5513. Dean Lane skate park (638)

Chill,Fade/Face 1st, Soap and Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023
Chill,Fade/Face 1st, Soap and Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023

This is a wonderful collaborative wall from the PWA crew from a little while back, and includes a subsequently added piece from Fade, which is both good and bad. Good in that his work is always great and bad because he painted over Face 1st’s section before I had had a chance to see it. This wall has played host to some outstanding collaborations this year, of which this is one.

Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023
Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023

The left-hand-side bookend is by Chill, and sets the tone (for those of us who view things from left to right), of the collaboration which has a theme relating to bed time and sleep. Chill’s wonderful character, complete with night cap and a five o’clock shadow, is holding a candle, all looking a little Dickensian to me.

Fade/Face 1st, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023
Fade/Face 1st, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023

Next up would have been Face 1st’s contribution, which looks like it was the letters FACE, with a frame of disintegrating green gloop. Fade has overwritten the piece with a nice tidy and sharp piece of writing, spelling out FADE. I have to say I was surprised to see this, but perhaps there is a little history there.

Soap, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023
Soap, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023

The third piece, by Soap, looks like a bit of a nightmarish scene, inspired by characters from the cartoon series Adventure Time, I think. I can’t identify the horned character, but the one holding the sword looks like Finn the Human, with a skull face. As with so many of Soap’s pieces, there is a whole story going on here, as well as some perfectly crafted writing, with the letters SOAP.

Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023
Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023

Finally and bookending the collaboration on the right-hand-side is Zake’s sleep-time character also with a night cap, but instead of a candle, the face is holding, with its only arm, a spray can, perhaps for a bit of an evening paint session. As ever, the shading and contrast have created enormous depth to the piece. What a lovely PWA paint jam.

5396. M32 roundabout J3 (500)

Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023

I am celebrating 500 posts from the M32 roundabout J3 with this magnificent graffiti writing piece by PWA’s Soap. My eye was drawn to it immediately, and for a fraction of a second I thought that Liverpool artist Lost Hills might have been in town for a visit. I thought this because Lost Hills Features Jake the Dog from the animation series Adventure Time in all of his work. But no, this was a Soap piece for sure.

Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023

Soap has been developing his writing considerably over the last three or four years, and incorporating cartoon characters into his letters has been central to his look. The letters are usually fairly flexible, adding to the overall artwork of the piece, rather than being the central focus. Plenty going on here, lots of fill patterns and a general feel-good factor. Great colours too.

5390. St Werburghs tunnel (375)

Chill, Zake, Face 1st and Soap, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023
Chill, Zake, Face 1st and Soap, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023

I am writing this last night in the full expectation that I will be heading off to the Cheltenham Paint Festival this morning, which means that in a short while, Natural Adventures will be awash with fabulous pieces from Cheltenham by artists from nearby and far, far away. On to this fine collaboration from the PWA crew, Chill, Zake, Face 1st and Soap.

Chill, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023
Chill, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023

There is a bit of a pirate theme going on (perhaps linked to PWA – Pirate Wall Art), and Chill kicks things off perfectly with this wonderful cartoon character wearing a bandana and brandishing a cutlass and crying out ‘AAARRRGH!!!’ The scar on the cheek and terrible teeth finish the character off brilliantly. A superb piece.

Zake, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023
Zake, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023

Next up, Zake goes a little bit off-topic both in terms of a pirate theme and indeed the colour scheme too. His piece is fantastic and a bit of a return to the kind of faces he was painting a year or two ago. Tons of depth is achieved with clever use of shading, which is a speciality of the artist.

Face 1st, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023
Face 1st, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023

Face 1st duly returns us to the pirate theme with his character, complete with skull and crossbones eye patch, makes off with a treasure chest full of gold and jewellery. It is a brilliant piece full of mischief and movement and so utterly Fac 1st.

Soap, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023
Soap, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023

Finally, Soap sticks with his graffiti writing, and continues the pirate theme and colour scheme. The letters spell out SOAP, and the Ice King ‘O’ is wearing an eye patch. The letter fills and dynamism of the piece are perfectly presented and add a distinctive element to the quartet of styles. A truly magnificent collaboration, so full of fun and mischief.

5237. Armada Place (21)

Soap, Face 1st and Zake, Armada Place, Bristol, April 2023
Soap, Face 1st and Zake, Armada Place, Bristol, April 2023

I haven’t posted much from this hoarding for quite a long time, mainly because the stuff that gets painted there is rarely up to scratch, but also because I don’t pass by this way as frequently as I used to. How nice it was to fins a PWA collaboration here a short while ago.

Soap, Armada Place, Bristol, April 2023
Soap, Armada Place, Bristol, April 2023

The pool of artists in the PWA crew numbers about five or six, but pretty much ever-presents are Soap and Face 1st. The left hand side of the triptych is by Soap and contains both of the icons he likes to use at the moment, the Ice King and a Face 1st girl. The whole thing hangs together well and there are rather nice floral bursts throughout.

Face 1st, Armada Place, Bristol, April 2023
Face 1st, Armada Place, Bristol, April 2023

Face 1st has written Face with some nice deep block letters and a dismembered leg running through it, with gloopy blood dripping from the holes. Face 1st certainly enjoys painting splats and dripping, oozing gunge in his pieces, but this one is a little bloodthirsty.

Zake, Armada Place, Bristol, April 2023
Zake, Armada Place, Bristol, April 2023

To the right, the collaboration is rounded off with a portrait and upper torso piece by Zake. The face is full of character and depth, created with light and dark – a Zake speciality. All three pieces are set on a sky blue background decorated with spots, squiggles, clouds and bubbles. It is great to see some decent work on these panels.

