Although Face F1st’s work is, on first viewing, not as spectacular or striking as some of the other local street artists, there is something very cultured and empathetic about his work. The familiar technique of incorporating a girl’s portrait into the word ‘face’ combined with the soft colour schemes marks out Face F1st’s pieces as something rather special.
Without question this is the most iconic graffiti view in Bristol. These two have been side by side at the top of the Carriageworks building for as long as I can remember. Any street art fan that has visited Bristol is more than likely to have this shot.
The crocodile on the left is by Rowdy, many of whose works can be found in nearby Montpelier and which I have featured on this blog before. Remember this cat for example? The skull on the right is by the very famous Sweet Toof who along with Rowdy is one of the original Bristol street/graffiti artists. It is incredible, but I think this is the first piece by Sweet Toof I have featured here on the blog – I am losing my touch. I will dig out some other of his pieces. If you cannot wait for that, I recommend his very active Instagram account @thesweettoof or take a look at his rather nice website.
When you pull back from the closeups, you can see how high and large these pieces are, and for the observant among you, you will also notice the FOIS letters by Kleiner Shames on the bottom right. Welcome to Bristol.
This is another piece I have been meaning to post for quite a while now, and it has been stacked behind a whole host of other circling photographs. The robot-like character holding the marker pen is by DNT, a Bristol favourite, and frequent sprayer in the Stokes Croft area. However, I don’t know who Marka? is, but the collaboration works nicely.
This is a small piece by the wonderful Bristol street artist Face F1st whose works are always centered on a styalised face each one with a different decorative feature. In this one he has placed a small octopus on the face’s head. This is a political anti-Brexit piece which is articulated clearly, and the octopus represents the Brexit narrative ‘brainwashing’, which appears to be stifling any intellectual debate about what kind of Brexit British citizens might want (in particular the 48% who voted against).
A week or so before Haloween, this scary clown appeared in Stokes Croft. Now I am the first to say that I am not a big fan of the scary clown thing that seems to be sweeping the nation at the moment, but I really like this piece.
The artist is unknown to me, and I can’t find out anything about him anywhere. He signs himself ‘Dose’ or ‘Dase’ and was responsible for this fabulous ghost cat a few months ago, in exactly the same spot.
His works are so clean and beautifully executed…really fine work, but they also have some menace, some edge, which for me is one of the things I love about street art. I wish I could find out something about him (I know it is a he, because I have seen images of him painting the cat on the internet, but the photographer/blogger also didn’t know who he is).
If anyone reading this can put me out of my misery and knows who the artist is, please leave a comment at the end of this post. Scary clowns…they really are scary.
The Paintsmiths tend to paint commissions, perhaps the most memorable recent example being the Donald Trump Boris Johnson kiss. Grotesque. This time they have created something altogether more palatable.
If my virtual pile of ‘to do’ images was somehow converted into real actual photographs, it would be a very very big stack of pictures indeed. Lurking deep in this pile there are still some images of work done by Tian earlier in the year when he was on his ‘UK tour’.
Cheba is fast growing a national profile and seems to be in demand for painting his large cosmic spacescapes all over the place. This is one of his amazing creations from back in April this year.
Nobody else does these space pictures quite as well as Cheba, he has really mastered the technique and gives us something to marvel at. This particular piece is one of my favourites, but I don’t think it lasted long before being badly tagged. I’m just pleased that I managed to snap it before it was ruined. It was painted on the People’s Republic of Stokes Croft outdoor gallery.
Check out the grey-haired skater!
This large work has been here for well over a year now, but I simply haven’t got round to sharing it until now. Cheba is making something of a name for himself with painting these large scale, full building interstellar galactic murals.
This particular piece is a bit of a landmark at the centre of a cultural hub in Bristol. Cheba produces these amazing works and he produces them so very well. His technique is recognisable and I would say ‘best in class’ of this king of work.
I recently saw another large piece by Cheba in Camden Town, not dissimilar to this one. Of course I will write about it one day…maybe in a light year or two.
The arches at the Carriageworks in Stokes Croft probably have the highest footfall of any street art location in Bristol, so when you create a piece there it always makes an impression, especially when it is as bold and exciting as this one by 3Dom
I don’t know what happens in 3Dom’s mind, but he seems to have a fertile and creative imagination. A snail and a pagoda…what is that all about? Lots of symbolism or a story perhaps.
3Dom has an amazing ability, not only to create extraordinary scenes and characters, but also to spray all sorts of different textures. For example the amazing slime trail dangling from the snail. Another outstanding piece in the heart of graffitiland.
Natural adventures 