Tag: Street art

4070. Dean Lane skate park (439)

It looks like Zake has been taken under the wing of PWA (Pirate Wall Art crew) recently, at least he seems to be painting a lot alongside Face 1st, Soap and Nightwayss. This is a superb and fun collaboration between Face 1st, Soap and Zake, and plays to their collective strengths.

Soap, Face 1st and Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2021
Soap, Face 1st and Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2021

I like this collaboration, because it is a merger of all three artists, with the outer two smiling girls from Face 1st, the laughing scull/mouths from Soap and the jolly centrepiece from Zake. All of these characters set on a boiling bubble splash of orange, red and pink. A joyful and fun collaboration, which I don’t think lasted too long – nothing much does on this wall these days.

4069. Dean Lane skate park (438)

On the big wall at Dean Lane is this wonderful collaborative piece from Etza and Chill, which absolutely demands to be looked at, there is no chance of passing it and not noticing it.

Etza, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2021
Etza, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2021

The bright pink background is the perfect setting for the black and white characters. On the left is a piece by Etza, whose work I’ve not come across before. It will not surprise you to know that both of these artists are tattooists, and it shines through in these pieces. The skull design with a frog perched on top is beautifully worked, and a great advert for Etza’s skilful work.

Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2021
Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2021

To the right is a stunner from Chill, whose work I have recently featured on Natural Adventures a couple of times. The cartoon man looks like he has just been lifted from a kid’s comic of the 1970s and is full of character and fine detail. A magnificent piece.

This collaboration falls into that category where adjacent pieces have adopted the same colour scheme but each is a separate design, particular to the artist that painted it. Great to see, and just about still there when I looked yesterday.

4068. River Avon (23)

It is not too long ago that I first met Desi while she was painting a wall alongside the M32, and what a pleasure that was. During the course of our conversation she told me that she had been spraying walls for about a year, and I have to say that she seems to be progressing really well.

Desi, River Avon, Bristol, November 2021
Desi, River Avon, Bristol, November 2021

Desi’s letters tend to be uniform and stick to a basic design which incorporates a heart on top of the ‘i’. Such a decoration is almost exclusive to female artists, and seems to be a legacy of handwriting. I haven’t yet met a man who uses hearts or open circles instead of a dot over the ‘i’.

It would seem that Desi is working on the technical aspects of her fills, and she is doing well with this, adding variety and texture which seems to improve with each new piece. Desi is up-and-coming on the graffiti writing scene and I am looking forward to watching her progress. A lovely piece alongside the River Avon.

4067. Gloucester Road

Since the first lockdown, my daughter and I have watched quite a few old shows by Bob Ross, and been mesmerised by them. Our viewing is interspersed with comments like ‘how does he do that’ or ‘that is just ridiculous’. As amazing as his landscapes are, they are not really my cup of tea, but watching him create them is truly awe-inspiring. This reference piece by John D’oh is a nice nod to the talent of Bob Ross.

John D'oh, Gloucester Road, Bristol, November 2021
John D’oh, Gloucester Road, Bristol, November 2021

This stencil is one of many by John D’oh adorning the walls of Bishopston Tiles, and if you are in the area, it is well worth stopping by for a few moments to enjoy them. The words are another witty commentary on the disastrous state of deforestation, something that the COP26 climate agreement might at long last be starting to address. Our role in all of this is not to let our Government off the hook, even for a moment, and to continue to campaign hard for systemic policy changes in how we do things in the UK. Plastic bag tax was just a start, but shows what can be done.

This is the first of many posts I’ll be writing about this wall.

4066. Brunel Way (133)

Zake is fast becoming one of the most prolific artists in Bristol. His wonderful stylised faces are appearing all over the place with regularity, and of course improving all the time. This lovely recent piece is at the curved end of the concrete support wall under Brunel Way.

Zake, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2021
Zake, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2021

Zake’s work is typified by his extraordinary understanding of light and shadow, and the features on his faces are accentuated by the shading, gaining real depth. Often, his work will be under-lit or side-lit, but this one has a fairly uniform front-lit aspect. This piece is beautifully presented too.

