A photographic gallery of fabulous graffiti writing from Bristol’s Rusk, member of Read and Weep (RAW) and all round excellent person.
Instagram: @one_rusk
All photographs by Scooj
Rusk
Tag: RAW
2664. Dean Lane skate park (270)
Very pretty in pink and a lovely way to start the new year. Just before Christmas, Bnie and Smak got together to paint this wonderful collaboration down at Dean Lane skate park.
On the left, Bnie has absolutely smashed it out of the park with this really tight piece of graffiti writing. The cartoon style letters are beautifully done but it is the shading of the letters that singles this out as an outstanding work. What a great Christmas present.
On the right, and not to be upstaged is a magnificent piece by Smak. I think that Smak has saved his best until last for 2019. I don’t have the vocabulary to describe how much I like this. It feels like he has taken the best of everything he has done during the year and pulled it all together in this piece. The colour selection for both is to die for. Outstanding work from both artists who would appear to feed off each other.
Happy New Year.
2646. St Werburghs tunnel (124)
Another orange piece in the orange setting of St Werburghs tunnel, this time from ‘Mr consistency’ Rusk. As I would expect from the artist this is a beautifully worked and tight piece that probably disguises the effort put in, as I know that Rusk is something of a perfectionist.
I particularly like the way the wavy fill in the bottom half of the letters is continuous despite the breaks, demonstrating some great ‘cutting in’ technique. In recent weeks Rusk seems to have favoured the tunnel – perhaps something to do with the dismal wet weather we have been having.
2613. M32 Spot (54)
This is a very neat and tidy ‘quick one’ from Ryder, which I suspect was painted at the same time as the recent collaboration with Decay, which can be seen in the background of the feature image.
I always expect tidy writing from Ryder and this is a lovely example, I would however like to see a few more of his larger considered pieces like the ones he produces for Upfest. A hugely talented graffiti writer whose work is right up there with the best in Bristol.
2601. St Werburghs tunnel (113)
Here we have another really decent piece by Rusk in the St Werburghs tunnel. If I am honest, I wish he’d paint somewhere else, because the photographs of anything in the tunnel just don’t convey the true natutre of the works. Whether it is deliberate or not I don’t know, but Rusk has put little shiny highlightson his letters that loook like they are reflecting from the tunnel light above. It works nicely.
As always, Rusk has worked diligently on this piece, and the design works well without becoming too clever or over complicated. The piece was obviously painted during a collaborative session with the artist to the left (65ERS), because they have shared a red outline and a midway horizontal line that spans both works. Always a pleasure to find Rusk’s work.
2571. M32 roundabout J3 (179)
More great graffiti writing from Smak on the south side of the M32 roundabout on a stretch of wall he has painted many times. As one would expect his letters are beautifully designed and presented and the colour patterning really cleverly used in each one.
Smak really sets the bar for this style of writing in Bristol and rarely drops below this exceptionally high standard. It is the care and attention to detail that raises the quality of the piece, for example the darker colours on the background are carefully worked and in synchrony with the letters where he could have just presented the whole thing on a dark plain background. Lovely piece.
2563. M32 Spot (51)
How lucky we are to have two such magnificent writers collaborating for a November 5th Guy Fawkes piece.
Remember, remember the fifth of November, gunpowder treason and plot. So the nursery rhyme goes and in keeping with tradition, this collaboration reminds us about the near destruction of parliament in 1605 by Guy Fawkes and his associates.
Another thing that rather resonates at the moment is the face mask for Guy Fawkes which has been adopted by protestors, often subversive, who rally against sitting governments or administrations – something we are seeing a lot of in the UK at the moment, but also globally in relation to the climate emergency or, for example, the protests in Hong Kong.
This piece is full of the fiery flames of bonfires and the two writing styles knit together rather well. It is unusual to see a writing collaboration arranged in this way, as we are more used to seeing the components side by side. I feel I ought to point out how stunning the flame fill in Decay’s letters is, quite awesome really. A nice seasonal collaboration.
2548. L Dub (8)
I only make occasional trips to L Dub, which is OK, because the turnover isn’t quite up to the same level as it is in places like Dean Lane for example. Those rare visits though are totally worth it, and the dog rather enjoys the trip too.
This lovely piece of writing by Smak was alongside the Sled One mermaid which I posted a little while back, and the subtle colour selections work so well placed on the cloudy sky background. I am a fan of clouds, and since I started playing around with spray paint I have been looking at clouds a whole load more to make sure I don’t make silly mistakes (for example clouds that are darker on the top than on the bottom – it just doesn’t happen). Nice to see this Smak piece, it feels like a while since his last one.
2533. M32 Cycle path (35)
Around this time of year it is traditional for some street artists and crews to paint Haloween pieces although there have been few opportunities to spray recently, with so much rain. It is with not a little surprise then that this rather nice character piece by Jaksta appeared about a week ago as part of a collaboration along the M32 cycle path.
Jaksta is the king of characters and has appeared in Natural Adventures a number of times. This is Betelgeuse from the Tim Burton film of the same name and is wonderfully worked, especially those teeth. I have a feeling that the blond hair might be a reference to Boris or Donald, or perhaps both. I’m not sure what the Rake thing is, but I think it might be a crew name. Really nice work.
2508. Stokes Croft
In the last six months or so, I don’t recall seeing very much work by Ryder. It might be that I just haven’t been at the right place at the right time, it sometimes goes like that.
This shutter piece is in Stokes Croft and although I have passed it many times, I haven’t had the presence of mind to photograph it until recently. I think it has probably seen better days, but represents beautifully the graffiti scene in this little stretch of road. One of the upsides to painting a shutter (and there can’t be many) is that horizontal lines are easy to paint and the colour shifts in this piece are neatly done by following the lines on the shutter. Ryder rarely disappoints.
Natural adventures 