Tag: Shirt

5289. St John’s Lane (1)

Laic217, St John's Lane, Bristol, June 2023
Laic217, St John’s Lane, Bristol, June 2023

I fell in love with this piece the moment I saw it. Of course, I am an admirer of Laic217’s work, and this piece brings together so many of his themes and his talent into one place. No skeleton this time, but a flesh and blood human character holding a spray can.

Laic217, St John's Lane, Bristol, June 2023
Laic217, St John’s Lane, Bristol, June 2023

I will focus on two or three elements of this outstanding piece; The flesh tones and shading on the face and hand are exceptional, demonstrating that he is not a skeleton one-trick pony. The chain around the character’s neck is really well done and there is a sense of weight, and that it doesn’t hang perfectly shows that Laic217 is thinking one step ahead. It is the shirt, though, that really thrills me. From time to time, Laic217 dresses his characters in patterned shirts, and somehow he manages to paint in the creases and folds, with disruption tom the pattern, in this case pink smiley faces. I have seen him use this technique before to great effect, and I think it is one of the things he does that sets him apart from others. This is a truly exceptional piece on a rather nice new hoarding.

Laic217, L Dub, Bristol, September 2021
Laic217, L Dub, Bristol, September 2021
Laic217, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2019
Laic217, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2019
Laic217, Wilder Street, Bristol, May 2019
Laic217, Wilder Street, Bristol, May 2019

3974. L Dub (31)

It would seem that Laic217 enjoys painting the walls at L Dub (Lawrence Weston) and has once again turned out a typically fine piece painted at or around the time of DJ Perk’s 50th birthday paint jam a few weeks back.

Laic217, L Dub, Bristol, September 2021
Laic217, L Dub, Bristol, September 2021

Dominated by pink and purples, the character is set on a light blue background with PAD (a crew name) and Laic217 scrawled all over it. However, we didn’t come here to admire the background… the smoking character sporting a bucket hat is wearing a magnificent trippy shirt festooned with smiley faces that ripple with every fold of the material, something that Laic217 does so well. It is a clever piece when you consider the limited colour range he has used. More excellent work from one of my faves.

3651. M32 Cycle path (121)

In life, you just know when something special or significant has happened, there is that supernatural sense that kicks in, the one that heightens your senses and gets the adrenaline pumping. For me, I would class finding this masterpiece (a word I rarely use on Natural Adventures) by Laic217 was one of those special moments.

Laic217, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2021
Laic217, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2021

Adding to this special sensation was that I didn’t know the piece was here and I hadn’t seen any posts on social media – it felt like a proper discovery rather than seeking a piece out.

Laic217 has smashed it. The familiar skeleton figure is set on a sumptuous red background with a fine yellow border framing the piece nicely. A bucket hat with a yin yang emblem and a blue dragon made of smoke dancing round the skeleton’s head. The cherry on the top of this extraordinary piece is the short-sleeved shirt. Laic217 is known for his incredible portrayal of different materials and fabrics and here he has taken it to another level. The black shirt with its creases and two dragon designs is utterly awesome, and I love the vest poking through the vee of the shirt.

A magical piece, and guess what… I love it.

2035. M32 cycle path (20)

How is it possible that I can still keep finding Laic217 pieces in my archive? This one is from October last year on the M32 cycle path but probably didn’t get published immediately on account of the poor light quality. This particular wall is very hard to photograph without getting flaring from the sun or bright sky behind it. So much about photographing street art is dependent on light quality and time of day – I get it wrong too often, but with a full-time job I am rather constrained in the times I get to go out.

Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, October 2018
Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, October 2018

I rarely say this about Laic217’s work, but in my view this is not his best. The shirt material is exceptional , but I am just not sure about the face. I think a partially decomposed face is probably very difficult to do and the teeth and nose don’t quite seem right. Having said that it’s all still pretty good and utterly likeable. Will I be able to dig out some more oldies from Laic217…?

1628. M32 Spot (25)

I seem to have posted a lot of work by Daz Cat recently, perhaps he is going through one of those productive phases that street artists seem to go through – perhaps a bit of time on his hands just now.

Daz Cat, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2018
Daz Cat, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2018

A cat in a shirt, who’d have thought? I like Das Catz’s work a lot, it always has a bit of edge, and the characters, mostly cats and dogs, often have a little menace about them. In this piece, there is something compelling about the buttons on the shirt, my eyes are drawn to them. The piece simply wouldn’t balance properly without them.