Eyesaw, Cheltenham Paint Festival 22, Cheltenham, July 2022
I was not aware of Eyesaw until Upfest this year, where he painted at least two and possibly three pieces over the festival period. I have not posted those yet, but this piece from the subsequent Cheltenham Paint Festival, is typical of his style.
Eyesaw, Cheltenham Paint Festival 22, Cheltenham, July 2022
Eyesaw’s works are painted with the colours and blur of 3D pictures, and to date I haven’t tested them with the blue and red specs that you get from time to time, because I haven’t got any (note to self – get some 3D specs). This one is of a tiger flexing its muscles. The designs are clever, but are slightly lost on me without knowing for certain that they work.
Often a photograph simply doesn’t do a piece justice, and this wonderful tiger portrait by Tack Jucker is an example of this. The light conditions on the day I went were a little tricky, and the dappled shade on the piece takes away some of the detail.
Tack Jucker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2022
Tack Jucker seems to improve with each piece I see and is growing in confidence. This is a superb piece, and he has incorporated his trademark Smokey wisps into the piece, which act almost like a signature. The expression on the tiger’s face has been well observed and captured. Evidence of yet more great work from the artist.
For a little while I feared that Maesyhook might have abandoned Bristol in favour of some other city or country, as her work appeared to drop off, and some of her Instagram posts were not from Bristol, but thankfully it would seem that she is here, and normal service is resumed.
Maesyhook, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, April 2022
I have always really liked Maesyhook’s work as it is unlike anything else we see, which makes a refreshing change. This tiger in her preferred pink and blue colours is low-key but rather beautiful. It is very illustrative and could easily be a character in a children’s picture book ‘the pink tiger who came to tea’ maybe. It is so, so good to see maesyhook painting again.
With this extraordinary piece in St Werburghs tunnel, we get to see the diversification of work from the very talented Rozalita. Over the last few weeks, we have been treated to a range of subjects from Rozalita, but I think that this might be the first animal portrait, and what a beauty it is.
Rozalita, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2022
The tiger face, although not photorealistic, has a seriousness and sincerity about it that removes it from the cartoony style that sometimes accompanies animal pieces. There are many elements that come together well, and the mouth/tongue has been particularly well done. I believe that, as her work develops, some finer detail will improve. I think whiskers might have lifted this piece up a level. Superb work from Rozalita who is on a magnificent roll at the moment.
The side wall of Bishopston Tiles has been a bit of a honeypot recently with several fabulous stencils by John D’oh, all with an environmental theme, something that the artist obviously cares about deeply. This sensational tiger stencil must have taken forever to cut and prepare. There are at least four layers that I can see, each using a greyscale tone from black to white.
John D’oh, Gloucester Road, Bristol, December 2021
I might be doing the piece a disservice because there was some text accompanying the wall as a whole reading ‘Extinction is forever – endangered doesn’t have to mean extinct’. So a message of hope and a stencil of high quality and extreme beauty from John D’oh. Still more to come from this magnificent spot.
I love seeing Sophie Long’s work on the streets and simply don’t see enough of it out there, so finding this on North Street a little while back was genuinely a wonderful surprise. Her striking wildlife paintings/street art are truly beautiful and nearly always have this characteristic dripping which marks the piece as one of hers.
Sophie Long, North Street, Bristol, January 2020
This tiger is skilfully done, although if I were being ultra critical I’d say the the body proportions aren’t quite right. The head is a little exaggerated and the body too short, but it does comply with our mind’s eye of what a tiger looks like. I very much look forward to seeing more of her work if and when the lock down eases.
Going to Cheltenham for the first time this September was such a treat, especially because so many pieces from last year (2018) were still intact, including this extraordinary and brilliant piece by SkyHigh.
SkyHigh, Paint Festival 2018, Cheltenham, September 2019
I have seen SkyHigh’s work in London and in Bristol, but I think this piece in Cheltenham is as good as any other that I have seen. I can’t quite be sure that it isn’t a collaboration, because the jungle bookends don’t quite match his style that I am used to. As always SkyHigh spells out his letters with each one being distinct from the next to bring together an ecclectic whole that just seems to work. I have seen other artists try thisd technique, but in my view SkyHigh is top of the division. Sensational piece.
Laic217 has only gone and smashed it again, with this exquisitely summery scene. I can’t make up my mind whether the tree shade on the piece actually adds to the ambience, I don’t think it particularly detracts from it, which is not usually the case with shadows and street art.
Laic217, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2019
This is a masterful piece by Laic217 with many of the features we are accustomed to seeing in his work… the bucket hat and smiley and a skeleton spraying, although the sspray paint seems to have been replaced with sun cream or something more gloopy. The crowning glory of the piece though is the shirt.
Laic217, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2019
Laic217 works so hard on his fabrics and this Hawaiian shirt with tiger motifs has pretty much blown everything I have seen previously out of the water. I just don’t know how he has got the tiger print to look so good using a spray can – quite extraordinary. This is an artist whose work just goes from strength to strength and I just can’t get enough of it.
My oh my! Nick Harvey, who paints his street art under the name Kin Dose, has created something very special indeed for Upfest’s Summer Editions project. Although it is a pity that there is no festival this year, there has been ample compensation in the form of these ‘special’ pieces spread across the city, with more to come over the summer.
Kin Dose, Hebron Road, Bristol, June 2019
I knew that Kin Dose was painting a piece, so took the opportunity to go down and watch him work for a while. I have been an admirer of his work for a few years now, ever since I first became aware of him – it was his cat with black eyes at the Carriageworks that first captivated me. It is so good to be able to watch an artist at work and Kin Dose was sketching out the piece the first time I saw it. I asked him quite a few questions (probably too many) and was able to find out quite a lot about him and his work.
Kin Dose, Hebron Road, Bristol, June 2019
He came to Bristol a few years ago and had been known as both Kin and Dose, so combined both to give him his current street name. He used to do a lot of stencils, but said he has become a bit tired of them and no longer enjoys the fiddly cutting element of the technique. Recently he has been doing a lot more photorealistic stuff, and this one must surely be the jewel in the crown.
Kin Dose, Hebron Road, Bristol, June 2019
He explained that he perfected his technique through using air brushes to create these photorealistic pieces, and he also uses a lot of cardboard cut out shapes to mask areas and create sharp, clean lines. I asked if that was cheating and he said absolutely not, which made me feel a lot better, because I have been using card to create straight lines on my own rudimentary efforts.
Kin Dose, Hebron Road, Bristol, June 2019
The piece took about five or six days to complete, and it is amazing to see how a sketched out blur can turn into something quite magnificent. The piece is almost two paintings in one, the girl’s face and the tiger brought together on a cosmic backdrop.
Kin Dose, Hebron Road, Bristol, June 2019
I’m not too sure what the piece is telling us, but I suspect it is something to do with a connection with nature. The tiger’s head is really stunning and holds a captivating expression. His technique is remarkable, it is almost impossible to understand how he gets such fine detail into the fur and whiskers.
Kin Dose, Hebron Road, Bristol, June 2019
Another triumph for Upfest, and anotherr great addition to Kin Dose’s impressive portfolio.
Natural adventures 