Symmetry – Page 2 – Natural adventures

6540. M32 roundabout J3 (640)

Werm, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2024

I find myself sitting on a Great Western train on my way to London to get to a football match between the mighty Arsenal and Nottingham Forest. The journey has provided me with the gift of time that I don’t get too much of these days, and I am enjoying every second. I am even pushing the boat out with the third street art post of the day, something I am finding increasingly difficult to do.

This wonderfully symmetrical piece by Werm is typical of his style at the moment, and one in which I think he is hitting his best form. The letters in a script-like pattern spell WERM and are filled with two shades of orange. The drop shadow is dark blue and the border green. I feel instinctively that these colours shouldn’t really work well together, but somehow they do. In true graffiti writing style, Werm has included plenty of shout outs around the perimeter of the piece.

6444. River Avon (66)

Werm, River Avon, Bristol, September 2024

Werm is a graffiti artist who can divide opinion with his carefully thought out and intricate pieces. I am rather enjoying his recent designs though and I consider this to be a first-class piece of graffiti writing.

The curves Werm has designed in to the letters take away the stark edges that the letters WERM naturally have. He has also endeavoured to create some clever bilateral symmetry to the piece, which is a device he has been working on for a little while. The fills are coherent throughout the letters, and the colour scheme works well. This is an admirable piece from the versatile artist.

6437. St Werburghs tunnel (449)

Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2024

Hypo has been on fire for a couple of years now, re-emerging during Covid, and keeping up a regular rhythm of fine graffiti writing that just seems to be getting better and better. His letters lend themselves to bilateral symmetry like those of Werm, but there the similarity of graffiti writing between the two artists ends.

The colours in this piece are its crowning glory. Set on a neutral cream background, the wildstyle letters ‘HYPO’ are festooned with a beautifully blended selection of rainbow colours that manage to remain reasonably subtle, and whilst a colourful piece it avoids being gaudy. Very fine work from a lovely graffiti writer.

6426. Brunel Way (296)

Werm, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2024

Sometimes wildstyle graffiti writers can be guilty of overthinking their work, and I feel that Werm went through a phase where he did just that, and while his pieces were technically awesome, they were, for my taste, just a little too over-complex.

This one is a recent work in a series of bilaterally symmetrical graffiti writing pieces that Werm has been focussing on. He tends to work in themes and ideas which he runs with for six months or so, and then moves on to some new concept, constantly evolving and improving. The colours palette is very ‘Wermy’, and by that I mean contains reds and cream, which he uses a often as a combination. This is a nice piece, and well worth buffing the wall to provide a clean background.

6415. Dean Lane skate park (762)

Hypo, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

I am really flagging. This is a beauty from Hypo, who I met at the M32 roundabout a couple of days ago. He continues to turn out quality pieces with great regularity, and this one is so full of energy and effervescence.

We talked a little of his penchant for symmetry, and chatted about Werm who is going through a phase of writing his letters with a bilateral symmetry. In symmetry lies perfection… That’s yer lot, back to bed for me.

6352. St Werburghs tunnel (442)

Kool Hand and Werm, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2024

I have so much catching up to do, particularly in respect of Kool Hand, who has been trotting out pieces throughout the year, but doesn’t make it into Natural Adventures nearly as much as he should. This is a lovely collaboration between Kool Hand and Werm painted in the tunnel not so long ago.

Kool Hand, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2024

The dog character painted by Kool Hand, I would guess is a female character on the account of the lipstick, long nails and hoop earring, although I guess it could be a cross-dressing or drag dog. He/she/they is spraying the adjacent piece by Werm, a common device in street art.

Werm, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2024

Werm is continuing with his newest design incarnation, which presents the letters WERM in long interlocked lettering that uses bilateral symmetry as a clever presentation of his letters, similar to the symmetry common in Hypo’s work. I think it works very well and disguises the letters perfectly. There is a deep stripy 3D drop shadow that helps the piece to pop a little. Nice work from the Bristol duo.

6298. Cumberland Basin

Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024

I like the way that Werm is constantly trying to find new ways to present his letters, and explores different looks, while retaining his essential style. This piece takes him into the realms of bilateral symmetry of his letters WERM, which works surprisingly well.

The letter colours contrast strongly with the green background, helping the piece to stand out… it will not be ignored. There is something quite mesmerising about the symmetry, and I like the direction this idea is taking. The left-hand side is stretched a little bit, knocking the symmetry out a fraction, but this is all something that Werm can work on and improve. Great new innovation from Werm.

6236. M32 roundabout J3 (605)

Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024

More colourful fireworks from Hypo. This piece reverts to his symmetrical style of lettering, where the ‘H’ and ‘O’ are broadly similar in shape and the ‘Y’ and ‘P’ generally reflect one another. This is a design that Hypo has played with for years and tends to work really well.

It is the fills though that grab the attention in this piece, with several horizontal layers of colour, I can count at least four, each of which is decorated with well-placed spots. There is a lot of energy piece, which is provided by the depth created and the sparkles at strategic points on the letters. Another great piece of graffiti writing for the collection.

5966. St Werburghs tunnel (418)

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

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.

5814. New Stadium Road (54)

Raid, New Stadium Road, Bristol, January 2024

It feels like Raid has been really upping his game lately, both in frequency of painting and in the quality of his work. When I first saw this piece, I said “oh yes!” under my breath, knowing that I was looking at a really classy piece of writing that has come about through hard graft and honing of skills. Watching Raid’s development is a joy and a pleasure.

It is impossible to ignore the brilliant fill pattern, which although quite simple in concept is beautifully executed and really effective… it has the ‘wow’ factor. The letters RAID are in a rotationally symmetrical form, a form that Raid has used several times before. An outstanding piece of graffiti writing.

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