Skull – Page 2 – Natural adventures

6850. M32 Cycle path (286)

3Dom, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, March 2025

It is always a great pleasure to be able to share a new 3Dom piece, as he is without doubt one of Bristol’s most gifted street artists. I also like the way that his pieces appear without any fanfare and are painted on ‘ordinary’ walls as well as some of the high-end walls.

This is a wonderful piece, not entirely a million miles away in concept from his recent piece in the St George skate park. The skull is made up of a bunch of ‘floating’ components, which come together and present as a coherent skull. Take any element in isolation and it could be anything. In the dome of the skull, there is some classic 3Dom patterning and the inclusion of an atomic illustration, which appears in a lot of his work. This is a wonderful, high quality piece.

6770. Cumberland Basin

Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2025

Mr Crawls has been having a productive and creative winter, turning out a suite of stylised cartoon character birds. This one is accompanied by some monolithic letters ‘NS’? I don’t know what the letters are all about, but he has incorporated them skilfully.

The skeleton bird design is one that Mr Crawls has used before and to be honest is a little bit sinister, not his usual cheery bird representation. There is a lot to like about mr crawls’ work at the moment, and his expanding repertoire keeps things interesting.

6725. St George skate park (22)

3Dom and Sled One, St George skate park, Bristol, January 2025

One of the great ‘walls’ in Bristol, this monolith rises out of the St George skate park like something out of ‘2001 A Space Odyssey’. On the other side of the wall is a slim ramp. Pieces that are painted here tend to be higher-end works and usually have quite a long lifespan. I think I probably need to do a ‘One Wall – Many Faces’ post for this wall, simply because it has such a great heritage of artwork.

This piece is a collaboration by 3Dom and Sled One, and is a top drawer work, so typical of the artists, who have collaborated before, but perhaps not so intimately as in this skull work. There is often a lot of symbolism or a story to tell in their work, but I am not sure that I can interpret it – ideas breaking out of a soulless brain, perhaps. The top half is by 3Dom and the lower half by Sled One. And just to add to the magnificence of the piece, they have painted some amazing water droplets for good measure.

6694. Dean Lane skate park (801)

I am Ian, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2025

I have a sense that 2025 is going to be a good one for street art in Bristol. Already January, a month that is traditionally rather slow, has been a very active period with loads of artists hitting the ground running. A signal that we could be in for a treat this year is the early appearance of Kid Crayon and I am Ian in Dean Lane.

This skull piece by I am Ian is full of joy and humour. Painted in a mischievous cartoon style, the grinning skull is accompanied by the slogan ‘Here today, gone tomorrow’, which I guess is a brief description of our existence. The character is expertly painted, with some great shading and fine lines to create features and depth. A wonderful way to start the year.

6625. M32 roundabout J3 (645)

Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024

I haven’t seen quite as much from Soap this year as I would have liked, perhaps he has been working hard, but he has made plenty of regular appearances alongside his PWA friends. This wonderful Christmas piece was painted alongside Zake and Face 1st.

This year was a very quiet year for Christmas themed pieces, so it was nice to see this PWA paint jam. soap has spelled out his name in this combination piece, with a rather creepy skull-face Father Christmas making up the ‘O’ of SOAP. The gold lettering with red accents and a ‘ho, ho, ho’ add to the festive appeal of the piece. Some nice work from Soap.

6607. North Street

Kid Krishna, North Street, Bristol, November 2024

When I say that this piece is in North Street, I wouldn’t want to send people off to Bedminster unintentionally. This is the North Street that is part of the A38 that branches off the Bear Pit roundabout. The piece by Kid Krishna is on the hoarding outside what used to be the Blue Mountain.

The combination piece contains the usual cryptic writing from Kid Krishna, spelling CRIE, and the character aspect is in the form of a partial skull. I think that there is some special part of Kid Krishna’s brain that is able to visualise and create these pieces, which are really quite different from much of the other stuff on the streets of Bristol. Often his characters are partial or hinted at, rather than being overt full-on, which makes it all the more intriguing.

6517. M32 roundabout J3 (637)

Sled One, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2024

Sled One is another artist whose street work comes in peaks and troughs… nothing for ages and then several come along in quick succession. He is on a roll at the moment, and this beautiful combination piece was painted alongside the Smak piece that I posted a day or two ago.

This surreal piece is quite magnificent, featuring a skull character smoking a cigarette whose lighter appears to have quite a high flame setting, The humorous piece is beautifully composed and clean as a whistle. The letters SLED are interesting in that they are large for a signature or small to be on terms with the character, but that is Sled One for you, he does what he does, and always does it brilliantly.

6510. M32 roundabout J3 (636)

Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2024

It is easy to become complacent, living in Bristol, when it comes to street and graffiti, and to take it for granted that we have something rather special, that most cities in the country or the world, simply don’t have. The graffiti sub-culture is thriving and grows both local talent and attracts artists form far and wide to get out there and paint walls. Artists like Smak, who are at the top of their game, are not a rarity, but common, such is the strength and depth of the field of artists.

This is a beautiful combination piece of outstanding writing accompanied by a comedy cartoon skull wearing a graffiti crown. The letters, which are easy to pick out, are beautifully proportioned and designed, and painted in prime colours, which you don’t see all that often. A wonderful piece from a gifted artist.

6479. Redcliffe Way

Mr Crawls, Redcliffe Way, Bristol, October 2024

Although this piece by Mr Crawls was painted some time ago and not intended as a Halloween piece, it fits the bill nicely and is serendipitously next in the production line of pieces I have prepared in advance.

It is incredible how Mr Crawls has become so established and known around Bristol for his character pieces and his collaborations with Mote. This stylised skull piece is a slight departure from Mr Crawl’s customary bird-themed work, but carries so many of the distinguishing features that he has been developing over recent months, such as the recessed eyes, and thin vertical lines, bringing emphasis to certain parts of the piece. Lovely work from Mr Crawls.

6336. M32 roundabout J3 (621)

Saor and Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

Oof! what a belter of a collaboration. Sometimes fortune smiles upon you, and on the day I found this outstanding piece, the artists, Saor and Kosc had literally just finished and were packing up their stuff and saying their goodbyes. Just looking at this collaboration, you can see that it oozes class.

Saor, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

Saor, to my mind, is the perfect antidote to losing Epok, an artist who no longer paints in Bristol (alas), because his style is similar, crafting pieces of such precision and disguising his letters, SAOR, perfectly. The colour palette is beautifully thought out and parts of this piece remind me of the work of the great Miro conflated with the Cubist movement. Wonderful stuff.

Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

Kosc opted for a skull on this occasion, and told me that he finds it easier to paint skulls than fully-fleshed portraits, because the viewer is less familiar with the anatomy of a skull than of a face, which allows for more wiggle room regarding accuracy. Funnily I found that slightly counterintuitive, but maybe that is my naturalist background. Anyhow it is a great piece and such a contrast with Saor’s piece. Chalk and cheese.

	Cethru Cellophane (a… on 7474. Canons Wharf
	Sheree on 7474. Canons Wharf
	hitandrun1964 on 7472. Surbiton Station, L…
	scooj on 7472. Surbiton Station, L…
	scooj on 7470. M32 roundabout J3 (…

	Cethru Cellophane (a… on 7474. Canons Wharf
	Sheree on 7474. Canons Wharf
	hitandrun1964 on 7472. Surbiton Station, L…
	scooj on 7472. Surbiton Station, L…
	scooj on 7470. M32 roundabout J3 (…

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