest RAW wall, he has some fabulous colour layers and texture infills in his writing – in my view this is a really classy piece and his attention to detail really pays off.
Rusk, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
In taking a look at at the piece in progress, it is possible to see how the basic colours and shapes are laid down first, and then the detail and outlines are added afterwards, almost like the opposite of painting by numbers.
Rusk, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Rusk is a quiet and gentle fellow who it was my pleasure to chat with at Upfest. I hope it is not too long before I bump into him again.
This is the second post from the RAW wall at Upfest, and I fear that Sled One, is a bit of a gatecrasher on this wall. Sled One, now part of The Paintsmiths, is a member of ASK, but was clearly very welcome on this wall.
Sled One, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017I am not sure whether Sled One did this before or after his official Upfest lizards, but it looks like another of his crazy freestyle pieces. I think he does all this stuff just off the top of his head…remarkable really.
Sled One, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017Of course there is something very witty about this piece, a bird in sunglasses sipping a cocktail sitting in a rubber ring…I’m not sure where he gets his inspiration from, but his imagination is amazing. I’m not convinced by the quality of the elephant though, which only goes to show that even Sled One is human.
I have been mulling over the best way to present the Read and Weep (RAW) wall at Upfest this year, because there are six artists involved in the whole thing. I could have written one post about the whole collaboration, but regular readers will know that I like to concentrate a little on each artist…it is the way I do this blog. So here is the first of the RAW wall from left to right – Smak.
Smak, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
This is a fabulous piece of wildstyle writing, and I have been trying to decypher it. Obviously, the first thing I would look for is SMAK, but I just can’t see it, so my guess is that it says RAW, which is a little more visible in the image above.
Smak, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
The colour scheme was pretty much observed by all six artists, and the bright blue background really set off all the pieces brilliantly, particularly in the changeable weather over the three days. This long wall really was one of the highlights of Upfest 2017.
Natural adventures 