Tag: Street art

6869. Dean Lane skate park (820)

Short, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2025
Short, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2025

I have a feeling that Short, like many other graffiti writers who stick to a general style of letter shapes and play with the colours and fills, will be making regular appearances in this blog. While this is only the second piece I have posted, I have plenty more in my files, and they seem to be coming at a steady rate.

Short, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2025
Short, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2025

The fat script-style letters, with a nice deep drop shadow are beautifully filled with a burst of yellow and orange colour and some purple decorative touches, are nicely arranged and presented. The piece is painted over a Hire piece which acts as a contrasting background – no buffing here for Short. Watch out for more.

6868. Brunel Way (313)

Mr Draws, Brunel Way, Bristol, April 2025
Mr Draws, Brunel Way, Bristol, April 2025

Mr Draws is an artist who never seems to fuss or bluster, rather he goes about his painting in a deliberate and consistent manner, almost like clockwork. Modest and never showy his familiar pieces are part of the fabric of Bristol city.

Mr Draws, Brunel Way, Bristol, April 2025
Mr Draws, Brunel Way, Bristol, April 2025

This is  really nice piece under Brunel Way, with four horizontal colour layers running through the letters DRAWS, the uppermost one of which is dripping, like a chocolate sauce topping. A deep 3D drop shadow separates the letters from a contrasting red background, and the piece is finished with some horizontal yellow and grey oval lines dotted across the piece. A really nice piece from Mr Draws.

6867. Cumberland Basin

Trafficity, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2025
Trafficity, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2025

I don’t go out drinking very often, but last night I joined some colleagues to bid farewell to one of my longest-standing work friends, who has decided to take early retirement. It was a fabulous evening reconnecting with people I haven’t seen for many years, and I will treasure the occasion. On the downside, I drank a little more than I am used to and have a sore head this morning. My posts today will be necessarily brief as a result.

Trafficity, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2025
Trafficity, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2025

This is an outstanding piece by Trafficity with a simpler fill style than many of his pieces, but sticking to the overall design with determination. Looking good on the blue background. The letters spell ZIOS in case you were wondering.

6866. Camden High Street, London

Urban Solid, Camden High Street, London, April 2025
Urban Solid, Camden High Street, London, April 2025

I always like to see a bit of installation art, but it is always a bit of a rarity, especially in the UK. It seems to be far more popular in other countries. I remember seeing a lot in Barcelona, for example.

Urban Solid, Camden High Street, London, April 2025
Urban Solid, Camden High Street, London, April 2025

This is a fine ear piece (no pun intended) by Urban Solid, stuck high up on a wall with no danger of it being removed or vandalised. The ear, which looks like it has been there for some time, is accompanied by the words ‘audio surveillance zone’, which is all rather clever and imaginative really. I’d love to see more of this kind of art in Bristol, although we do still have a couple of Gregos masks that remain just about intact.

6865. Chalk Farm Road, Camden Town, London

Apparan, Chalk Farm Road, Camden Town, London, April 2025
Apparan, Chalk Farm Road, Camden Town, London, April 2025

One of the most noticeable things about photographing street art in London is that there seem to be a great deal more paste ups and wheatpaste artists than in Bristol. Perhaps this is a function of a huge amount more wall space to choose from, as well as a cultural thing.

Apparan, Chalk Farm Road, Camden Town, London, April 2025
Apparan, Chalk Farm Road, Camden Town, London, April 2025

This wonderful wheatpaste piece, by Apparan (no stranger to Natural Adventures), features a beautiful portrait of a woman and a snail. The piece is called ‘way home’ and was pasted up in December 2023 during a bit of a wheatpaste jam as far as I can make out. It has worn very well indeed.

6864. Harmood Street, Camden Town, London

Irony, Harmood Street, Camden Town, London, April 2025
Irony, Harmood Street, Camden Town, London, April 2025

On 8 April this year, I took a trip to London to watch the mighty Arsenal swat away Real Madrid in what was without doubt the best football match I have ever been to – and I have been to a fair few. The kick-off was a late one, so rather than catch a very late train home to Bristol I decided to stay over in London with my sister, and then visit my uncle and aunt the next morning. After my visit, I had a few hours to kill and decided to walk to Camden Town and snap up a few doors and some street art. This outstanding portrait piece from Irony was one of the first I saw on my ten-mile walk.

Irony, Harmood Street, Camden Town, London, April 2025
Irony, Harmood Street, Camden Town, London, April 2025

Irony, who is one of the most talented street artists ever in my view, is known for his portraits of young women, and this one has been plastered all over social media recently, so it was a genuine surprise and pleasure to come across it.

Irony, Harmood Street, Camden Town, London, April 2025
Irony, Harmood Street, Camden Town, London, April 2025

The artist has captured a mood so perfectly in this piece and the slight downward tilt of the subject’s head conveys some kind of body language that the viewer can pick up on. Obviously, the most striking part of the piece is the stunning blue hair, perfectly presented. This is a great piece from a great artist.

6863. M32 roundabout J3 (673)

Daz Cat, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025
Daz Cat, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025

Back to work today after the Easter break, and, of course, it is a bit of a struggle getting my head around returning to work. Getting back into the routine of writing my blog posts before work is helpful in recalibrating and preparing my mind.

Daz Cat, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025
Daz Cat, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025

This is a fine example of a quick(ish) one from Daz Cat. Painted in chrome on a dramatic red background with some imaginative decorations, this three-quarter profile of a cat is just the ticket for starting off the short week positively. I imagine that Daz Cat can knock these characters off in his sleep – goodness knows how many he has painted over the last decade or so.

6962. Cumberland Basin

Noise, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2025
Noise, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2025

Although he has had a relatively quiet winter, Noise has woken up for the Spring and is starting to make his presence felt once more. This is a wonderful big bold piece of graffiti writing and is set in a Vaughn Bode landscape.

Noise, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2025
Noise, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2025

It is customary for most graffiti writers at some point in their ‘career’ to pay tribute to the American underground cartoonist who was active in the 1960s and 70s, and Noise has done so with a fabulous Cheech Wizard on the left and a scattering of toadstools along the base of the piece. Nice work.

6961. Dean Lane

Tian, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2025
Tian, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2025

How excited was I to find this outstanding wheatpaste by Tian earlier this month? A rhetorical question of course. Back in April 2016, the French artist, Tian, bombarded Stokes Croft with a series of beautiful paste ups, and visited Bristol again in May 2019 doing much the same. Both visits were celebrated by me, and many others who enjoyed discovering his series of interesting cut-outs. 

Tian, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2025
Tian, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2025

I guess he was visiting the city again, but this time I have only found two wheatpastes, one of which has already gone. I expect there are more, but I don’t know where to look. This one, on the swimming pool wall, is of a Japanese woman in a kimono holding chopsticks. This is very much in a theme that Tian has cultivated over the years, and embraces the sepia tint as part of the piece. I am so excited about this, and keen to find some others in the North Street area.

6960. Dean Lane spate park (819)

Mr Sensae, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2025

This wall is usually occupied by Dibz or Fade or combination of the two, so it can be refreshing to find something a little different from time to time. I don’t know an awful lot about Mr Sensae, and don’t think I have photographed any of his work before.

Mr Sensae, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2025

This writing, spelling out SENSAE certainly catches the eye with its bright colours, which the artist even acknowledges with the words ‘nice colours’ in the bottom left. Starting with a pink background and decorative spots that provide a great backdrop, the letters are filled with horizontal stripes of colour ranging from orange to blue, and decorated with loads of reversed spots and stars. A striped 3D drop shadow veers off to the right. This is a banging piece of graffiti writing.