4065. Catherine Mead Street (1)

This domestic wall was first painted during Upfest 2018, when a few artists clubbed together and had a paint jam on this unofficial space. I believe they had the permission of the owner to do it, and these pieces remained in pretty good condition until fairly recently when they were on the wrong end of quite a lot of tagging. Recently, several artists, including Laic217, Nightwayss, Tack Jucker and Zake, refreshed the wall to great effect, including this fine piece from Laic217.

Laic217, Catherine Mead Street, Bristol, November 2021
Laic217, Catherine Mead Street, Bristol, November 2021

Laic217, as regular readers will know, is a particular favourite of mine and this piece is a reversion to some of the recurring themes seen in his work. The brick wall glasses, the ghetto-blaster, the bucket hat and of course, skeleton, all point towards it being a Laic217 piece. The colours are a good match with the fairly benign purple backdrop helping to lift the gold colours incorporated in the character. 

More to come soon from this wall.

4064. Peel Street Green (1)

It is always worth going the extra mile, or a few hundred yards at least. I recently followed the River Frome from the M32 roundabout into town, because I wanted to stretch my and the the dog’s legs a bit. What we found was a little green with a long wall covered in graffiti writing, that I have long been aware of, but never actually found before. Well now I have found it and the spot will be assimilated into part of my regular ‘rounds’ when I have a little extra time on my hands (some chance these days).

3Dom, Peel Street Green, Bristol, November 2021
3Dom, Peel Street Green, Bristol, November 2021

Opposite the long wall and on the other side of the green is a small wall with this single recent piece from 3Dom. This is so typical of his surreal style, featuring a character with a cloud head, dotted with a string of alternating happy and sad smiley emojis. This beautifully painted and colourful piece probably has a back story going on, but I am not too sure what it is. Might it have something to do with the changing climate?

A great spot and a great piece.

4063. Brunel Way (132)

I knew about this piece, by Lemak, a long time ago, but never actually knew exactly where it was. I never found out at the time and then forgot it had even existed, so I was super happy to find it a week or two back, and although it has been a bit tagged, the quality of the piece shines through.

Lemak, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2021
Lemak, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2021

Lemak is an artist who spends a lot of time in his studio, but occasionally he treats us with one of his highly complex multi-layered stencils on the streets. I’ve not seen anything new since lock down, but that doesn’t mean to say there hasn’t been anything.

This piece, on the Greville Smyth Park side of Brunel Way was painted way back in April 2019 and features Daddy’s Lil Monster, Harley Quinn, a DC comics character. Superb work from a superb artist.

4062. Sparke Evans Park (20)

Life has become uncomfortably cluttered and busy in recent weeks, both at home and at work, and I am struggling a little to keep on top of my daily blog posts. Today for example I am using my lunch break to write this post, because I simply ran out of time last night and early this morning.

Pl8o, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, November 2021
Pl8o, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, November 2021

So here we have a delightful piece of graffiti writing from Pl8o, possibly the tightest I have seen from him. The clean lines of the letters are somewhat eclipsed by the fabulous orange border. Beautifully designed and executed. Surely it must be time for a Pl8o gallery.

4061. M32 Spot (124)

Feek doesn’t paint nearly as a often as I would like him to, but just often enough to keep me interested and on my toes. Dean Lane Hardcore and Halloween seem to be occasions that he likes to mark. The other thing about Feek’s work is that, like many other street artists, it is very often associated with skating.

Feek, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2021
Feek, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2021

This long wall is part of the M32 Spot DIY skate park, and tends to get fairly marked fairly quickly. Feek has made a little joke with his letters, spelling out M32 OOOH, in a ghostly way to mark Halloween, and in the centre of the piece is a nice big pumpkin.

Feek, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2021
Feek, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2021

The pumpkin is cleverly painted, incorporating a hole in the panel as the open mouth of the scary fruit. The writing is covered in warts and eyes providing a cartoony scary scene, just what Feek does so well. A nice seasonal piece.