6034. St Werburghs tunnel (425)

Laic217, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2024
Laic217, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2024

Ha ha! This outrageous portrait piece by Laic217 at the entrance to the tunnel just makes me laugh. It has all the hallmarks of his work, that takes the grotesque to a new level, softened by some superb paint craft (by which I mean tone and depth) and a brilliant background.

Laic217, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2024
Laic217, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2024

I wouldn’t ordinarily associate Laic217 with St Werburghs tunnel, but it is great to see him painting here. The distorted face features an enormous toothy mouth and protruding chin, but the character seems happy enough with it. Street artists often add an edge to portraits by omitting to include pupils in the eyes, which gives a bit of a sinister appearance, unsettling for the viewer. The material of the character’s clothes is as you’d expect perfectly painted, and the backdrop of blue smiley faces on a pick background, is suitably trippy. This is a great piece from Laic217.

6031. St Werburghs tunnel (423)

Turoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024
Turoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024

Turoe is nowhere near as productive as he has been at certain times in the past, so it is always great to come across a new piece. Although the frequency has dipped, the quality of his writing hasn’t diminished one iota.

Turoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024
Turoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024

This is a lovely chrome piece in the tunnel, which is really brought to life with the steel blue border, without which the writing would disappear on the wall, and struggle to be noticed. Small things like this come so easily to experienced writers, and the thought that goes into design, colours and site location contribute to the final outcome. A fine piece of graffiti writing from one of the best.

5994. St Werburghs tunnel (421)

Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2024
Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2024

Ooh, I like this rhapsody in pink and yellow from Mr Klue very much. There is a wonderful balance in the piece, which can’t necessarily be said of all his work, but here he has absolutely nailed it. Mr Klue’s abstract style is best described as being ephemeral, like a wisp of smoke that might disappear at any moment.

Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2024
Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2024

After the winter slumber, Mr Klue is once again dominating in the tunnel, which is no mean feat, as there are still many very strong pieces there from Ryder’s paint jam at the end of March. I would normally expect the letters here to spell out KLUE, but if I am really honest I cannot pick them out, and wonder if it might read something else. Whatever the letters, this is yet another wonderful piece from the quiet and modest Mr Klue.

5979. St Werburghs tunnel (420)

Ryder, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024
Ryder, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024

Ryder organised a brilliantly well attended paint jam in St Werburghs tunnel back in February this year and this is his outstanding contribution to it. While I am used to seeing writing from Ryder, I am less familiar with his character work, so this combination piece was a joy to behold.

Ryder, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024
Ryder, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024

It is a pity that Ryder doesn’t get out to paint more often, because he is a real class act, and his writing is always out of the top drawer. These beautifully designed letters contained within a yellow outline and small drop shadow are immaculately crafted and contain a nice four-colour horizontal fill. Straightforward, not too fussy and easy on the eye.

Ryder, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024
Ryder, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024

The character is Splinter from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a franchise that passed me by, but one that regularly crops up in street/graffiti art. Ryder demonstrates his skills as not only an exceptional writer, but character artist too. Great work and a great paint jam to celebrate his exhibition in the Farm pub around the corner.

5974. St Werburghs tunnel (419)

Logoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2024
Logoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2024

Logoe has been visiting Bristol again recently, and that generally means that he painted several pieces over a weekend. Unfortunately this time I goofed up some of my photographs and on returning to the pieces they had already gone. Not to worry though, he is so prolific and this is the first of a few posts from his trip earlier in the month

Logoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2024
Logoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2024

This is a particularly fine example of his work; beautiful, clean script writing, spelling out LOGOE in turquoise, set on a grey-green background. He has painted a subtle patterned green drop shadow, that complements rather than dominates the writing. No contemporary Logoe piece is complete without a string of oval spots running through the middle of the writing. All great stuff.

5966. St Werburghs tunnel (418)

IMG_7948_edited
IMG_7948_edited

It took a couple of attempts for Acesartworld to complete this robot head… the first time I saw it, it was just white outlines on the yellow background with a note in pink, that was quite difficult to read saying “pending WIP” (Work in Progress). I think that he was quite lucky that it wasn’t dogged, because it is the kind of place that it can happen.

Acesartworld, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2024
Acesartworld, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2024

The bilaterally symmetrical piece is nicely designed and executed, although I note he had to extend his yellow background a little tom accommodate the ‘horns’. There is an interesting colour problem in the piece, which is that pink doesn’t work well on yellow, and the accents around the piece would have benefitted from having black borders. Acesartworld has since painted another of these ‘masks’, and it would seem to be something he is playing with – I look forward to seeing even more.

5931. St Werburghs tunnel (417)

Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2024
Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2024

Ooh! I love this abstract writing piece from Mr Klue. It has been a while since I last saw one of his pieces with the distinctive ethereal steps. The colours too are a slight digression from his recent penchant for purples and blues.

Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2024
Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2024

It is almost impossible to distinguish them, but the letters Spell out KLUE, as is customary in his pieces… I will get caught out one day, I’m sure, when they spell something else. There is something that is very pleasing on the eye about this piece, and a version of it would not be out of place in an art gallery or hung on a wall. Fabulous work from Mr Klue.

5927. St Werburghs tunnel (416)

Mr Draws, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2024
Mr Draws, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2024

I haven’t been posting nearly enough pieces by Mr Draws as I ought to have done, especially as I consider him to be one of a small band of artists who represent the beating heart of the Bristol street art scene. My archive is full of unposted work by Mr Draws, and I might have to do a trawl and put them all into one post.

Mr Draws, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2024
Mr Draws, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2024

This recent piece from the tunnel is really typical of his work. Some nice big letters, filled with a camouflage pattern and colour palette bounded by a thin yellow border. There are some nice white highlights with drips for good measure. A cracking piece from an artist who just keeps on plugging away.

5918. St Werburghs tunnel (415)

Stivs, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024
Stivs, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024

The turnout for Ryder’s paint jam in the tunnel at the end of February was impressive, so much so, that I am way behind with posting many of the pieces, and some will inevitably get left behind in my archive. I felt it important to post this beauty from Stivs though, as it is a really great piece of calligraffiti writing.

Stivs, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024
Stivs, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024

This piece reverts to Stivs’ former letters which spell ‘KRAP’ or some variant of it. What is nice about this piece is that he has matched the colours with the Inkie piece from the same paint jam, which I posted a little while back. Set on a starry background, this is yet another classy piece from Stivs.

5899. St Werburghs tunnel (414)

Jest Soubriquet, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024
Jest Soubriquet, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024

I am not sure whether this wonderful portrait piece by Jest Soubriquet was painted as part of Ryder’s RAW paint jam, or was simply painted at the same time (update – it was painted as part of the paint jam). Either way, it brightened up my day, because it is always a bit of a thrill to see new or visiting artists enjoying their passion in Bristol.

Jest Soubriquet, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024
Jest Soubriquet, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024

By the look of it Jest dropped a couple of pieces in Bristol while visiting, but I have struggled to find out where he is based. The portrait piece in the tunnel is beautifully painted and unusual in its incorporation of striking colours, which, whilst disruptive, somehow manage to carve out the features and depth in the face. Very clever stuff. It would be nice to think that Jest will return to Bristol and decorate a few more walls for us.