We exist for the time being in a divided nation, but there is growing consensus that Boris Johnson is wreckless and is being found out for the blatant opportunist he appears to be. I think that many (particularly in Bristol) citizens would have some sympathy with this fine work from Nightwayss.
Nightwayss, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2019
Commensurate with many of his recent sketches, this piece is in black and white and all the more effective for it. There is something about the style of this one that reminds me a bit of the excellent Winsor McCay and his comic strips ‘Little Nemo in Slumberland’. Nightwayss continues to impress with his fine work.
I was lucky enough to run into Mr Draws when he was painting this piece at the entrance of St Werburghs tunnel and stopped for a chat with him. We hadn’t seen each other for a while, so it was good to catch up.
Mr Draws, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
The piece itself is typical of his street work at the moment. Bright and colourful, spelling out ‘draws’ and with a bit of a twist, which in this case is a mirror version of his name, and his wobbly outline which he has been favouring recently.
Mr Draws, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
I do like and have always liked his work which is always full of ideas and fun. He may not have the tightness of some of Bristol’s design writers but he is full of creativity and always turns out pieces that are easy on the eye.
I am currently away in Cornwall on my annual sea fishing trip, and am finding it really difficult to keep up with these posts, so today’s contributions might be a little rushed.
Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
This is yet another exceptional piece of writing from Fiva, where has superimposed two writing styles on top of each other and used different colours where the letters overlap. It is a very clever piece, skilfully painted, but I’d expect no less from this artist.
Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
It is great also to see him include one of his characters on the left hand side of the piece. All very good indeed.
Not long ago, this rather fun collaboration appeared at the farm end of St Werburghs tunnel. It is painted by Daz Cat on the left and CD on the right and while I am familiar with the former, I have never come across CD before this and another collaboration between the two. Perhaps he was just visiting Bristol.
Daz Cat, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
I am used to seeing cats and dogs by Daz Cat, but even though I know he has done giraffes before, this is the first one I have seen and whaty a nice tidy piece it is too. There is an interesting ‘fairy tale’ type character in the centre of the piece nestling in the curled neck of the giraffe. A curious image, but rather compelling.
CD., St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
On the right hand side is a rather tight piece of a grimacing face having a smoke, with excess smoke wafting around the whole wall. The colour pallette is nicely balanced and it is amazing how well light blue and pink work together – I used to have a light blue fleece with pink trim that I bought in Jasper, British Colombia and it was my favourite item of clothing for many years. I can’t put my finger on it, but there is something about this work that I really like – maybe it is the rather surreal nature of the piece, I don’t know. A nice introduction to CD’s work.
Just when you thought the Rezwonk/Decay partnership couldn’t possibly get any better, they pull this one out of the hat (see what I did there?). This is a remarkable and thoroughly enjoyable collaboration painted brilliantly in the style of Dr Seuss’ Cat in the Hat.
Rezwonk, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
The left hand side of the collaboration is by Rezwonk where the writing almost takes second place to The Cat, Thing 1, the kite and flower pot and the general setting of the piece. I believe this piece to be utterly outstanding and is right up there with my favourite pieces of the year.
Rezwonk, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
The Cat in particular is so well painted, like he has stepped straight off the page of a book, Thing 1 also is incredibly faithful to the book. Surely this can’t have been painted with spray cans alone?
Decay and Rezwonk, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
The right hand side of the collaboration is by Decay who has introduced the character Sam I am from the book Green Eggs and Ham. He also included the goldfish in his bowl from Cat in the Hat.
Decay and Rezwonk, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
Decay has gone for a simple piece of writing in his usual (2019) style which acts as a fabulous backdrop to everything else that is going on with the piece. Fortunately the colour schemes used are not polluted by the horrible light conditions in the tunnel, and the photographs of the piece have come out OK.
Thoroughly brilliant by this pairing – Bravo! Bravo!
Here are two artists we don’t get to see nearly enough of. Both are established artists on the Bristol scene, but neither of them is out painting walls every week so what a pleasant surprise to come across this collaboration from Hemper and Hypo in the tunnel last week.
Hemper, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
Hemper has been painting walls in Bristol for a long time and is highly regarded by his peers, and it is easy to understand why. Here he writes HEMP in shades of blue set on a painted brick wall from which the render has broken off. There are so many things to admire asbout this piece of work, and as if that weren’t enough he also adds in a message about the roll-out of 5G in Bristol “I never asked for 5G”.
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
Hypo, on the left, continues with the blue theme and spells out his name with 3D block lettering emanating from two vanishing points. I have noticed that in most of his work Hypo is very keen on using vanishing points and it is a common thread that appears to be the basis of much of his work. The piece is beautifully presented and the accessories work really well, such as the stars, drips and the spotty background. Overall a very pleasing collaborative piece.
In the depths of St Werburghs tunnel is this fine piece of writing by Nevergiveup (NGU) which I think, but am not certain, spells out ZBOK. The colours set on a contrasting dark background work rather well in the difficult artificial light of the tunnel.
Nevergiveup, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
NGU has created horizontal layers in his letters which blend seamlessly from top to bottom. Those of you who recognise the name will know this artist as the creator of #followmyrabbits which have made dozens of appearances on Natural Adventures.
Things have been hotting up again in St Werburghs Tunnel recently, and although there hasn’t been a formal paintjam to my knowledge, there have been a steady trickle of new piece, including this rather nice 1960s retro piece from Corupt. It rather reminds me of cartoons I watched as a young child.
Corupt, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
The colours are a little washed out because of the artificial light in the tunnel, but the design of the letters, the shading and accents and the face painted on to the ‘C’ come together nicely to creat a really pleasing work. We probably don’t get to see enough of Corupt’s work, but this is a real beauty.
I love it when you start to see the work of an artist who has previously been off the radar, and recently I have become aware of a couple of stencils by Yoshi of which this owl at St Werburghs is one. Actually it is a cat owl, and if you look carefully at the face you’ll see why.
Yoshi, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
It would seem that Yoshi is reasonably new to the street art scene and is very much in a discovery phase of his work with sencils, trying out different materials and ideas. Yoshi has a good Instagram feed that offers a little bit of narrative and insight into his work, which is great, I also have noticed that there a couple more stencils I need to go out and find. Looking forward to seeing more work from Yoshi.
Wowzer… this is quite the best piece I have seen by Pekoe yet. It is beautiful and I truly believe that in this piece we are witnessing an artist reaching a new level, I see it as a really significant piece. The blue-faced portrait has something very special about it, the expression, the tone, the confidence and of course that amazing hair.
Pekoe, Brunel Way bridge, Bristol, August 2019
In this piece I feel that Pekoe’s naive style has transformed into something altogether more sophisticated and mature, and I love it. I would like to think that a lot of thought, care and effort went into this piece, it certainly looks really tight.
Pekoe, Brunel Way bridge, Bristol, August 2019
The patterns in the hair are so typically Pekoe, but the addition of three layers of base colour add an extra dimension. The eyes too work well with several dots in each creating a glassy effect, very clever. There is so much to like about this work. Bravo Pekoe!
Natural adventures 