Tag: Saor

4938. Dean Lane skate park (556)

Saor, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2022
Saor, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2022

Another fine piece that got overlooked in my February postings last year is this magnificent work from Saor. On a dull winter day, the orange elements of the piece really cut through and draw the eye in. The piece was painted alongside NTS crew mate Mudra.

Saor, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2022
Saor, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2022

I may have said it before, but Saor’s style reminds me quite a lot of Epok’s work (what has happened to Epok – I wonder). The concept is highly designed and very cleanly finished, almost as if it was painted with fine brushes. I particularly like the shadow behind the right-hand side of the orange letters. As always from Saor, a nicely conceived piece, brilliantly executed.

4880. Dean Lane skate park (550)

Saor, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2022
Saor, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2022

Another classy piece from Saor alongside his NTS friends on the long wall at Dean Lane. His work is so on-point, always neat and tidy. He achieves this without the comfort of borders, which means that all of his lines have to be cut-in perfectly, which is a terrific skill.

Saor, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2022
Saor, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2022

The blues and yellows on a grey background work very well and are in line with the colour scheme for the whole collaborative wall. The stylised letters SAOR give way to some animation in the middle of the piece, with elements of a smiley face. This is an outstanding piece, which, to be fair, is consistent with most of his work.

4864. M32 spot (152)

Mudra and Saor, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2022
Mudra and Saor, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2022

This is a fine and rather unexpected collaborative wall from Mudra and Saor on a hoarding that I really love. This pair, are members of the very strong NTS crew, and when they get together to paint, the results are usually pretty awesome.

Mudra, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2022
Mudra, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2022

Mudra has been super-busy painting walls lately, and this is another in a series of outstanding pieces of graffiti writing. He has his own unique style where each letter of the word is painted in an individual format, although the whole thing hangs together really well. His pieces remind me of the Monty Python sketch about the theory of the Brontosaurus, which is that they are thin at one end, thick in the middle and thin at the other end. Great colours and a nice character skull face in the middle of the piece.

Saor, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2022
Saor, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2022

Saor has been smashing it recently too, although, to be fair, he had been smashing it for rather a long time, prior to changing his moniker to Saor. This is a highly designed piece with smatterings of Epok and Mr Penfold in there. Spelling out SAOR, the piece contains a lovely toothy monster, which makes a return appearance from time to time. A wonderfully presented collaboration.

4759. Cumberland Basin

Saor, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022
Saor, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022

I go away for a few days and whaddayaknow, a whole bunch of walls have been refreshed, including the long wall at Cumberland Basin. There are several beauties that have gone up there, and this fine piece by Saor is right up there.

Saor, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022
Saor, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022

The thing I most like about Saor’s work is that every piece he paints is immaculately turned out. The lines are sharp, the fills solid and the designs imaginative. As his work develops, there are definitely some similarities with the Bristol writer Epok, whose letter designs contain combinations of curves and geometry in harmonious balance. This is a lovely piece from Saor.

4623. Upfest 2022 (38)

Saor, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Saor, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

On meeting Saor recently at the Cheltenham Paint Fesitval recently, he said that he would prefer me to refer to him as Saor in my blog posts rather than by his previous name. I said that I would do it, even if it gives me a bit of a headache in terms of tagging and cataloguing things. So Saor it is.

Saor, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Saor, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

This Upfest piece is an absolute beauty. Crisp and clean and with a wonderful colour colour palette. the form of Saor’s letters remind me a little of Epok’s writing style, which is praise indeed. The letters spell out the name SAOR. It was very sweet, watching Saor’s little assistant helping out.

Saor, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Saor, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

The monster face seems to be back now, having been left out of a few recent pieces, and you can see that Saor hadn’t quite finished off the wispy circular cloud (a halo?) when I took these WIP shots. Saor is definitely an artist who continues to up his game with each new piece.

4598. Dean Lane skate park (512)

I have encountered a small dilemma, it happens quite a lot in the world of documenting street art. Flava136 is making a deliberate move towards refreshing his moniker to Saor. Part of me feels that I should follow his lead, but the other part of me feels like it will simply muck up all my tagging and labelling which is a nightmare for archiving, searching etc. So as you will see I have decided to stick with Flava136, even though it is now Saor.

Flava136, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022
Flava136, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022

The name is somewhat irrelevant when it comes to his artwork, which is always presented to the highest possible standards. The piece is horizontally bisected with different colour transitions either side of the line. We also see a return of the toothy monster character, which is becoming a less central part of his work these days. This is yet another sharp, on-point piece from an outstanding artist.