5091. Sparke Evans Park (65)

Face 1st and Soap, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2023
Face 1st and Soap, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2023

Not many artists are painting the long wall at Sparke Evans Park these days, since the arrest of an artist about six or seven months ago. Slowly but surely people are drifting back to the wall, but unusually for Bristol, having to keep their eyes peeled and wits about them at all times. This is a great pity, because this would be a perfect candidate for a legal wall. There is no tagging here, and the colourful wall is an added attraction for people who use the park for recreation. It has become a bit of a ‘wall of fame’, well respected and curated in a self-policing manner.

Face 1st, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2023
Face 1st, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2023

This far end of the wall was recently painted by Face 1st and Soap in one of their PWA pairings. To the left, Face 1st continues to explore different ways in which he can slice a face up. Very rarely for the artist, he has not tried to work in the letters FACE into the piece, rather he is focussed on the task in hand, the slicing.

Soap, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2023
Soap, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2023

Soap too continues to explore a theme he has been enjoying recently, spelling out his name with the ICE King for an ‘A’ and a Face 1st face for the ‘A’. Although the colours the artists have chosen are a little muted on a dull day, they are nonetheless attractive and have been beautifully worked into both pieces. Great to see something new on this wall.

5043. Greenbank (74)

Soap, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2023
Soap, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2023

This is the final piece from a joyful collaborative paint jam from the PWA crew a few weeks ago. This section is by Soap, and rounds off the whole thing perfectly. It will be a sad day indeed when the last remaining hoardings are removed from Greenbank, and this creative space is returned to bland indifference.

Soap, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2023
Soap, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2023

Soap spells out his name in chrome and yellow, with a thick blue and thin white border, set on a pink background shared by all the pieces in the collaborative space. The inclusion of the Ice King and a Face 1st inspired girl, making up the ‘O’ and ‘A’ respectively is something Soap seems to be working on at the moment and is consistent with a piece of his that I posted a few days ago. This was a rip-roaring PWA paint jam.

Soap, Face 1st, Chill and Zake, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2023
Soap, Face 1st, Chill and Zake, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2023

5034. M32 roundabout J3 (452)

Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2023
Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2023

This is a cracking Soap piece from another recent PWA paint jam – these guys are certainly getting busy, and with the days starting to get noticeably longer I would expect to see quite a lot more from them in the coming weeks and months.

Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2023
Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2023

Soap appears to have moved on quite a bit from his skull/mouth days and has been having fun writing SOAP with a combination of characters and incredible fills and details. The Ice King cartoon character is becoming a regular feature in his work, and in this piece the ‘A’ of SOAP is a lovely nod to his PWA friend Face 1st. This is a dazzling and fin piece from Soap.

4977. River Avon (38)

Soap, River Avon, Bristol, December 2022
Soap, River Avon, Bristol, December 2022

This piece by Soap, was so good, I had to photograph it twice. The first time I tried, the results were terrible on account of strong sun and shade scattered over the piece. I made sure that my return visit was on an overcast day, with some better images.

Soap, River Avon, Bristol, December 2022
Soap, River Avon, Bristol, December 2022

Soap likes painting this character, which I think might be based on the cartoon character Ice King from the animated TV series Adventure Time, although I am not completely sure about that. This creation is a thing of beauty, and not only features the chrcter, but also spells out SOAP. A few gems thrown in for good measure, this is a masterclass in contemporary writing from Soap.

4937. Spake Evans Park (60)

Face 1st, Kool Hand and Soap, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2022
Face 1st, Kool Hand and Soap, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2022

I think that 2022 was the most prolific year for Bristol street/graffiti art ever. More artists joined the already large cohort, and it would seem that many of them painted more often than before. Of course, this is counterbalanced a little by the departure of some artists, and others going to ground for sustained periods. Overall, though, it was a bumper year. What this means is that there are way too many great pieces that were left ‘on the cutting room floor’, so the next few posts will be an attempt to dig out some of the pieces I simply didn’t have time to post during the year. Starting in January 2022 with this splendid collaboration between Face 1st, Kool Hand and Soap.

Face 1st, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2022
Face 1st, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2022

I have a feeling that the reason I didn’t post this at the time is that my first round of photographs were sun/shade impacted – this is a spot to be photographed on dull days. To the left is a typically happy piece from Face 1st, that really set the tone for the joy he spread for the rest of the year.

Kool Hand, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2022
Kool Hand, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2022

The middle section was painted by Kool Hand, with this really on-point crocodile holding a marker pen. I was chatting with Face 1st earlier this week, and he said that he felt that this piece really demonstrated how Kool Hand had moved up a level, and I would definitely agree.

Soap, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2022
Soap, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2022

Finally, (and it is always finally, because Soap always paints on the right-hand side of a collaboration) we have a superbly expressive piece of writing from Soap, one of his very best, in my opinion, with stacks of movement and interest. Even if you can’t quite read his letters, he has signed the piece with his tag three times for good measure. I am so sorry you have had to wait a whole year for this one.

4912. St Werburghs tunnel (330)

Face 1st, Soap and Zake, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2022
Face 1st, Soap and Zake, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2022

The Pirate Wall Art (PWA) crew have had a fantastic year, as individuals and as collaborators, creating some of the most memorable pieces in Bristol, and this one at the entrance of St Werburghs tunnel is as memorable as any.

Face 1st, Soap and Zake, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2022
Face 1st, Soap and Zake, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2022

The trio of Face 1st, Soap and Zake have created this fun piece, with Face 1st and Soap propping up a frog by Zake. Everything you’d want to see from these three is here, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next year.