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.
1082. Upfest 2017 (82)
Tag: Sled One
1076. The Bearpit (97)
One of the classiest pieces in The Bearpit for a little while appeared just over a week ago and took up the entire length of ont of the north side entrance ramp. This stunning piece is a collaboration between Sled One and Epok. As is often the case with work like this, the photographs really don’t do it justice and I would urge Bristolians to get down to The Bearpit to see it for themselves.
There is a strong message here about the damage being done to our oceans by plastics – don’t get me going on this subject, because it vexes me because the torrent of pastic, large and microscopic, will kill off life in our oceans unless urgent action is taken. We sure know how to goof up our planet.
The artwork in this piece is exquisite and incredibly detailed, just take a look at the pectoral fins of the fish above, to see how much work has gone into the colourse ripples and folds of the fins.
Them whole thing is cleverly constructed, combining some abstract elements with life studies, but the whole effect is one of movement and swirling currents.
It would be great to hear from the artists themselves what inspired them to do this piece. It is possible that it was a commission, but by whom I wonder. Next time I see Sled One, I’ll have to ask him.
All in all a great piece and beautiful gift to the people of Bristol. Now, reduce that plastic waste!
1034. Dean Lane skate park (78)
I think I originally archived this one before I had become familiar with the work of either of these artists. The picture, from January 2016, was taken on one of my earlier and infrequent (at that time) sorties south of the river.
I like this collaboration between Sled One and Smak, but it is a partnership that I don’t recall seeing too often. The unusual colour palette is shared by both the artists and works well across the whole wall. Obviously I like the Sled One writing, he can do little wrong in my eyes.
The Smak piece is interesting in that I suspect it is the first of his pieces that I consciously photographed, even though I was not familiar with the artist. I also noticed that I didn’t do a very good job, cropping the edges off either side. I am becoming more familiar with Smak’s work and like what I see. For some unknown reason I was a late adopter with his work.
1022. Upfest 2017 (55)
I am always chuffed when I see pieces by Bristol artists at Upfest. The street/graffiti art scene here is so strong and it is great for the city to showcase its own artists to visitors from Bristol itself and from further afield.
Sled One, I have said countless times on Natural Adventures, is one of my favourite street artists and was very busy at Upfest, producing two pieces in South Street Park. I caught up with him for a while and asked him how it was that he doesn’t do so much street work these days. It turns out, and I think I knew this anyway, that he is now working with the Paintsmiths and doing a lot of commissioned work. This he says adds pressure on his free time. He also said it was a different way of doing things and that working to a brief can be quite stressful.
This wonderful piece is creative and utterly bonkers. I do like reptiles in street art, somehow they work so very well. The expression on the chameleon’s face is well observed, and the eye is excellent. Hope to see more of his stuff before too long. Perhaps those nice people at The Paintsmiths could give him some time off.
897. Dean Lane skate park (65)
When you see a really strong piece of writing like this and it says ASK, you can be pretty sure it is by Sled One, which indeed it is. This is a great work that the photograph fails to capture, there is some flaring on the lens, which is a bit annoying.
Although Sled One has been a little less active on the streets than he was, say a year ago, he is still capable of dazzling us with the quality of his pieces. He makes great choices with his colour selections and takes care with his shadings. I particularly like the eye sitting within the ‘A’, and the accent stars.
A nice surprise down at the Deaner.
857. St Werburghs tunnel (13)
It seems that street/graffiti artists tend to have peaks and troughs in their activity. I suppose that, like the rest of us, life, jobs, family and so on just get in the way a bit. I introduce this piece with this observation because Sled One, who was extremely productive last year, seems to be a little quieter. This may just be a false perception, and I am not seeing his stuff as much as I used to – I might be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
This is of the usual high standard that Sled One attains, it appears, with such ease. This wildstyle writing is so very easy on the eye, like much of his work. I particularly like the ‘accent’ lines he uses to emphasise the letters or that wisp around the piece giving it a sense of animation. I will not tire of his outstanding work.
831. M32 roundabout J3 (40)
It has been a little while since I have seen a Sled One piece, but this one has been worth waiting for. A crocodile, or is it an alligator? with SLED written into the main part of the body.
There is a lot to like about this piece; the colours, the backdrop design, the writing and of course the reptile with its stylish purple glasses. This was my second attempt at photographing the work. The first time was on a very bright day, and there was a shadow cast across half of the wall…sometimes overcast days can be a blessing.
742. M32 roundabout, J3 (35)
I haven’t seen much of Sled One for a while…apart from the man eating fridge piece…so it was nice to come across this wildstyle work on the M32 roundabout at the start of April.
I can’t help that the piece is Easter chocolate egg inspired. The colours of purple and gold, reminiscent of Cadbury branding, and the chocolate brown colours definitely have that Easter egg look about them.
So the story here is to write a wildstyle piece in the theme of Easter eggs, and I think Sled One has cracked it…sorry.
719. Magdalene Place (4)
This was a piece I photographed back in December, and most unlike me I let it slip away…unusual because I am a big fan of Sled One. This is a nice wildstyle piece tucked away in the St Pauls/St Werburghs border, close to the M32.
With a bit of getting your eye in, you should be able to read the word SLED, as well as a small crew tag ‘ASK’. Sled One’s work seems to have such confidence in technique, often combining several different spray effects in one piece. In this example we have strong, hard, angular lines combining with curvy softer lines and misting around the edges together with some black and yellow decoration which one would think would ruin the piece, but in fact complements it perfectly. It is always a pleasure to post his work.
691. Wilder Street (13)
When Meds and Peal visited Bristol a little while back they teamed up with several Bristol artists to work on some stunning collaborations. This is a large wall on Wilder Street that had previously played host to a fine collaboration between Deamze, Voyder and Soker. It is a popular wall, which I believe needs permission from the owners to be painted. Rather than interrupt the images with short paragraphs of text, I thought on this occasion I would simply let the pictures do the talking. Along with Meds and Peal, this piece was sprayed by Sled One, Ments and Epok. Please don’t ask who did what…it could take a while to unpick.
Natural adventures 