A gallery of fabulous, bold writing from Bristol graffiti writer and RBF stalwart, Lupa.
Instagram: @lup4_4
All photographs by Scooj
Lupa
Tag: UK
7034. M32 Spot (204)
It has been enjoyable to watch as Astrea becomes more bold with her artwork and the spots she is choosing to post. She seems to be settling on a style that is all her own and quite Gothic in its appearance.
Using the colours red, black and white, which contrast superbly (a combination much used by Decay in his early days), she has created an attractive abstract design. Tucked away on the edge of a long hoarding, I would expect this piece to be around for a while. Great progression.
7033. Hannover Place.
Hannover Place is probably most famous for the Banksy ‘girl with a pierced eardrum’ piece, which is still there, albeit with some paint damage. Just opposite is this shutter piece by Ejits, that absolutely made a lunchtime walk I took around the Harbourside a couple of weeks back.
I rarely walk around this area, so I’m not too sure how long the piece has been here, but it still looks in pretty good condition, so is probably months rather than years old. Ejits has a wonderful cartoon style that works so well on large or small walls. I am not too sure what is going on in this story piece, but it looks like there are many hands manipulating the central character. This might be a reference to the stop-frame animation technique used by Aardman animation studios, which is around the corner from this building. It is always great to find work by Ejits.
Bulrush
.
On wetted peatland
rising high, unwavering
the bulrush is king
.
by Scooj
7032. River Avon (86)
I am writing this post (last night) in a lonely hotel room in Warrington. Tomorrow, I am attending the launch of a new National Nature Reserve just outside the town, something I have been working on for a few months. It will be great to see the partnership project come to life.
This piece by Zake is a superb example of his work, and he has really managed to keep the whole thing very neat and tidy. Although it doesn’t look like it, the piece is quite large, and on a wall he decorated back in August
As with all of his portrait pieces, he has created great depth using light and shade to lift the face from the wall, deceiving the eye. Big teeth and a lack of pupils in the eye, give the character a sinister appearance, which is a bit of a Zake trademark. Below is his previous piece in this spot.
7031. Dean Lane skate park (847)
I think I was about five or six years old when I was given my first Asterix book. My mother was having her hair done and bought me ‘Asterix the Gaul’, to keep me occupied for the very boring two hour hair appointment. Not only did the distraction technique work, but it began a love affair I have had with these cartoon adventure books ever since. I still buy (in hardback) every new edition that is published, even though both the original author and illustrator (Goscinny and Uderzo) have now died. Imagine my excitement when I came across Dibz and Fade while they were painting this epic piece in Dean Lane.
I can’t really add much commentary about the artists that is new, and I have run out of superlatives to describe their work. The writing on the left, by Dibz is about as tight and sharp as you can get with wildstyle graffiti writing. The orange letters with a deep 3D drop shadow, which has a metallic sheen to it, spell DIBZ.
To the right hand side of the collaboration, Fade has adopted the colour selection for his piece, but, although subtle, his letters and style are a tad softer than Dibz’. A notable change in this collaboration is that the artists have swapped sides from their usual preference, which must feel a little bit like sleeping on the wrong side of bed. Maybe?
The centrepiece of this production is a near-perfect rendition of the druid Getafix, who makes the secret magic potion that gives our protagonists, Asterix and Obelix, their strength. The artists have been so true to the original artwork, Uderzo himself would have been impressed. This really is a remarkable collaboration and shows off Dibz and Fade at their very best. I’ll forgive them for the ‘Geta-graf-fix pun.
7029. M32 Cycle path (292)
I don’t think there will ever be a time when I am not happy to see a piece by Face 1st. Of course, since he moved away from Bristol, that sense of joy is heightened, because his pieces appear less frequently and have become a little bit of a rarity.
This is a classic laughing girl with big hair piece from Face 1st. The big hair spells out FACE, in script-like letters, with a very deep drop shadow. The blue tones with the white face work well, and although not the tidiest piece I have seen from the artist it is nonetheless distinctive and very, very Bristol.
Heat
.
London in the heat
utterly overwhelming
the melting tarmac
.
by Scooj
7028. Sparke Evans Park (135)
What is a little peculiar is that if I look back through my archives I would probably find half a dozen or so pieces by Totosoapcity, but it is only recently, once I found out the artist’s name, that I have actually started to post his distinctive writing.
There is a symmetry to Totosoapcity’s writing, and I am never too sure what the letters spell, but I think it is ARSA. There are some good blues, pinks and purples in the piece with a deep 3D drop shadow vanishing in the centre, below the wall. There are a few decorative circles filling and breaking up the white space around the background. A nice piece. I will have to trawl through my archives and dig out some old ones.
7027. Dean Lane skate park (846)
I was rather lucky to be in the right place at the right time as Two Face was drafting up this piece on the wall. I haven’t come across the artist before, and he tells me that he has only recently moved to Bristol, so I will be on the lookout for his work, for sure.
The combination piece is really rather good, incorporating a hand and fired gun on the left and some rather nicely presented writing on the right, with very fine fill work indeed. Lots of textures, techniques and perspectives in this debut (to Natural Adventures) piece. Bravo!
Natural adventures 